Just got back from a weekend in Torquay Salsa dancing.Well I mostly watched and swam in the pool but it was fun. I did a little dancing but I get tire. Back in the studio today but now really feeling it.I did this small pic to get me started. Another boat this time with a green Sea.

Well I`m still working with blacks. I guess it reflects my mood! What can I say `i like it`

Newlyn

Still painting Newlyn Harbour and still into blacks. This is a 10x10ins painting

Newlyn Harbour

Using whites and blacks give a stunning contrast .I usually like working with Blue but seem to be going into a white phase. This is of Newlyn Harbour and was painted from a day studying the harbour some time ago.Its very difficult making a picture `your own`.So many influences to draw from .So many images frtom galleries visited yet you have to drop that to make it your own.

Oh! my head

Last night I went out with Bob the vicar and some friends from our Church for a pint and a male get together. It was a very friendly enjoyable evening and the time went very quickly. This morning however I feel hung over. I only had two pints but I cant work .Its pouring with rain outside and my senses feel dull. I dislike myself this morning.

Newlyn Docks at Christmas

Newlyn Docks or Newlyn Harbour to be exact is currently a good source of inspiration. I love the Cornish starck black and white coloured boats. Painting like this is however what I call hard line painting . and is very hard work because I am working to sketches and photos. Instead of making it up as it goes along. A day into this painting I realizes there was much hard line work in front of me. I wanted to finish it but was also not doing what I do best which is to let the work bubble up from the unconscious. In a way hard line paintings are easier as you dont have the hard labour of constant creativity. Still I like it.

Nice

Although I live in Penzance I love working on images from my travels.When we went to Nice.=we stayed at the Promenade des Englaise in a hotel called hotel Eden it was a seedy bygone age french gem and was so romantic.The kids loved it too with the sea right across the road so aqua blue.excep the little red stinging jelly fish.

A little break

After a few weeks of intensive work its goor to have a little break.Get some housework done and all the paperwork that piles up.Here is one of the best aof my recent bout

Credit crunch

Its hard being a painter in a time like this. If I was younger and fitter I would find another way to make a living . All the London Galleries have suffered and the cheques have dried up . boo hoo! So what am I going to do. I`m going to concentrate .Thats all I can do .

I went to Godrevy and the Hayle Estuary. It was fresh and pristine and expansive.I painted this picture of my visit

winter landscapes

Its very wet down here in Penzance right now and the skies are gray and gloomy. My studio is damp and its a real stuggle to get togged up to paint . Looking at the wintry skies I`ve come to get around its gloomyness by seeing the sombre colours and enjoying them. Going with the flow rather than against. So, Im painting directly as as see it. less invention and more seeing. It deos feel like i`m learning from scratch a bit but i `m going to stick with it .Theres nothing in my mind going` no` .

Marrakech

Well Ive been away to Marrakech . This is me at the Katoubia which is a 3000 yr old mousqe . I`ve been there twice now . And although I liked the ascetic appeal of the place I really didn`t like being treated like a walking cash machine. Its really a very poor place . I am also very impressed by the astuteness of some of these people at relieving me of my money. I am still reeling from paying a few pounds for a handful of Nigela seeds that I could have bought for pennies in my local market. And a market trader ran after me for money for taking a photo of his stall.And the bloody snake charmer was hardly charming. Still it has it`s appeal . They smile while there robbing you. I took my son Sam this time He`s 12 and we both had an amazing experience.

Cuban Salsa £4 on the door.Regent Pub .Chapel st. PZ

For Penzance this is a little jem for something different. The music is Cuban /Porto Ricanish and the atmosphere is great.Set in the Regent Pub an open plan pub which is a centre for pre club revellers in Penzance at the w end. On Wednesdays it`s a Salsa Club and its great. Go along with or without a partner and chill or dance to the freat music and friendly vibes.

Marrakech.

I never seem to tire of this subject and I`m off to marrakech again in November . This oil has been built up over a long time .I`ve noticed that oil does dull after a while or sink as they call it so going back and reworking an image refreshes it with new colour and completes with ` new eyes`. I tend to cover the canvas with a mixture of linseed and turps when it is dry and I want to rework it .