Well Happy happy happy Easter my chums...

Coooooo lummey, it's ben a piggin' cold old do to be sure....snow snow and more snow brrrrrrrr.
Right let's crack on as they say.....I've been well and truely busy..hurrah!

I've finished the book cover to the clients satisfaction....mmmmm....not sure about it as it's so different to what I usually do. However, he liked it which is all that counts really and it does sum up the story and all of that. A pat on the back all round is deserved I feel...here's hoping it leads to other illustration work.

I've got a wee pop up exhibition coming up on 14th April at House For An Art Lover....ooooer posh. The details of which will be on this 'ere invite flyer....please please do feel free to come along and have a wee gander. It'll be full to the brim with art in bloody gorgeous surroundings and you get to munch on cake and have tea....well hurrah and hurrah! I will be exhibiting four paintings..."March Hares" "Trailer Park Crucificion" "Out Damn'd Spot" and my newest..."No Access"
I'm dead excited about it all as this venue is Rene Mackintosh and I just love the place. I also get to meet shed loads of other artists and lots of wonderful peeps....
I'm continuing on my theme of auto biographical work....don't ask me why...reckon it's an age thing. I have this theory that the older you get the more invisible you become....I have no intention of ever being invisible...even if this means looking like a dogs dinner and disgracing myself. Who said old meand boring?....mmmmmmm.......
I'm also checking out other venues to exhibit in....will keep everyone posted as to how that develops.
In the meantime I shall away and busy my person with business and purpose....or eating easter eggs and hot cross buns ho hum...

Thank you for taking the time,

Ivor x

Howdy dooooooody my chums!

Has been a busy old week for me. I've finally finished the book cover which is now undergoing treatment in France ooooer. It's having it's type put on and being client approved. I shall post something up when it is signed off so to speak. Mind...what with all this cloak and dagger stuff...I really hope you think it was worth it lol.

I've finished "Out Damn'd Spot" so old Lady MacB is done, dusted and completely bonkers...hurrah. here's hoping she goes down a strom when being displayed. The whole paintingis stuffed with sybolism and old wives oooer. I have to say to the purists....this is totally my interpretation....mmmm.

Well hurrah and hurrah...coo lummey...strike a light and whip my caramels...I have been really busy.

I've finally got Lady MacBeth well underway...mind...the mad bints been causing a few problems, mainly that I'm not quite sure if she's mad enough. Ho hum...I'll continue the way I've been going and will probably tweak her to within an inch of her life towards the end. I do like a crazy woman with an attitude.....She is to be exhibited at the next Bespoke Art Gallery "pop up"...it's to be at Old Rene Mackintosh's gaff.."House For An Art Lover. It's a beautiful venue and I well recommend having a go see. Plus...the piggin' restaurant is bloody bloody splendid! I shall firm up with you all later ooooer missis...I'm talking times and dates here peeps........
I'm off tomorrow to photograph my newest model Chris...he's very kindly agreed to pose for the new autobiographical work that I'm about to embark on. Coooo...will be interesting how it will develop. It's a bit like someone saying..."If they made a movie of you, who would play you?" I just hope he can cope with some mad old artist reliving his past through an unsuspecting model. I shall have to compose myself and act accordingly...yeah right. Anyrode up....if you read this Chris....a big fat thankyou from me fella and brace yourself.....ho hum.

I've been also working on a book cover illustration. It's been dead cool to be illustrating again. It's been eons and I've had quite a blast doing it. Mind...the client hasn't actually seen the finished art work yet so may well be counting my chickens and all that. Hey hoooo...t'is done and dusted and I shall just have to sit back and take the critisism...if there is any ooooer. It's for a book called "God and the Geek"...I've read bits of it...bloody marvelous if you ask me and well worth a read. Sadly...alas and alack...t'is all I can tell you at the moment until all is finalised. If you hear me sobbing over the ether you'll know he hated it and I've been rejected. Us artists don't do rejection very well...we're prone to melt downs and hissy fits.......

Oh and I have had a big big interest in the "March Hares" so watch this space.....hurrah!

Thank you for taking the time...

Ivor x

Well howdy doody doooooo!

As you can see I now have a lovely new refreshed website extravaganza....hurrah and hurrah! A big humongous thank you to my chum Mr. Chris Butler for taking such a long time and bunging in a lorry load of effort to create it...I'm well chuffed.
Mind....it now gives me no excuse not to blog on a regular basis...I admit to being a tad remiss in that department...my only reason being I'm a lazy git! Enough said...onwards and upwards.
I'm now planning some projects...the big one being a sort of autobiographical body of work that exorcises ghosts, sums me up and allows me to go places I'd not normally go...ooooer..."how mysterious!" I hear you cry. Well...not really actually. I've just decided that I need a few more challenges in my painting life and this one will be a big fat hairy doofah of a challenge. One of the main reasons being...I'm really not certain how it'll unfold. Plus...I want some technical challenges as well as emotional ones. Oooooer...hark at me going all "arty" and ethereal.
I have got a rather brilliant model lined up for the first in this series...strangely enough we sort of bumped into each other on line after a few years. His life mirrors mine at his age so I reckon it's fated he should be the first image. A big thankyou to Chris for agreeing to it all and being so open about what I'm banging on about. Mmmmm...this one could be odd to do..............................

