Bon Noelle my festive chums...

with a tra la la la la and a hey nonny nonny...deck my bowels with sprigs of holly and a big fat ding dong and bing bong on high...t'is Christmas Eventide.

I really wanted to say a humongous thank you to every one who has taken the time to read this blog over the past year...your support is very much appreciated. I must say I am always a wee bit surprised just how many bods do check out what I've been up to and what I'm wittering on about...............................I am most humble.

Well peeps...the "Faded Seaside Glamour" exhibition continues and has received shed loads of wondrous comments. I blush with the excitment of it all...incidentally, it's now going to run until mid January...oooooer. Thankyou Drew and Ian at "Luke and Jack" for their continued support and encouragement. I love you boys and all your saucy minxiness...mmmmm...not sure if such words exist but t'is Chrismas and I'm a big bloated bag of festive fun and frolics...pass me another mince pie with lashings of cream.........

This year has been a pick 'n' mix of creative endeavours. I began the year with a series of "Shape-Shifters"...which were organic and to do with light, texture, hope and fantasy...and ended the year with the "Faded Seaside Glamour" paintings which were all about being on the outside of society and the emotional implications that entails. In between all of this I created "The Adoration of the Tattooed Christ"...a painting inspired by a beautiful trip to France. Mmmmm...I reckon it conveys the state of my mind throughout the year...I began it in my own little fantasy world and ended it a moody old git with a circus fixation...oh...and with a bit of spiritual shananagans chucked in for good measure. Freud would have a field day...ho hum.

On top of the rollercoaster ride that is my inspiration...I've also produced some commissions. Ooooer and hurrah! The latest one has hurled me down another direction and I am now endeavouring to produce some works inspired by "the days of yore". I'm hoping they're going to be a kind of "Raphael meets Holbien". I've started drawing one out on an old piece of shelving, I'm trying to get it to look like a medieval wooden panel painting. Mmmmm...Hope springs internal as they say. Hey ho, if it doesn't work out I'm sure it'll make a fabulous shelf for the pantry...be it a rather ornate one...

I'm going to be creating a couple of nudes for an exhibition at "Luke and Jack"...spookily enough...entitled "Nudes"...ooooooer. Fingers crossed that this new/oldstyle turns out well enough to go on display...wish me luck peeps.

Well enough of these witterings...may your yule log be massive and may you be well blessed....oooooer missis. Enjoy!

Thank you for taking the time...festive hugs,

Ivor x

Hellooooooo my luvverly chums,

It's a tad gloomy today and the light is really rubbish so I thought I'd take the opportunity to write this 'ere blog. Please bare with me because I'm knackered and seem to have had countless mishaps and blunders this Sunday morning time....hey hoooooooooooooooo.

I'm actually hoping that tomorrow brings a jolt to this enfeebled brain and I can rectify all the cock ups that I've made today...well, a bloke can hope.

I'm actually writing this to let all my readers and followers of this 'ere blog know that I'll be launching the 6 "Faded Seaside Glamour" paintings on December 3rd at "Luke and Jack" in Merchant City Glasgow no less.

Well I say I will be....mmmmmmm...still in the midst of finishing and framing and varnishing and tweaking and sorting. It seems that for some strange and inexplicable reason one of the paintings has taken an extreme dislike to the varnish and has had... one I can only describe as... an allergic reaction to it. I am now a lot balder than I was this morning and a shed load more hysterical...I have hyperventilated into about a squillion paper bags and chanted a calming mantra til I'm blue in the face...all to no avail as the bleedin' thing still looks like s**t. Ho hum...I am calmer now and have walked away until tomorrow...as they say..."hope springs eternal"...and if that fails I will resort to plan B...which is blaming everyone except myself.

I apologise for my rant...but I like to share...

Hope I'll be seeing loads of you at the launch but, failing that, I hope that you'll be able to pop along and have a gander as it runs til after the Christmas festivities.

Thank you for taking the time,

Ivor x

Bonjourno my special chums,

T'is a dark and gloomy night and it's well and truely "brass monkeys" in this 'ere office. I shall endeavour to write this wrapped in a shawl like a Dickensian dowager...I'm prepared for shrinkage and am hoping that it's not too severe...ho hum.

