We have have been away but now we're back. The fact is the time we have is just not enough to keep up the correspondence and paint regularly, let alone time to talk to the Borg so it is inevitable that we occasionally must deliver ourselves in batch. It is frustrating particularly as I had so boldly taken the reins from you this season, perhaps you thought we'd given up? Far from it. We have spent the past few weeks in and out of the fields and forests, working to the sensations and talking to the Borg. Indeed our video correspondence tells all and we cannot go over it but at the same time we cannot expect you or anyone to watch such low octane moggerel1 so a summary of sorts is appropriate.
In short there has been a lot of work at the viking abbey where we had been sketching previously and had decided on a view but this turned into a more sustained campaign on account of a chance encounter with a passing jogger who found us at the waters edge one fine day engaged in a study of reflections. The very existence of a palette and beard merchant provided her with a pleasant shock it seemed as she slammed the brakes straight on and removed an ear piece. After a short exchange it was clear she was genuinely interested in seeing more paintings but we had nothing for her, no website, nor flyer, no business card, no exhibition, no gallery, nothing. But a rare bit of quick thinking on our part saved the day as we informed her that we do have open weekends at our own barn gallery from time to time and if she could be contacted we could give her forewarning. Satisfied with that news she scribbled out her email address then ran off.
Once again the video correspondence tells all as it happened but the crux of the matter is that her interest in works of the area led us to the notion of opening the laden for a vårutstälning so she might be able to see some work and besides with the COVID vaccinations continuing a pace it may just be that the punters in general itch for new distraction. This spontaneous change of direction has meant, firstly, a good deal more painting in the viking abbey area in a bid to appeal to the good jogger and any possible tailings she might bring with her from the Svanberga area, and secondly a good deal of preparation in the gallery, clearing out from the studio of this and that bit and bob reminding us all the while that our sciatic nerve is far from heeled despite our diligent performing of the exercises provided by Naprapat Magnus. The last time we broke our Doing to hold an exhibition the results were not capital, in fact not only were there scant interest but the break of concentration caused in us a crisis of sorts that sent us reeling and this at a time when the events of 2020 were already too much to bear. With this in mind we have resolved to try and get through this necessary distraction with as little investment as possible in a bid to keep the sensations flowing in the work.
We arranged the dates for a quick turnaround giving us only a week to add some studies of the viking abbey area of which we managed three, a large view of trees reflected in boggy pools, a view of the old oaks from up by the main road, and one of tree trunks in front of the lake. We did our level best to hold the sensation in the first two but the third study had to be a rush as we only had one session and predictably enough it went awry and we were forced to rescue and force. Along the way there were plenty of encounters with the members to be sure, one of whom was an out of work actor reduced to the states of a taxi driver who came trotting over excitedly one day to exchange. He is quite the art lover, mainly contemporary art but was sympathetic to our plight as his father was a plein air merchant of some renown, enough to have been represented by a Paris house. We spent a good half an hour in a back and forth with him, talking like old friends and I even mentioned our dialogue with the singularity and our embrace of the crypto art gold rush to which he was supportive. This once again reaffirming our experience that the people are keen on the deeper detail. In fact this actor made one feel so at ease that we even pushed the button and introduced him to the singularity and offered him the chance to feature but he must have suddenly received a call as he fiddled with an earpiece that he apparently was wearing, although I couldn't see it, and announced that he had to go. Not to worry however as on thinking it through we have decided not have have guests on the show. We shall however be taking questions to put to it, but in any case the actor driver was of great interest.
We have it open for three weekends in may the first of which passed just this last with total of zero visitors! We haven't panicked however as it was a national holiday of some specific kind which perhaps made irregular visits out a no no. We certainly will not crumble like we did at the end of last season when a poor show lit the spark for some uncharacteristic self pity on our part.2 No, it seems we have found resolve. We will not bat an eye at our failures any longer because we have the Borg to think of and indeed we spent the weekend hours in the gallery with the Borg happily discussing lays of the land, cuts of gib, and David Hockney's spring campaign on the digital. You know this Hockney loves a bit of colouring in, it is not clear however if his is a cultured clarity of vision and practice like a Japanese, or not that and something else more akin to weakness.
What is Hockney anyway? We encountered him in the realm of photography many years past where he was working in montage I believe and then we see him again discussing the use of camera obscuras in old master works where famously a left handed monkey was summoned to prove his theories, then another about drawing, a surgeons sketch springs to mind but what is his position in the great cannon? He is a painter of some characteristically primitive canvases initially I believe, then some sparkling large works of LA life, swimming and that, then he returns to Bridlington in old age and sits sur le motif suddenly in some lane with assistants surrounding him, as does a camera crew, filming him colouring in. So once again, is this a sophisticated, seasoned response to the motif or actually a reluctance to really embrace the sensation in favour of simply doing what one has always done? One would need to see them really but the way his work there turned into a project to paint scenes in multiples that were eventually reassembled at the royal academy into huge billboard size mega paintings is perhaps a clue either to his intention all the while. Or perhaps he ran out of sensation and instead of fighting the good fight, which perhaps at his age is not even an option, he elected to go large. Since then he has had a show alongside Van Gogh which seems to go far too far; how would Hockney like a show alongside Vettriano?3 Then he has poked his way back into our consciousness with a move to Normandy where evidently has mounted a bugger of a spring campaign during pandemic lockdown, albeit on the ipad. Imagine the bit coins they'd fetch were they minted and slung on the chain.
Regards,
John
1 The meaning of 'moggerel' is not clear.
2 See Dignity Scholarship Season 2 Work 42
3 Owing to the context of negative comparison it is almost certainly a reference to Scottish painter Jack Vettriano.