As an artist who can let their imagination get the best of them, it’s no surprise that sometimes things can get out of hand…
Many months ago now, possibly even years ago, I was working on this painting when an errant idea popped into my head which managed to satisfy the Muse and derail my entire train of thought. Needless to say I needed to please the Muse which meant me putting this canvas aside to work on my shiny new idea.
There it lay until just recently whilst having a rummage around for an entirely unrelated item and it appears in my hands. For now, I’ve got no idea where I was heading with this piece so any suggestions would be welcome. Otherwise I’ll just have to wait until the Muse has finished with Margaret, aged 9 from Dumfries, who has some Christmas based art homework to finish for tomorrow…
The longer you’re in this art game the more players you happen to meet. From other artists, to gallery owners, to marketing experts, to events organisers, to government officials, to journalists, to fans and even paper suppliers and today we’re talking about the last one.
Knowing someone in the paper game means that if we’re very good boys occasionally we get a very welcome present of off cuts and bits that can no longer be sold but absolutely perfect for a pair of art cowboys like ourselves. Yeehaw!!
That’s exactly what we received from our paper pusher, an amazing collection of high quality paper. In return they’ll definitely be getting some sort of reward as primo paper really is a big thing for the pair of us. Lastly, all that has to happen is our very own Lillian, feline head of procurement has to check all incoming goods and sign off, which after a quick inspection, she did. Now we just need to find the muse and get some new work knocked out…
Eva had quite a different lockdown to the rest of us. Rather than just collect her furlough money and play Xbox for months she decided to better herself. Through some decidedly dodgy forums she found a place in Russia that would help you to improve your mental skills in 3 months or your money back. And we’re not talking Sudoku or crosswords here we’re talking telepathy, psionic abilities and telekinesis.
Now she could move objects with her mind and bend others to her will and she was really quite looking forward to her upcoming chat with her boss about pay and a possible promotion…
In reality Eva has been languishing in development hell for the last 3 years. She was started and never completed until recently the Muse gave me the nod to get this Eva finished. The application of some gold, some wavy black lines and some carefully placed splodges of black ink was all it took but I’ve found it’s better not to rush these things.
Whilst painting I managed to spill my cup of tea. Usually a catastrophe of such proportions would cause me to curl up in the fetal position and start crying over the waste of such lovely nectar. This time however, before my tear ducts could react, I saw something in the spill.
Before I knew it the Muse was upon me and I searched frantically for a pencil lest my creative urge abandoned me. After about a long minute of searching I found one behind my ear (damn those days spent on building sites) now all I had to do was a few quick lines and the Muse disappeared to relieve Molly Quirke (age 9) of a small case of creative block related to drawing a horse.
Whilst scratching my head one day trying to find the Muse I decided to jump on the interweb to do a bit of research on the old girl herself. To my astonishment I found out she has 8 siblings. Imagine that. Not just that but their parents were Zeus and Mnemosyne who, as I’m sure we all know, are the God of Gods and the Goddess of Memory. Now if that isn’t a parental power couple i don’t know what is. The story goes that Zeus and Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights, thus birthing the nine Muses. The muses supposedly are Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (music), Erato (lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy) and Urania (astronomy).
The reason I say supposedly is because for one there is no muse of artists and that’s who I keep taking instruction from and I’m pretty sure the muse I get popping in to my head is called ‘Techno’ or at least that’s what i think she’s called. Hmmm. Perhaps all the mercury in this cheap paint is getting to me after all…
She’s on A4 paper and made using the power of Pencil, watercolour and charcoal. Drop us a line if interested.
Sometimes, when you’ve run out of paper but the Muse is still riding you like a seaside donkey there’s nowt for it but to grab whatever is at hand and set to work. A newspaper advert for an estate agents was the selected canvas and a slightly sinister face in black and white was the preferred image. Don’t ask me why because I really don’t know. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. If only I can find where I’ve put this then it may eventually makes it way to the Wheatpaste Department and then onto the street – unless someone demands it in their life. Which would be a bit odd. But stranger things have happened at sea. Or so they say.
Sometimes the muse works in mysterious ways. There I was working on two separate pieces of art which, after realising the similarities between them, decided should become part of a larger triptych. The only trouble then was that they needed a third unifying part that would (hopefully) allow them all to make sense as a whole. This meant it was back to the drawing board to scratch my head for a whilst waiting for this magical third section to materialise in my mind’s eye.
Nothing but dandruff came out of this scalp relaxation session until the other half of id-iom walked passed me and nonchalantly came out with a most cromulent quote that seemed to hit the nail squarely on the head. Not bothering to stop or change course he just sauntered along to do whatever he was doing in the first place but that inspiration was all i need to get the piece finished.
Considering the pieces originally had no order and the middle section was the final piece of the puzzle it seems a particularly fitting quote.
Cheers
id-iom
Title: The last thing one discovers…
Materials: Paint pen, acrylic, ink, charcoal, Tipp Ex and Spray paint
Did you know that a group of tigers is known as a ‘streak’ or ‘ambush’. Which is probably a fitting name for them because by the time you’ve noticed them I reckon they’ve either streaked past or ambushed you. They are the largest of the big cats, the third largest land carnivore (after the polar bear and brown bear) and are surely the epitome of danger and grace. I’m no expert but i’m pretty sure William Blake was thinking similar thoughts when he put pen to paper with his poem, The Tyger:
I’ve somehow woken up today with an awful cold but that hasn’t stopped me from doing a little art, it cures the soul apparently. So even if it isn’t going to get rid of my cold it will clear my soul. I’ll take whatever I can get at the moment to tell you the truth. Sometimes when I’m writing these posts the Muse just deserts me and I’m left wondering how to fill a small paragraph or two. Today would be a pertinent example of it.
You can probably tell as I’m halfway into my second paragraph and I’m still prattling nonsense unrelated to the picture above. This picture was in fact a small experiment at a more sketchy style stencil using a limited colour palette. I just thought a simple picture of a pretty girl would do it, no need to wallow in grimy hate filled pictures today, it just doesn’t seem right. There, whilst not under the Muse’s direct control and a little bit ill, that’s about the best I can come out with. It’s not funny, merely related information about the piece. I can also tell you that it’s hopefully to be used as a part of a larger piece but was initially done to see how the style would look once it’s sprayed. That’s all I can manage. Even I know when it’s time to quit so cheery bye for today…
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