Where to start? Well I'm so into this "Adoration of the Tattooed Christ" painting and have now finished the main centre piece. I've commenced the painting of the four corners so, hopefully, all the "adorations" will be finished well before the deadline of the exhibition. Mmmm...must say it's been a lorry load of fun doing this piece as it's all about memories of a far flung place...a holiday of light and sunshine...a chance to see my eldest in his natural habitat and a bugger of a composition. I have been working in some very strange positions doing this painting and it is playing havoc with my geriatric frame...I can forsee a brace, a truss and a prolapse before this image is complete...gone are the days when the Kama Sutra was just a thing you did cos you were bendy. It has also proved to have a will of its own and I've been guided by the work rather than the other way round...a strange and slightly disconcerting feeling. Oooooer...perhaps I'm having an "experience"...?...I wonder if I could get Yvette Fieldings job now she's buggered off to pastures new?

I've created this painting especially for the exhibition at the Phoenix Centre. They are having a fantastic open day event at the end of November...it's going to be filled to the brim with truely beautiful art created by a shed load of talent. My pal Mark Getty has been organising it and will be displaying there too. A huge big fat thank you to you Mark....you're a star!

Here's the details and I really hope you'll all pop along and have a gander and, hopefully, buy lots.

The Phoenix Centre

201 St. James Road

Glasgow

27th November 2010

12-23.30

Thank you for taking the time,

Ivor x

Afternoon peeps,

Brrrrrrr it's chilly round the doodahs this dull noontime day.

I have been working tirelessly and, without the aid of a safety net, to finish another painting in the "Faded Seaside Glamour" series. The "Marionette" is now complete and can sit alongside its counterparts. I'm getting fair excited about this batch as they seem to be gelling rather well and the narative appears to be unfolding in a most satisfactory manner...blimey, hark at me sounding all discriptive and literary.

I have to admit that these images are a tad "darker" than the last series but as they're about "acceptance and solitude" I suppose they should be. I'm trying to create a mood and atmosphere rather than a difinitive story. They're all set in a sort of twilight when all the characters come out to play so the mood is rather important...here's hoping that they work as a proper series when they're complete.

I've now started the "Escapologist"...he's progressing slowly as I'm trying not to make him look like some kind of S&M fetishist...mmmmm...is that a word?.............reckon it's working so far but, hey hoooo...it may turn out to be one chain too many...oooooer.

Alongside the "Faded Seaside Glamour" paintings I'm doing a piece for the Phoenix Studios art exhibition. It's completely different from the current batch as it's been inspired by my trip to southern France. It's very "Christlike" and I'm trying to capture the atmosphere of what I experienced there. Coooo lummey...I sound like I've gone all spritual and ethereal. I haven't at all...it's all to do with the light and colours that I saw. Plus...there's a bit of pagan thrown in...shed loads of symbolism...a suggestion of shananagans and lorry loads of over the top framing. Mmmmm...fingers crossed that I pull this off as I'm treading a very fine line between "high class gorgeousness" and "Blackpool tack"...ho hum.

Thank you for taking the time...

Ivor x

Well bonjour...ooooooo la la and a bucket full of frogs legs,

I've just returned from France...Montpellier to be precise...it was fantastic. I do advise everyone to go as it's so beautiful, historic and full of the most gorgeous looking people I've ever clapped eyes on. Do I sound shallow?...mmmm...I don't reckon so, I'm an artist so can truely appreciate the quality of the perfect form...well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

I must say that France has inspired me...I saw some things that took my breath away...actually we were up in the hills one day which did actually shorten my breath...blimey it was hilly. I danced on the bridge at Avignon...just like in the song...well not so much a dance, more of a jig. Think I was in danger of being arrested as the bridge was trembling a bit...think of Homer Simpson on a treadmill...the French obviously reckoned it was a fit of some sort so gave me a wide berth...ho hum.

I went to a few galleries as well...saw a fantastic exhibition by Jose Pires in Lodeve and I also discovered the most spectacular paintings by Nicolas Mignard at the Calvert Museum in Avignon. I can honestly say I very near weed my undercrackers. I got all moist with emotion, decided to pack in painting all together as I could never aspire to such wonderment, had a major crisis followed by a cafe au lait which seemed to settle me...mmmmmmmm and aaaaaaahhhh. I've got over that now and am back on track with the new series of paintings.........

