Composition with gorillas

Pop Starz (explained)

What is Pop Starz? Well- many things, but in this context the pop star is significant for me, as a Chinese domestic product that in its essence is a distillation of many social and political factors at work in the fabric of chinese culture at the moment. Although the studies are predominantly works featuring established pop artists, (as catalogued in the myriad glossy publications aimed at championing, showcasing and exhibiting these contemporary icons) there are also studies of regular, normal young people whose appearance, style and awareness is parallel, intertwined with that of their heroes. The 'pop stars' I capture are both the gods and the mortals,each indestinguishable from the other, when crystalised in an image.

More Pencil Drunkard

and more Hang Zho...

More Pencil Drunkard

Study from Hang Zho, 2 hours outside shanghai.

pencil punch drunk

Shadow spine orchid pencil rubber

Very typical

This little gem is not just evidence of being lost in translation, it also talks about attitudes to the various strata of society, it offends on so many levels... great!

hurry folks

...only 364 shopping days till xmas

Postcard from Shanghai (another)

City fringes of Shanghai

As the city thins out, real estate is cheaper and projects and initiatives such as roads and factories are commenced but do not yet link up.

Found on a pen drive (cont)

Notes to self

- Subtitle for this blog: Pencil drunkard - diary of an idea-drinker in China
Being a drunkard also means that despite your better judgement, against current wisdom or current sense, one re-enters into a world in which anxiety, stress, agitation and anger are sure to follow any euphoria that might be promised from said indulgence.

Anyone who witnessed the screaming and shouting, anger and unruly behaviour that followed my recent painting session- namely my children who were innocently interrupting my session with idle questions and their will to be involved or to assist in the activity, will be sure just how destructive this habit can be to the family unit. My childish tantrum followed my frustration as sure as night follows day.

Despite the dangers, the personal trauma and torment that generally accompany this habit, I persist in its activity. I am wracked by its constant presence in my life- I cannot shun it because I'm an old soak(pencil wise), yet it makes me miserable and I am weakened by it. It steals time from me and makes me think Im something Im not.

Of course I dramatise, of course I am exaggerating. However when in the throws of inspiration or the lack of it, I feel hopelessly lost and desperate to be somewhere else where the goals and rewards, the rules and risks are far more prescribed and accepted- a regular job for example. A normal life.

Postcard from Shanghai - Hongkou

Found on a pen drive

Old material from the Jardim Miriam days

Found Sculpture

The natural occurence of beauty or design, in random and unchartered environments, is a rare treat. For me it reiterates the question posed by Marcel at the start of the last century, and which has been echoed ever since. Is it the same question as when does a person become an artist, though? I suppose it is...

A Familiar Sight

Crutches

I am compiling a list of the top 10 most irritating and unfathomably stupid things about crutches.

Near the top of the list will be the way that whenever you have to pick something up, you spend 20 minutes trying to lean 1 crutch against the table or work top without it slowly sliding one way or the other and falling to the floor-, only to hear it crash to the ground the minute your back is turned to pick up said item.

Also in there will be armpit chafing...

Off the rails so easily

My recent surgery and the ensuing incapacitation have made me realise (just like millions of (well documented) heart op and life saving patients before me, just how delicate the balance of daily trudgery is. The school run, making sandwiches, shaving, sitting, sleeping, washing up- all these things have had to be radically adjusted to fit in with my new physical state. Although I am regaining feeling and movement in the leg, I am still a long way from being able to action any of the afore mentioned daily nothings without quite some consideration and planning.

I will not bother to wax lyrical about the fragility of life and the taking for granted etc etc- millions before me have done so more competently and in a more qualified manner. I am just fascinated by the ways in which such mundane normality can be undone in a single (knee)twist, and how much effort and metamorphosis can be required to resume some semblance of that normality.

been a while

knee op one thing and another...anyway, same old art, new shiny wrapper- the '08 version of my site now up here