Good evening peeps,

It is that time once more for me to inform you of what I have or have not been up to this week.

Mmmmm....shall we say that it has been a slightly more creative week than the last one. I have managed to complete the figures of "Romulus and Remus" and am half way through the painting of the birds. It all appears to be going swimmingly well and the crows are shaping up nicely. I do admit to a certain amount of satisfaction as it has been a long while since I have painted any form of wild life apart from homo sapian.... I remember saying in a previous blog that I was trying to create an ambiguity about who's who in this painting, dare I say that I think I have succeeded. I am not even sure myself which one is Romulus and which one is Remus....ooooer is that a cop out...???
I will have produced two paintings for this series when "R & R" are completed...the thing is I have yet to frame them up. This in its self is a crucial part of the finished piece and is going to be a very "learn as you go and hope for the best" time. I have a very clear and distinct vision in my head of how they will look...however....it involves cutting away and distressing, which only allows a fraction of error. Do I look scared...??? Absolutely! Blimey, it takes me forever to get going when I know what I'm doing, lordy lordy only knows how long it'll take me to crack on with the frames. Hey ho...

I have also been asked to do a private portrait and am about to begin the preliminary drawings. It has been a wee while since I was commissioned to do a portrait and am dead excited about it. The thing is when you don't know the sitter very well...in this case hardly at all, you need to bring a whole new way of looking to the table. I've decided to try not and deliberate for too long over how I am going to "do it"....think it will cloud my judgement and fog up my thinking.
The sitter will have his own perception of how he looks, I will see something else...the hope is that the final painting will marry these two up and all will be well. I defy any painter not to admit to wanting so much to please the sitter...

Can I say that when a person is subjected to constant and prolonged abuse they have a tendacy to become extremely knackered and weary. I mention this because it is happening to me at the moment and I am knackered and weary. It has not been a good time on the ward. Please emit waves of sympathy toward me in the vain hope that I will once again become motivated and committed.

I thank you.

Ivor x

Good evening all,

I am writing this following a rather nightmare day on the ward....well, to be honest, it's been bleedin' horrendous! No bodies fault really and not very sedate of me to say so but I need to voice this as it has a baring on how I am feeling and how this blog is written. It is my way of saying that my head is mashed and I may not come across as the usual "up-beat" and "sparky" geezer that I like to portray.
Apologies now to any body that I may have offended with this previous statement but I do try to remain honest about my emotions. I shall shut up now and continue...........

The painting progresses and, dare I say as much, is looking mighty fine...mind you, this is usual at this stage in the proceedings and will, no doubt, plummet in my estimation nearer completion. Once I've almost finish a piece I go through a major crisis of faith in my abilities and convince myself it is all a piece of worthless crap...hey ho the torment of an insecure mind! I am about to begin the painting of the birds to finish the "Romulus and Remus" and am dead excited about it all. It's eons since I painted any form of wild life so it could either make or break this piece of work...ooooer...I'm excited and very worried at the same time. Is this a normal state of affairs? I ask myself...and...going on how much I fanny about before getting on with the actual painting, will I ever finish??? It is inded a concurrent countdown conundrum. I really will have to make a real effort as I am getting dead worked up about the next painting....not giving owt away at the moment as it is all buzzing about in my head.

Can I just say here and now how fantastic and truely beautiful this country is when the weather is sunny and the bluebells are out. I have spent the weekend in the wild outdoors and have been so in awe of it's splendor! Blimey, I sound almost Byronic....or moronic, depending on your view point. I do feel very inspired and humbled when the spring is springing and the summer is about to burst forth...what can I say...???....I'm artistic!
On that very up myself note I shall stop...

Thanks for reading,

Ivor x

Hello everbodies....happy bank holiday!

I have been painting...not much of a revelation I know but I have been struggling of late and have managed to overcome. Yes, I know that sounds very "up my self" but I was suffering the "block". I spent hours and hours and hours the other week painting a pattern on the T shirt of this painting only to discover it looked complete s**t! Only after I had the courage to obliterate the pattern did the "block" lift....voila, as our French cousins say, I am now going full steam ahead with poor old "Romulus and Remus" who had been very negleted.
I always find it very wierd that it takes so much courage to wipe something after hours of work on it...???...I knew it was wrong and had to go but it still took ages for me to actually sit down and do it.
I seem to be doing this procrastinating stuff alot lately, I always did go through a strange ritual before starting a new painting...usually just finding inane things to do just so I didn't have to begin right away. Now, however, I do it every time I intend to sit down and paint. It's like a fear that it's all gonna go horribly wrong and by delaying all will be well. Perhaps it's age?..perhaps it's insanity?....who the flop knows!???

I have very little else to say to be perfectly honest....I expect it's a blessing to most..ha ha he he. I put it down to the "block" and all it entailed. Hopefully I shall have more to bore you with the next time I blog....

Thank you for your time,

Ivor x

Evening all...didn't some old codger with a helmet say that once?

What can I say?....I have had an appalling week and have been suffering with the "block". I put it down to post holiday misery, a poor excuse I know but one that I am sticking with. Poor "R & R" have been left well and truely to their own devices the live long week. I did think about pushing myself into doing some work on the painting but know from old that it would end up a complete mess. I'd only have to go back to undo it all so have left well alone. I have been studying the piece and am unsure if the "block" is because I am unsure of where to go next or if the whole thing is wrong to start with...??? I shall know by the end of the week because, s**t or bust, I am going to be working on it...hey ho.