I've finally finished "March Hares"...hurrah! Must admit it was a bugger to keep painting layer upon layer of hairs upon my hares but I think it was worth it. Thankfully my models Matt and Kevin like what I had done to them so that's a piggin' relief....how the hell would I get them to agree to pose again if not I ask myself. Cheers lads....you were bloody splendid!
I've started another of the Shakespeare series....it's called "Out Damn Spot" and is based upon old Lady Macbeth. I must admit I do like painting bonkers old bints, they such fun to do. Hopefully by the time she's finished she'll look less "bonkers" and more disturbed............................

Well that's it for now my chums...
Thankyou for taking the time,

Ivor x

Well happy happy happy new year my chums!

First of all I need to apologise for the distinct lack of blogs....mmmm....the thing is...I was going to have the whole website re-jigged and freshened up but never got round to getting it sorted. I just let it drift along willy nilly until it had my willy nilly had turned into a major gap...not good for an artist with a profile who wants to climb the dizzy pole of google and have every bod in the world gazing at his wares...ooooooooer! Mmmm..think I overdosed on "Carry On" films over the festive period...ho hum.
Anyrode up....I'm back to wish you well and say sorry. I've been dead busy of late and have been attempting to create a kind of morphing/animal/man set of images. It a current idea I have going on...think it is an off shoot of the shape shifters series I did a while back. It's never properly left me so the up shot is a huge painting of "March Hares" is in the process of being created. It's a strange one this as it's quite minimalist for me...it's just two blokes boxing in a clearing morphing into hares...mmmm...we shall have to see how it turns out. A major thanks goes to my models Matt and Kevin as I had them posing for eons in a rather cold room ooooer.
I've also been featured in a fabulous new publication called Sachet Mixte...it's a journal featuring many world renowned artists. I was well honoured when I was approached to be part of it. Hurrah and thankyou Simon. This brings me onto my other news...I was also approached by a really nice geezer called Eric Gibbons who has asked me to feature in his publication "Art Of Man" so I'm to appear in an American journal....cooooo lummey...I'm global.

I now going to say big thank yous to David from Highstreet Gallery, Julie from Bespokeart Gallery, Drew and Ian from Virginia Gallery, David from Studio18 Gallery and Chris Campen from Campen Creative........
Thank you for displaying my wares and all your support this past year I am internally grateful to you all.
Also a big thanks to Chris Butler for sorting all my art work out so it can be seen by many....he's also the geezer who's to re-jug this site ooooer.
And....thank you Simon for all the support and encouragement and here's to the new projects we're going to be embarking on...hurrah and hurrah!

Oh and thanks graham for putting up with me...x

Blimey...praise the piggin' lordy lord that's done...it's a tad Gwynith Paltrow but, hey hoooooo...it's my blog and I'll say what I want to.
This is, ofcourse, a big lead up to telling you that i intend to be doing more stuff this year and shall be attempting to promote myself to within an inch of my dooings....brace yourselves peeps...this could prove a big challenge for all of us oooooooooooer.

Thank you for taking the time,

Ivor x

The year of our lord 02/09/12 Second blog.....ooooer.

Well peeps...I am now well installed in High Street Gallery so do pop along and have a butchers. The gallery is full of fabulous art and David Johnston is always on hand to give you the low down and make you most welcome. "Puck" is there...along with "Banquo" and the "Cloud Angel"....I'm also now installed in Jersey...hurrah"
Along with all this I have finally finished "Ophelia and the Storm"....it shows ol' Ophelia going quietly bonkers whilst a big eff off storm looms in the background. It was an odd one to do as I had no idea how it was going to turn out. The thing with my work is...sometimes it becomes more organic than I anticipated and this was one of those times. As I tend to paint like a jigsaw it was looking well wierd with just a big "man-storm" looming....no one had any bleedin' idea what I was doing....mmmm...I was unsure at times...mind that may well be my great age as I have no idea what I'm doing most of the times these days....ho hum. Any rode up...it all went swimmingly well in the end and she is currently on display at Craigton House on the Hopetoun estate just outside Edinburgh. It's a lovely venue and well worth checking out. I nipped across to Hopetoun House and had cake...it was delicious....yum yum.

Thankyou for taking the time...

Ivor x

Ivors log....this day of our doings 02/09/12................blog one.
Yes indeedy....have decided to bung this lot down in stages as it makes more sense to me, it may not to you my chums but....hey hoooo...here goes.

I have finally finished the commission painting for Carmen Storm...the infamous and talented Blackpool "Drag" entertainer. Carmen is producing a charity CD entitled "Two Faces One Voice" and wanted a painting of her as Carmen and him as Alex. It is all to do with the genre of music that both personas would listen to/play/produce. I must say it was bleedin' fun to do be it a tad strange as well. I've never had to paint two sides of a face one at a time even thought they were attached to the other. I have no idea if that makes any sense whats so ever..but, in my head, it is crystal clear. I usually paint block the entire face but this time it had to be done seperately.....ooooooer.....I must say the end result is strangely compelling to look at. Carmen has seen it and approves, which is all that matter really. I must say that I'm well chuffed as it could of gone sling backs up.
The finally CD design is now in her cabable and well maincured hands...I'll give you the heads up when it's all sorted. Hurrah!

Thank you for taking the time...

Ivor x