I'm now on the fourth image...it's a marionette. She's a rather moody bint...she stares out at me "with attitude" as they say in these 'ere times. I'm trying to capture a mixture of vunerability and defiance in the painting...I think it's working so far but, as it's only half done, anything can evolve. The "Burlesque Noir" and "Harlequin" paintings are also done and dusted...the same theme of vunerability threads through them both...well I reckon it does. I sent the images to a client of mine as I value his opinion and he says they remind him of the old black and white "art films" of Italy and France. I can really see his point and am dead chuffed with the comparison...thank you Michael, you're a star! When the "Marionette" is finally finished I want to do an escapologist/contortionist...I have this idea buzzing around in my head that I can't shake. It'll either work really well or look like an advert for an S&M Swingers club...ho hum.

Incidentally...whilst I was away on my jolly hols I read a book called "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. It is the first book in years to move me to tears...not a good look sat on a balcony in Monpellier with a snotty nose and making wailing noises, the locals were intrigued at the strange English bloke. I really recommend a read of it...I'm inspired to do a painting...it will not be at all commercial and it will be quite sad...but it is something I feel compelled to try.

I just thought I'd share that with you....

Thankyou for taking the time,

Ivor x

Bonjour my chums,

This is just a quickie of a blog as I've not got my bonce round a lengthy one...so much has been going on and on and on...ooooer. However...I will rectify this tomorrow with a full on no holds barred blog of epic proportions...

In the mean time this will have to suffice...apologies.

I've just learnt that this particular piece in off to France....how very international is that. I'm dead chuffed to say the least...perhaps it's due to the extra ordinary ammount of images there are in France of Saint Michael slaying the dragon. Ooooooo la la.

Thank you for being so patient...

Ivor x

Hellooooooooooooooo my chums,

I was enjoying some lovely sunny weather but thought I'd best bung up a blog lest you forget me. I am a martyr to my "art" to be sure....

Well I have finished the commission and delivered it to the client. Thankfully, he really liked it and seemed fairly moved by it. I admit to being a tad worried as commissions are always a little unpredictable...mainly because I tend to always paint "warts and all" with a portrait...not saying that the subject had any warts...infact a more handsome fellow you could not meet...it's just that I do love painting "detail"...mmmmm. I really wanted this one to be successful as it was commissioned from so much love and was full of symbolism relevant to the subject. I think it worked...I hope it worked. It also helped that the clients were so bleedin' nice.....thankyou Dave 'n' Stu for trusting me with your beings, it is much appreciated.

I am well into the new series of paintings...it still hasn't a title and I continue to refer to it as the "Fairground/Burlesque/Circus" series...which is a right gobfull. It's a much darker set of images than the shapeshifters...mind, that may well be due to them being set indoors and with un natural light. I'm endeavouring to capture the vunerabilty of the bods who work in this form of entertainment......it amazes me how most of the masses judge these folk. Hey hoo.

I'm trying to go for the raw, shabby and slightly forlorn look to these images...it's more to do with survival of the art and being constantly on the move than glitz and glamour. Oh and I apologise to all the purists out there....I'm painting a "feeling" rather than perfectly engineered circus/fairground equipment.

I reckon any one who can go out night after night wearing lycra and hanging from things deserves to be immortalised in acrylic...I also admire any bod who can wave feathers and jiggle their bits. I myself have tried it on occassions and am still receiving the doctors bills from all the people I traumatised....apparently the sight of a wee man waving feathered fans about whilst expressing himself through the medium of dance wearing a sparkly thong can give folk recurring nightmares....ho hum.

I'm now working on the second image...this one is proving to be a real challenge as it is so removed from the way I usually paint a piece. I've had to come at it from a completely different prospective and learn as I go. Mmmmm...fingers crossed that it proves successful...it seems to be going ok so far. Mind...that's no guarentee with me...I usually get so far in and then decide it's all a pile of poop. After that it gets quite messy with tantrums and tears and wringing of hands and threats to become a nun and all kinds of carry ons....hey ho...it's a right doings creating "the art".....

I'm off to the printers tomorrow to get some greetings cards printed...ooooer. I shall let you know how they turn out...

Thankyou for taking the time,

Ivor x