Stuck on you...

No I am not quoting Lionel Richie lyrics (OK maybe I am) but describing how I feel about the most recent addition and gesture of admiration for Emily Allchurch's 'Tokyo Story' series. The artist Ben Wilson has created one of his wonderful miniature paintings dedicated to the series on some chewing gum on the pavement outside the gallery. I was not there when the creation took place (sadly as I would love to see him in action) but understand that it took hours. He has found a fabulous legal loophole, whereby the criminal damage is done by the person who chewed the gum, not the artist painting upon it! If he painted directly onto the pavement then this would be a crime, but of course he doesn't! This is not to say he hasn't come into contact with the law, but good luck to him. I really hope he comes to the 'In Conversation' with Emily Allchurch tomorrow evening ( Wed 13th April) at 6.30pm as I would love to meet him and introduce him to her personally. If you are out there Ben feel free to drop by. The picture here was taken with my phone, I promise to update with a better one soon.

(TSATTF) There's something about things that fly... Part 1

So as many of you already know I collect (amongst other things) things that fly, birds, planes, helicopters.... These come in many forms, mostly photographic prints but also other things.

It has come to my attention recently that I was in fashion (OH NO) as it seems birds are all the rage at the moment. I'm sure this will pass as with all trends, but it is great to see birds everywhere so I have decided to start a flying series of blogs as I have taken so many pictures and come across so many related flying things it seems a shame not to share them.

The first is from Melbourne at Port Melbourne to be precise. I spent the day on the beach with my better half Mat, & observed the seagulls. Seagulls are always taken for granted, but if you really look at them closely they are so beautiful. It always amazes me how white their white feathers are, the way they hover & circle, what fun it must be to see the world from those angles.

They came very close and also settled down in the sand & seaweed on the beach. I made a few quick drawings of them as you can see here. Note the colour of the paper I draw on. As with many arty endeavours it can be intimidating facing the blank white page. I avoid this by drawing on paper of varying colours when travelling & I can clip several colours together to sift through on location. Using the traditional sketch book (hate the word 'sketch' it implies something trivial) is a nice way to keep it all together but if you want to separate one drawing or more from the rest it ruins the book. A nice archival box labelled by date, subject etc is much easier to keep track of.

Like people they move in their own way, it is hard not to anthropomorphise them. When I was much younger (16) my GCSE thesis was on Leonardo Da Vinci's studies of bird flight. His drawings are still in my humble opinion the best studies ever made, as the number & detail alone is hard to argue with.

Beginning this blog series with the simple birds we are familiar with & venturing into graphic design, art, painting, objects, jewellery, illustration & more it is a haze of feathers as far as the eye can see....

Each post will have a different title but numbered for my reference should I loose track. I will expand to include great photographic examples also, so for the photographer's amongst you dear readers do not despair...