Journal Pages from Europe

A page from the journal I kept on my journey around Europe. 

From this second storey window above Rue Richer, I observed Paris. There was an old man who sat opposite in the entrance to the Passage Verdeau. Each day he arrived at 8.00am and left at 7.00pm, and in a quiet and deeply respectful manner, accepted the loose coins of passerbys. He was to engage me in a way that I hadn't expected. 

‘Meeting Gerard’ (114.5 x 76.5 cm) Charcoal, Pastel, Graphite on Paper

Struggling, I went to the subterranean bookshop at the Louvre, looking for some artistic nourishment.

Hidden away on the shelves in the back corner, was one particular book. A hard covered catalogue of recent works by a French painter, Gerard Garouste. A million books and I stumbled across this one, or it found me.

His paintings resonated and shared a sensibility akin to my work. Stories about his life, constructed with pathos and humour, and a keen eye for subtle and intriguing distortions. Work that endeavoured to make sense of all that had gone before.

It was to be profound.

Later that night in my room above Rue Richer. Isolation like never before.

“I Watch The Time, For What It's Worth” (114.5 x 76.5cm) Charcoal, Pastel, Graphite on Paper

Back at the hotel, 

my small room had a television with the time displayed on the bottom corner. As the numbers rolled over, I calculated her celestial movements back around the earth, until the moment she landed.

Movie Moments (Time To Leave) (114.5cm x 76.5cm) Charcoal, Pastel and Graphite on Paper

Finally it was time for her to leave.

It was midday when Wendy disappeared up the futuristic glass tunnels of the Aeroport Charles De Gaulle. Heart-wrenching, tear-jerker moments like these were only to be experienced in movies.

I stoically turned and walked off into Paris. I was filled with an overwhelming sense of being alone, immense isolation. 

"The Parisian Story" (114.5 x 76.5cm) Charcoal, Pencil, Graphite on Paper

“A girl slouched by outside the glass, hooking my attention as surely as if she’d grabbed my lapels. With her bruised indigo eyes, pale flesh, crumpled jeans and bulky sweater, she might have been the younger sister of the singer Juliette Greco, Existentialism's poster girl, who, ravishing in bare feet, matador pants and a droopy black pullover, posed for a famous photograph 40 years ago on the cobbles of the square outside. 

This girl’s long white fingers clamped the point of a folded pyramid of white paper, inside which, any Parisian could have told you, nestled two warm croissants au beurre. They’d have known with equal certainty, from her sullen look and uncombed hair, that she wore neither pants nor bra.

Single handedly she constituted an entire Parisian story...”

‘At Peace With Paris’

John Baxter

"L'adoration" (116cm x 200cm) Charcoal, Pastel, Graphite on Paper

An afternoon in the Pompidou Centre, wandering around the 20th century works, and I stumbled upon Picabia's "L'adoration du veau" (Adoration to Veal). Why is it that some works just grab you by the throat and shake? His painting has nothing to do with virgins or saints, but features a clutch of reaching hands grabbing for an austere and disinterested bovine. It hooked me. I loved it.

Double click on it and look carefully. You will find references to the Brisbane floods, the death of my beautiful dog that week, and an inventory of all the CDs I played that subliminally influenced the work as I ventured into it. And then there's the frustration and adoration.

A work this size takes me about 3 weeks to complete (9 days of 8 hours each day) Toward the latter stages, a great deal of that time is sitting in a large chair and studying it, fine tuning, pushing and pulling, lightening and darkening, enhancing 3D. And then at some moment, it just works!

JR's TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside out | Video on TED.com

JR's TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside out | Video on TED.com

Just every now and then, someone in the world of art moves me to spontaneous tears. Their cleverness, their passion, their vision challenges. I become quite introspective about my own work, and question my inventiveness and the degree I have to go to to get noticed / make an impact.

This is 24 minutes of one man's joyous vision, beautiful images and romantic dialect, as he endeavours to change the world through Art. 

Enjoy and respond!

New Work Experiences

I got to a point where I wasn't feeling satisfied with the size of the previous work, so I went out and bought a 100 metre roll of brown paper, 220 gsm, and rolled out a two metre length, stretched it over my drawing board, and then the fun began!
Above is my first practice drawing, with me in it to give a sense of scale. Once more the Euro experience is to the fore. I have a new sense of freedom, but will continue telling the story in words and pictures of my European adventure on this site.

‘Electric Madonna’ (114.5 x 76.5cm) Charcoal, Pastel, Graphite on Paper

Late one night in Siena, I came across the Virgin Mary standing silently in front of a small church. Her halo lit up the surrounds of the immediate street. It was a beaming electric circle of blue fluorescence. A brazen flash of modernity amidst the elegant  antiquity of this most beautiful town. 

(What was God thinking when he created Mary, the mother of his most perfect son? Beneath that long, dull, brown sack cloth, was there the perfect body?)