25) Approach to the Olympic, pencil on paper
I have grounded myself in the yard these last few days as promised1 and this evening I began to feel like Doing so I took a view of the Olympic on a whopper of a spring tide. Later that same evening the water flooded the yard right up to Polish Martin's fiberglass unit!!2 and those who know in the yard say its the highest tide in years due mainly to low pressure and high winds, indeed the foreground patch of land in the drawing was a full meter under water just three hours after I set my pencil down. Whats more we have a series of three 5.93 tides so that makes two more to come. Water that high is medicine to us all in the yard, a special time and doubly so when it peaks of an evening. It creates in one a feeling that is primordial, I have never felt it before.
In addition the water will provide a far better angle to snatch a view from the aft deck of the row of shapely trees which I have always wanted to tackle but have alas been obscured by nasty Kieth's eclipse4 for the past six weeks. I'll set to it
tomorrow and if it goes well perhaps a series? I could even venture to the breakwater barges where you can follow trees all the way to St John.5
Not much else to report other than a request for you to reconsider your decision regards the Occupy Plymouth painting.6 Surely now is the perfect time to unleash a political picture after the Carbielle reverse?7
With outstretched hand,
John
Perhaps something of interest regards that quote from Negri I shoehorned in to work 23.8 You know it is strikingly similar to something Cezanne said: "Our art must shock nature into permenance together with all components and manifestations of change." Just substitute art for critique and bobs your uncle; a nice little correlation; our contemporary stasis and the origins of modernism. You see I must remind myself that uncovering this sort of titbit is part of my work at TAS, but to tell an honest I find myself wondering, whats the use? Lets hope my pessimism can be put down to a post Carbielle malaise.
25) Approach to the Olympic, pencil on paper
1 John remained in the boatyard for three days following a traumatic experience suffered while out painting. See Work 24.
2 An area of the yard approximately 30 meters from the Olympic.
3 Refers to tidal measurements, 5.9 meters is the highest tide in the of the year in Torpoint.
4 A nick name for one of the neighbouring boats see work 14 a, paragraph 2, line 6.
5 A nearby village. See work 2.
6 The Torpoint Art Service Residency Agreement states that all works must be created in the Torpoint area and works from reproductions are not permitted. We have already bent the rules to allow for John to pursue his portrait painting business.
7 Refers to work 24. John was mocked by a large group of people while painting at the Carbielle Inn.
8 See work 23, paragraph 9, line 13 for the Negri quote. See work 17 note 4 where John uses the same Cezanne quote in a different context. It is probable that while making the link to Negri John has forgotten this earlier use of the quote.