11) Self Portrait
It comes as no suprise that an artistic venture such as this falls short financially1 and I have been ready to switch to drawing in that event but how ironic it is that this news should reach me on the very day I discovered a chink of light that may show us the way out of our financial straights.
Did I not assure you of progress? Today the Torpoint Art Service recieved a portrait comission! A double portrait in fact. Of Ana, who used to run the yard cafe, and her partner Micheal, both Polish. Ana has a pleasant air about her but its just a mask I fancy, there is something dark and dramatic in there too. She throws sausages on the grill like Nastassya Filippovna throwing roubles on the fire2. Micheal quite the opposite. A wondefully phlegmatic tempo to him with no hint of anything inside - good people nice couple.
I got talking to Micheal earlier about a venture in business of theirs - the Millbay Cafe in plymouth. Micheal was countering at the boatyard cafe until they can sell it on, Ana meanwhile deals with the ravanous contruction workers working on the new school of performing arts building that is being built right opposite the Millbay.
As we exchanged I told him all about the Torpoint Art Service and our rationale of breakage, he was interested and kept saying in his thick Polish accent, "thats nice, very nice". Then he says to me in hushed tone "this Torpoint Art Service, can you paint people?" Portraits, Yes of corse, I said, and Micheal whipped out his device and showed me a reproduction of himself and Ana, both facing forward, his arm around her pulling her gently in. He towers above her. "How much for this"?
Here I'm affraid I sold us slightly short as I bluted out £75. The price for a professional oil portrait in Plymouth is £1000 but this is our first one and I have not turned out a portrait for many years3 and then it was mainly self portraits. In any case I wanted to be sure to secure the commission for the morale boost alone and these £75 can go towards the better colour or the future unit.4
As soon as a price was agreed I rushed straight down to the fish hold, grabbed a piece of ply wood that my daughter has been using and knocked off this wretched self portrait study. If I were in it for more than £75 I would do a few more in preparation but its best to push straight on with the job. Is it too far to think this could be our way to cover costs?
I'll set to drawing then for the next week and the week after if you need me to. It will be good for me, I'm actually keen for the chance of experimenting to see how what I have learnt in painting plays out in drawing.
You see I'm not fretting about it...to the drawing board!
------------------------------------------------------------------Yours
----------------------------------------------------------------------John
1 A problem with the IDS fund temporarily put the project in jepordy.
2 A reference to a scene in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot in which the principle heroine, Nastasya Filipovna, spitefully throws a package containing 100,000 rubles on the fire.
3 John's last portrait was a self-portrait in 2006.
4 Refers to the idea of renting a shipping container for use as a studio and display space. See Work 5) View Of Thanckes Park, paragraph 4.