…as I frequently do,
(I love his literal and thorough observations of everyday surroundings and possessions, and that he can cover several pages with nothing but a list of items and it is still fascinating to read.)
(and his hair and googly eyes, obviously)
…anyhow, as I was saying: Perusing George Perec in my lunch-break I came across this at the end of a lengthy, detailed description of the contents of a cellar (‘Life: A User’s Manual’ p153/155), and it struck a cord…(see below)
”The Altamonts’ cellar, clean, tidy, and neat: from floor to ceiling, shelving and pigeonholes labelled in large, legible letters. A place for everything and everything in its place……
….To the far right, finally, between the wall and the door… …comes the maintenance, cleansing, and miscellaneous supplies section: stacks of floorcloths, cartons of washing powder, detergents, descaling liquid, bleach products for unblocking waste pipes, supplies of ammonia bleach, sponges, products for polishing floors, cleaning windows, shining brass, untarnishing silver, for brightening glassware, floortiles, and linoleum, broomheads, Hoover bags, candles, spare matches, piles of electric batteries, coffee filters, soluble asprin with added vitamin C, candle bulbs for chandeliers, razor blades, cheap Eau de Cologne in litre bottles, soap, shampoo, cottonwool, cottonbuds, emery nailfiles, ink cartridges, beeswax, paint pots, dressings for minor cuts, insecticides, firelighters, dustbin liners, flints for cigarette lighters, and kitchen paper rolls.”
The cord it struck was, of course, this one….
‘Reverence’(Significant Accumulations) rsw2010
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The Friendly Fork…
My favourite one of my paintings of the last year, ‘The Friendly Fork’, inspired by my Aunt’s silver cutlery and Alan Bennett’s words:
‘’Note how personalised and peopled the material world is at a level almost beneath scrutiny. I’m thinking of the cutlery in the drawer or the crockery I every morning empty from the dishwasher. Some wooden spoons, for instance, I like, think of as friendly, others impersonal or without character. Some bowls are favourites; others I have no feeling for at all. There is the friendly fork, a bad knife and a blue and white plate that is thicker than the others which I think of as taking a kick if I discriminate against it by using it less.’’ Alan Bennett, ‘Untold Stories’
The first time I read those words I exclaimed out loud to the book ‘YES! That’s exactly what I’m on about!’
This Friendly Fork and its friends have sold, and are now hanging in their new (beautiful) surroundings…..
The Friendly Fork…
My favourite one of my paintings of the last year, ‘The Friendly Fork’, inspired by my Aunt’s silver cutlery and Alan Bennett’s words:
‘’Note how personalised and peopled the material world is at a level almost beneath scrutiny. I’m thinking of the cutlery in the drawer or the crockery I every morning empty from the dishwasher. Some wooden spoons, for instance, I like, think of as friendly, others impersonal or without character. Some bowls are favourites; others I have no feeling for at all. There is the friendly fork, a bad knife and a blue and white plate that is thicker than the others which I think of as taking a kick if I discriminate against it by using it less.’’ Alan Bennett, ‘Untold Stories’
The first time I read those words I exclaimed out loud to the book ‘YES! That’s exactly what I’m on about!’
This Friendly Fork and its friends have sold, and are now hanging in their new (beautiful) surroundings…..
'Catch 22' looking happy in its new surroundings :-)
This commission I recently finished and delivered looks very happy in it’s new surroundings. Fabulous to paint such an extra-long shelf portrait, thank you Carol!
”Roo, I want you to know how delighted I am with my shelf portrait. It’s even better than I had hoped! It really is a portrait of my life, from books reminding me of my grandfather, parents, friends, school and university days, my working life and my children. Thank you so much!
Best wishes, Carol”
New stock for Frivoli Gallery…
A trip to London last week to deliver new paintings to Frivoli Gallery
Also a fascinating visit to the London Aquarium (bow mouth guitar fish was hands-down favourite, like a ray morphing into a shark got stuck half way!!! …and gob-smacking theatre experience at The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time. Amazing production, set and performance!!!
Fab-Womad 2016
Great weather, masses of music, many interested and interesting visitors to the stall. Altogether a fabulous Womad 2016 🙂
WOMAD 2016 Charlton Park here we come…
All packed and ready to load for Womad 2016! Come and see us at Kate Rhodes Jewellery, where I will be selling art-prints of my Shelf-Portrait paintings
Not the Royal Academy…
See three of my paintings at Llewellyn Alexander‘s fabulous exhibition, positively crammed with fine paintings!! On until August 20th….
‘Shakespeare’rsw2016 oil on canvas:
‘Cultch 1’rsw2016 oil on canvas:
and ‘Cultch 2’rsw2016 oil on canvas:
New little penguins at Frivoli Gallery…
A trip down to London to deliver three new little penguins paintings to Frivoli in Chiswick, where they join the lovely window display of my larger work….
A very enjoyable and successful Open Studios weekend
What a lovely weekend!
Hebden Bridge was buzzing, full of arts festival entertainments, and Northlight Art Studios was busy and full of life!
There were lots of stories shared in my space. I find that people viewing my paintings do tend to start connecting and talking about their own books/stories/lives – it is fascinating, and a joy!!
