I'm horrified to say that my days are pretty much the same! I've become a bit of a recluse over the years and my days are spent between the studio and Scandinavian murder mysteries on tv. I do however miss weekly trips to the pub where we can pretend that we're young and vital again.
My wife would very much like a return to these evenings as well as it saved her at least one evening a week where she didn't have to listen to me trying to appear young and vital. The cats would pretty much like us all to clear off between meal times.
A little bit of both I fear. While the galleries remain closed our only income is from my daily eBay postings so while I've had to shelve my more extravagant projects I'm having to produce smaller pieces all the time. This is a good thing really as my work is developing at quite a speed.
Crikey, I've always drawn stuff. I missed out on going to art college after school because I thought that I should get a *proper job* and applied for the Police Force (now there's another tale in itself!) I finally did my Foundation Year at Canterbury in 1993 (eventually winning the Eric Hurran prize) and then spent 3 years in Liverpool gaining a BA(Hons) in Fine Art (painting)
Paul Cezanne. Paul Klee. All the Pauls really.
Hmm. That may be a question better answered by others. I think that I'm still painting the same thing every day.
Ah. I like painting buildings and houses but mostly I'm still painting the woods and forests that used to engage me as a nipper. Little white houses tucked away in treelines. Hester in the red cape and Oscar my dopey cat wandering through the trees always searching for home.
Good lord yes! I pretty much switch off when I'm working. The paintings are a result of a conversation between myself and the painting surface. If I listen properly the picture surface always suggests what to do next so I just tune in and the hours creep by.
Oh I wish I could plan it. It'd be so much simpler. With the forests I generally lay down a yellow wash and see where it goes from there. With the paintings of buildings and houses I spend ages staring at the photographs and then a little interior voice tells me where to start. Actually that little interior voice has got me into a lot of trouble in the past. I should stop listening to it.
Rather unhelpfully it's a little bit of both. With the site specific work I try to work closely to reference photos but the forest paintings grow organically. I need to do both.
A bloody mess would best describe it. I have a new workspace in Sandwich which is lovely (I've worked in sheds for nearly 20 years) I have my collection of rubbish vinyl and record player in the new space which is super (friends used to be able to visit) but I can pretty much work anywhere. I just need a kettle, headphones and some red wine (at some point) However I'm a terribly messy bugger though so if I'm in any space for more than 10 minutes it'll look like a tornado has just passed through.
Crumbs. That's a difficult one. I absolutely love getting positive feedback when my work has made somebody happy. Otherwise my life is a continual maelstrom of anxiety and fretfulness. I work 7 days a week because I worry that if I'm not working I'm shirking. Income is a white knuckle ride and certainly not for the feint hearted! It's something that I simply have to do. I spend a huge proportion of my time worrying that I'm not working hard enough or that the things that I make are too rubbish. It's a flipping strange way to make a living. However, sometimes I make something that I stand back from it and think, *good grief, did I make that!?* and then someone is sufficiently pleased with it to take it home and THAT feeling is worth everything. To take a piece of paper and a box of paints and make something that didn't exist before but now makes somebody feel better about their world is an indescribable pleasure.
Sometimes. I used to listen to Radio 4 obsessively at college but nowadays I need a narrative so it's either audiobooks or Netflix I'm afraid.
Get a sketchbook. Start drawing. Draw every day. Keep it simple. A pencil will suffice. The mechanics of paint can be learned (and we continue to learn forever) but drawing underpins everything. Enjoy it.
Hmm. Stay at home! Stay safe :-)