I have also been suffering with an appalling lack of communication...I mean that I send stuff out but when it comes back it has been totally misunderstood. That's if I get a response at all....who was it who reckoned that our lives have been made so much easier by the speed and communication of the internet? Who ever it was must of never used the old methods of speaking and posting. I mean, how do you know if an email has actually gone?...is there a man sat in a booth just passing them on?....mmmmmm...what/who/how ever....all I ask is just please respond...even if it's via smoke signals.
I have finished ranting and apologise for my lack of composure....must be that "block" that I've been banging on about.

On an up side...work on the Ward has been fantastic, I have so many very creative people to work with at the moment. It is a shame to me that these people stop utilising their creativity when they leave us, still, I suppose if they know that they have the ability to be creative then they have the choice to use it if they wish.

Thank you for reading...

Ivor x

Good morning one and all,

I have returned from my visit to Olde London Town in one piece....mind, I am totally broke and completely knackered! I always seem to forget just how expensive London is to eat out in...no wonder it is considered "chic" to be "London thin"...it's just a cover up so no one has to eat.

I have come back full of inspiration and my head is completely battered from sensory overload. I went to the "Jarman" exhibition at the Serpentine gallery....not a barrel of laughs I grant you, but very moving non the less...would of like to of seen more of his painting work as I always find them so passionate and animated. I went to the "American print" exhibition at the British Museum too....blimey and Lordy lordy...they certainly knew how to create atmosphere in the days of yore. I know that the computer is a fantastic thing that has made our lives so much easier and quicker....but............to see those prints and the way they were created and the time that they must of took and the awe inspiring results of the finished pieces...well, it damn near took my breath away.
I did the "Independant" galleries to check out what was "hip and happenin'" in the world of the not so starving artists...some of the work was very witty and creative and I loved it....other work I did find to be a tad.........enough said!
I did seem to find most of my inspiration and interest on the streets just wandering about aimlessly. I do like a good aimless wander whilst I'm in London. The streets are full of such amazing stuff, like a really cool piece of graffitti or mural...a crumbling building or decrepid gateway. The people are so diverse too...there is so much colour and differing ethnic cultures.

I am now sitting in my studio, staring into space alot and trying to gather my thoughts into some semblance of order. I came back and feel the need to move in a new direction with the paintings...trouble is, not sure how...??? This art lark can be so taxing. "Rommulus and Remus" wait for me to continue working on them, I have had a quick tweak but there is a nagging doubt in the back of my head telling me to go slow as I am in danger of "over working" the piece. Hey ho....who ever said that "ART" is relaxing?
Time for more coffee...I shall, no doubt, continue my day staring into space and calling it contemplation...

Thanks for reading this...

Ivor x

Good afternoon all....aint it gaaaawjusss and spring like, it does make one feel good to be upright. I fear that I have been neglecting this blogg...I have no excuse apart from the fact that I have been awaiting some definite news about the exhibition in Manchester next year. I do know that it is definitely in November 2009 and I do know it will be at "Taurus" in Canal Street....ooooer! A very nice bloke called Iain Scott has been handling me and I must say he is very good at it. Can you tell I'm very excited?
I've also been preparing for my trip to the great metropolis that is London....it's been a few months since I ventured down to the city and am in the process of organising my timetable.....so much to do and see and so little time... I have lined up some work aswell, which has just cropped up and I am very grateful for. I am hoping to be inspired beyond measure by all the diverse cultures and visual stimulus that I'm expecting to be bombarded with. Mind, not sure if my chums that I am residing with will see it that way. I really think that the older I am getting the more child-like I become...most who know me would, no doubt, say "childish" but hey ho.

"Rommulus and Remus" continues...why oh why did I decide to give the clothes very elaborate patterns? I'm anticipating a spectacular finish on this painting due to the detail on the clothes...we shall see. All I see when I close my eyes after a day on the job is a mass of blurring colour! Is it good for ones eye sight I ask?....will it matter if it creates the desired effect?....NO is the answer to that. I mean, look at how old Van Gough suffered for his art....in the grand scheme of things I suppose a stronger prescription at the opticians is a small price to pay.

I seem to be rambling on a tad...I do apologise, think I'm far more excited about my hols that I first thought.
I will leave this blogg here whilst I still have a semblance of dignity left...mmmm.

Thankyou for taking the time...

Ivor x

Good afternoon all,
I am writing to you this fine spring day on a friends computer as mine has decided to descend into madness and stop doing what it is desgned and paid to do...I'm still convinced it's a conspiracy and my computer is out to drive me completely over the edge...mmmm, me thinks that I have overdosed on "Martix" films...
I am in mighty fine and dandy good spirits today as I have just received news that I am to be exhibiting in Manchester next year. I am still unsure of the extent of the exhibition or how long it will last...the only details I have is that it will be in November. I will release details when I get them. I am chuffed to bits to tell the truth...I am now having to eat my words a tad...I shall explain. Last week I was banging on about no one ever responding to ones correspondence, I have been proved so wrong this week...some of the news has not been good but at least I had a response. I thank those people concerned....thankyou.

Work on the "Romanesque" series continues..."Rommulus and Remus" are all but blocked in and looking suitably bemused/bereft. I'm really hoping that this one works out how I'm anticipating it will...I seem to be going at it so differently from the others. Well all's well so far so fingers crossed and all of that. I'm off to London for a couple of weeks in the not to distant future so will no doubt return full of inspiration and a squillion pounds poorer! I will be open and exposed to all sorts of creative goings on....well here's hoping....I must admit that I do miss living in the old capitol, hey ho.

The creativity on the ward continues....it all seems to be on a roll at the moment and I am very grateful for it.

Well that's it for this week....can't get used to my digits hitting this very odd key pad.
Thank you for taking the time...

Ivor x