Abstract Art

My solo exhibition, Chromophilia, was held at the Evegate Art Gallery from 3 to 24 December 2016. Works are on paper and wood. The gallery is open from 1000 to 1500 Monday to Saturday (but not Sundays). Evegate Art Gallery is in the Evegate Business Park, which includes retail shops and restaurants. It is located […]

Departing from my usual commentary on arts subjects, I would like to let folks know that I have been accepted into the 2016-17 Turps Art School Correspondence Course.  This will be a challenging opportunity and I look forward to working with my mentor/tutor. At this time, I don’t know who the other artists are in […]

Marion Milner, a celebrated child psychoanalyst wrote of her own creative anxieties in her book On Not Being Able to Paint (Heineman, 1950, but still available). Fear is embedded in much of the writing on creativity, mainly because creativity is a public expression of internal life. It is a form of exposure, and ever mindful […]

“Hinge-point: the social media and technology revolution in the art world” Originally published in Art of England, Issue 65, 2010. Reproduced with permission. Recently, I went to an exhibit of a friend, who with colleagues, produced a piece called “Cases” using iPod videos as an installation probing the nature of health and the senses – […]

“where do you go to my lovely when you’re alone in your bed?” (title from the song with lyrics by Peter Sarstedt, 1969, listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRDaeLs69i4 ) Originally publised in Art of England, Issue 76, 2011. Reproduced with permission. Fantasy, imagination and dreaming have been acknowledged sources of artistic inspiration as well as […]

“Frankenfolks” can be artists too!” Originally published in Art of England, Issue 86, 2011. Reproduced with permission. Are older people curiosities, especially the long-lived? Do we see them as ‘marvellous’ simply for their fact of survival. Perhaps instead, we trap others in the medico-social web of nursing homes, expensive end-of-life care, and dependency on others. […]

“There’s an app for that” Originally published in Art of England, Issue 79, 2011. Reproduced with permission. The last roll of Kodachrome film was shot by photographer Steve McCurry, and developed in the last place, apparently on Earth that has the equipment, a drug store in Kansas. Kodachrome represented a way of seeing, it was […]

“The Vampire Art Schools” Originally published in Art of England, Issue 75, 2010. Reproduced with permission. Someone said once (probably Adam Smith) that teachers should be paid after the lecture. Based on the recent National Student Survey, “academic artists” employed at some arts schools would be hard pressed to pay their rent. Of the 154 […]

“On Learning to Steal” Originally published in Art of England, Issue 77, 2011. Reproduced with permission. I was watching some students in a gallery the other day, planted in front of a variety of different paintings, with sketch books. They appeared to be copying the paintings. What exactly is the point of this, I wondered? […]

“Censorship and Arts” Originally published in Art of England, Issue 28, 2011. Reproduced with permission. Who would have thought the real cyber-war would be fought over freedom of speech as we see the WikiLeaks saga unfold. This got me to thinking about censorship more generally and how the arts have fared in this respect especially […]