Good afternoon my special chums,

I am in a very good mood today...apart from getting an extra day off work, I have had a very successful days painting. The commission piece is going swimmingly well and is very nearly finished. Still a bit of tweaking to do and the arms need some work but, on the whole, it is almost done. The strange thing about this painting is the way it has made me look at the other work I have done. This piece is more "painty" than the others and, frankly, I now need to go back and rework some of the older stuff. I suppose the trouble with having "works in progress" and other finished paintings lying about your studio...you are always looking at them and re evaluating them. Mmmm..not sure if that's a good or bad thing but hey ho...when you're limited with space...you don't have a choice. All I know is...and here's the rub...it has proved to be a blessing cos I now know how I can improve the paintings I have done.
Now the other question is..if you're at all interested...do I tweak and fiddle before beginnig a new work?....or...do I start a new piece and tweak and fiddle during it...or...do I just bang on with the new piece and fiddle and tweak when I feel the urge overtaking me??? It is indeed a concurrent countdown conundrum.
The new painting is going to be of "Neptune". I have finally sorted the photos of the model I am using. He is a very obliging and patient bloke and I am very grateful to him for allowing me to use his image. Thank you Paul...you're a star! I just hope I can do him justice. This is going to be sort of created as I paint cos I have no clear image of how it's to be....all I can see is blue and fish and a horse. I know what I vaguely want to achieve but am just giong to allow the painting to "happen". I don't expect this to make any sense to any body..it hardly makes any sense to me, but it will be an interesting experience...

Work on the ward continues at a pace....I am fortunate to have many clients who are really keen to create. I must say that I envy their energy sometimes...it takes me all of mine just to get there in the mornings. I have now got a vast array of differing bits of work and will really have to try and organise it a bit better. The trouble with me is that if someone has taken the time to produce a piece of work when they are so "troubled" it would be gittish of me not to try and display it. However, there is only a limited amount of wall space...I feel a decisive moment befalling me.

Thanks for taking the time,

Ivor x