Recently  i have been making small mono prints  as a way of working through the winter

Bird paintings

I have been painting a lot of birds recently in response to the extinction rebellion protests

i

I loved the film SOMERS town by Shane Meadows  well written and well executed is this the perfect London film?  I think so!

SOMERS town film

Am I the last person in England to discover the film making talent of Shane Meadows and his team?  I loved this film  Somerset town  I thought it judged it just right and clearly showed the Comedy as well as the tragedy of both the immigrant life and the capital city.  Since time began people have left the land I  search of work and in modern Europe the trend continues   this is clearly a fil m about friendship  lovingly crafted and very well written.  A BIG THUMBS UP     GO SEE !

SOMERS town film

Am I the last person in England to discover the film making talent of Shane Meadows and his team?  I loved this film  Somerset town  I thought it judged it just right and clearly showed the Comedy as well as the tragedy of both the immigrant life and the capital city.  Since time began people have left the land I  search of work and in modern Europe the trend continues   this is clearly a fil m about friendship  lovingly crafted and very well written.  A BIG THUMBS UP     GO SEE !

A tale of two Sadies

I was recently in London and I noticed that the galleries are spreading out from Mayfair and Vyner street and besides the ones in Hanover square and Cork street (still Mayfair) they are creeping into Soho.  Beside Liberty runs Kingley street and at the bottom on the left is the HQ of Sadie Coles.

A perfectly wonderful space, although on the first floor, it has top lighting from a glass roof as I recall,  I saw the paintings of a polish artist which were large and with influences drawn from many sources.   Almost stuckist in their execution, the range of subjects suggest post modern concerns and a nineteen eighties training.   The space itself was excellent though and I shall look forward to my next visit. It reminds me of when Saatchi had his first gallery in NW8 without the trek to get there.


A beautiful gallery at 62 Kingley street next to Liberty well worth a visit.




I am also still very excited by the work of Sadie Brockbank the sculptor of Mortimer Berkshire.
Her animal inspired sculptures manage to contain narratives with ecological messages as well as
being as weird as its possible to be while somehow remaining familiar.  If this makes no sense to you
try googling her name and looking at the website.  She showed recently in charlotte st  Fitzrovia but sadly I missed this show. Her work deserves more exposure I feel and that's why I am writing about it
here.  Sadie often combines two or more animals in one piece as well as morphing humans with animals so it has a fairytale quality without being fey.  I cannot describe it in words its so good for once words fail me.   Gggg-go seek!     RW C J  

my music journey.

I decided to keep a journal as my music went digital and there was no product as such only downloads.  music for the tablet generation.  a long way from the bands who grew moustaches that I witnessed on the television as a child in the 1970s,  Beards have come back though. Big beards
Dennis WIlson style, Jim Morrison,  on singers like Josh Tilmans California.


Thursday 15 jan 15

I hear about a folk gathering at the golden cross pub here in twyford and decide to pitch up with a guitar. Fierce winds. Icy cold  all th etunes are up on I-tunes ands Spotify so I may as well go along and sing one song.  I walked past this venue beofr and saw what looked like a class or gathering in the backroom.


2am Cant sleep


I arrived at the pub to be told that the man who ran it had not been in to move the chairs so it was not likely to be on that day. I cleared out.


I invited four friends in Twyford to the Wednesday open mic session that I just learned about. Three are musicians one owns a guitar.  The only professional guitarist I know in the village is Patch who lives at Broadhinton.  Christian Ruffy moved to Sonning with Victoria. she still works in the village at red rooster pr company which she set up.  There was another guitarist in the street who moved on whos name was Andy.I have his CD in my collection the name of his act was VICES.


vices got a deal and recorded in los angeles when they got back I think they lasted a year before they all got jobs.  Chris Healy  ex ARCO wrote the book on Nick Drakes fingering techniques for Gabrielle Drake who put together an excellent book on her brother in 2014


Chris the soft singing brother of Nick Healey my friend the drummer in brook street (before he went techy) also went to LA as ARCO  and presumably in japan as that is where there fan base was before they too folded. Their bass player wrote very good songs too, as did chris.  The bass player had a solo act called PENGUIN PARTY who had one song I really liked.


I decided to go to shoreditch in LONDON to trade a painting for a colourful African jacket I fancy designed by my friend SAMSON SOBOYE.  In music you need to get noticed, but fame incurs loss of privacy, a tricky trade off.  If you don't get noticed though you are not in show business.  THE WILL BURY YOU


It is a racket of course show business. Not spiritual.


THE MUSIC IS SPIRITUAL  THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS NOT SPIRITUAL.