Just a quick note to say I hope you have or had a good new year celebration!

Modern art

I hope a fine Christmas was had by all. I have had to rethink my feelings on modern art over the holidays. It's as much a label thing as anything else. In one of my art books there is a dry stone wall sculpture that wends it's way through the forest. I can appreciate it as an ex countryside ranger and as an artist. It is very impressive. The art I have a problem with is like that below:

I'm not sure what it's meant to be or what it's label is (I'd call it simplistic nothingness. But maybe I'm missing something and I am guilty of making little planets

Energy

Hi all, hope you had a good Christmas. Sometimes it's difficult to work up the energy to do something isn it? It's especially true  after the holidays. Best thing to do is to get dressed up and get out into the wilds. You might have snow where you are and will take little encouragement to get out in it. Go on, get out there and act like a kid! The weather hear is dry and bright with a crisp coldness: wonderful weather for a walkabout. You've got the advantage of there being no leaves on the trees, so do keep an eye upward for interesting birds. You never know what you mjght see at this time of year.

What are you all doing for New Year's Eve? I'll be going out for a  drink or two then back to the farm and down to my favourite place in the woods,  by the river with a little fire and a few drinks, withe my radio tuned to tell me the time. A bit strange perhaps, but I've never been accused of being normal! Why not post what you have planned!

Sometimes you forget!

I'm a keen, if unskilled artist and get all the art magazines and loads of books hoping the knowledge will float from the page into my addled brain. 

I was merrily reading artist magazine and came to the letters page. One letter caught my attention and I thought the bloke was in a very similar position and of similar beliefs. I looked at the name of the correspondent to send in a response and there it was; my name in black and white!

Depressio

I suffer from depression, which is largely controlled by tablets. Having a hip replacement and fluid on my knees doesn't help and no I'm not very old I got a bone disease called vascular necrosis. I have generally been feeling relatively happy of late and have enjoyed my involvement with art. However I have suffered from odd stretches of melancholy.I think I may have found the cause-it's when I have painter's block and cannot think of anything to paint. This was not helped by a disastrous oil painting:I was too impatient to let the colours turn dry to the touch before painting the next layer. My lesson learned I now have an oil and acrylic on the go at the same time and for some reason it has taken this long to realise that the internet provides a rich source of material…my mood has improved greatly.

Foxes

I was just pottering today as I've twisted my knee. It made me think how fit I was when I was  a ranger, but I was not a magician as some people thought. I was sat in my office when a man phoned and told me he had a family of foxes in his garden. I , being naive thought he was telling me as a point of interest. I couldn't believe it when he asked me if I could move them. Only just keeping a straight face I pointed out that this would not be possible. I called someone I know in the wildlife trust and his response was much the same as mine-think himself lucky. There is a wild animal repellant available in garden centres and I said he could fence his garden he told me the property was much too large. It made me wonder how such a nitwit could afford a large house?

I Can't Draw

I can't draw. That's what I used to tell people if they asked. Any artistic expression was through the medium of words; prose rather than poetry. Happily writing for magazines I just accepted that I would never be able to draw or paint.

Then a friend on Facebook put me in her Art Group and we had discussions on various art and I became interested in optical illusions like those of Escher and Robert Gonsalves. This naturally went on to become a near obsession with visual art. I wished and wished I could draw, then I read in one of my art books that we are all artists from being young but some continue and others don't. In addition, while there is definitely a natural talent within some art is like most subjects, the body and mind can be trained and practiced and you will be surprised how quickly you improve. Now I do  watercolour, gouache, acrylic, pastel, pencil and I have an oil set that I am preparing myself for as I find it a little intimidating. If you really want to draw have a go and practice. Don't worry how it appears it will improve and if you're sitting, waiting for something or have a long train journey it's wonderful to be able to flip open your drawing pad and start doodling!

Solitude or Reflection

Taking this photo of John Martin's resulted in an interesting effect of the gallery behind and no reflection of the photo taker (my dad) above the legs... Anyone figure out what the other paintings are?

Strange!

Agalmatophilia  

            This is a fairly rare, but unfortunate affliction, which can lead to not only (most certainly) unrequited sexual desire, but total destruction of your reputation, or the creation of a new reputation, depending on how you look at it.

            Agalma is from the Greek for statue and philia, of course meaning love. The sufferer of this condition, proclivity, perversion, call it what you will is basically turned on by inanimate objects. I don’t mean washing machines (we all know about their popularity), or tables or chairs. Nor do I mean inanimate images of a sexual nature. I refer, more specifically to human shaped things: statues, dolls mannequins, scarecrows. It is also known as Pygmalionism; named for the play by Ovid, in which the protagonist falls in love with a beautiful statue.

            Because of this the practise it has been argued that agalmatophilia represents a quest for purity and perfection, so raising it above the other erotic pleasures. The same cannot be said about the more common forms, of which there are three. Firstly there is the (mostly female) practice of using a doll or statue in pleasuring herself or abusing herself, depending how you look at it. I hear the cries of ‘What about inflatable ladies?’ I shall come to that in a moment. The subject with which we are currently concerned involves the use of a model of an adored person, somebody unattainable in the flesh, or it may be the nearest long hard object to hand used in a very personal way.

            The second version, and one that is well known, and if the market standing and production is anything to go by, is very popular, is that (mostly male) activity of using a doll to replace a real woman. One can, of course purchase items designed specifically for the task. But it has not always been so. Particularly in rural areas the doll would be made of straw or something soft, dressed in women’s clothing and include a soft, penetrable object, in many cases an eviscerated chicken. There is a story from Bresse in France where a young lady had to be comforted because of her husband’s night-time forays. Apparently he would head off into the fields with a fresh chicken to visit the local scarecrows.

            In the third instance the object is not a statue or a doll, but a person who remains perfectly still. In most cases it is the male that is active and the female passive, although the roles may be reversed. Whatever, the basis of the situation is that one partner feigns helplessness against the advances of their partner. It is common for the passive partner to be painted white to resemble ivory or marble. A good example is provided by a lady of the nobility, who shall remain nameless. She arranges the more athletic of her footmen into a gathering of immobile human statues, supporting fruits and pastries for her guests. Her claim that this is merely an extension of her artistic surroundings and nature is quite seriously disproved as she thrashes those footmen that have moved, and indulges here considerable carnal desire on those who have put on a good show. It really does take the old joke about the shop dummy and the electric drill to a new level.