Sunday 27 June 2010

From the Notebook of Prade the Figgis






2nd of August


For my own entertainment, I wept today. Shut up me for wimbling on, gasping. Afraid to bend for three days with broken, crossed-out eyes, and looking very shifty. Figgis. Merging uncertainly with columbine, spiders creepy crawling. Off with me to the lanky tree line, careful not to step upon bending grasses. How long did it take me, Prade the Figgis, whilst wallowing in the meagre satchel?



3rd of August


Concubine, tuft and trumpton are all good words to use when talking to grasses. It is one of life’s greatest pleasures to listen to their music and to embrace the topsy-turvy images they conjure up. Figgy me. Last night I tangled and wrangled in the emotional threads of someone else’s brain fever and now feel the need to voice my concerns, but to whom? My day undulated with the fall out and I wonder whether I should be sitting in that special space. I’m waiting for the marshes to dissipate, waiting to disappear.



5th of August


I’ve been fly catching – not a pretty sight. Flummoxing around like a fool, blurting out. At odds with myself actually. On recollecting, mustering up, pre-fabricating I must hover. Poor rabbit, he drew near but only because he was dying – his nose bitten. Forgotten in a bed of thistle down. I called over to the goats and they came and kissed me – beautiful it was. They climbed up to show me their ancient horns. I touched them and wondered whether they were forever. I think so Figgis.



6th of August


Gérard Depardieu has also got a big nose. He blew it hard one day and I felt it from here.



8th of August


Been busy. Squabbled with myself when I awoke, then thought of nothing while I filtered through soil with my fingers. I toyed with the idea of erecting a monocle until the jezebel hussy ripped through from the other side, sounding like wind whipping through ice sheets. Shivering insect rhythms. I can tell no one about this, apart from my big toe who is a very good listener. Meanwhile, a wood pigeon flew my way. He fluttered and whistled, turning at a steep angle. Seeking refuge from my gaze in nearby branches. Quite an uncanny manoeuvre I thought, I must have made him start. Flap, flap.




Prade the Figgis

oil on board, 50 x 50 cm








Some thoughts about creating this painting


I  approach painting with the spirit of adventure.  I enjoy engaging with what emerges on the board. Especially when a painting is unplanned and develops through a process of refinement, thoughtfully.

Seeking a dialogue with it is part of that refinement process. "Who are you?" Is a question I often ask. The perceived answer in this particular case is, "Prade the Figgis." Prade by name and Figgis by nature. A kind of faun, if you will. I want to inhabit this being and his surroundings. 

In the way one can anticipate a melody and feel where a tune is heading, this is how I follow my imagination; and the more credence I give, the more perceptible the response.

I began the painting after a long walk in Waltham St Lawrence where I encountered the goat in the photograph below.




Friday 25 June 2010

Twilight Shift - Lucha Underground

 


Lucha Underground at the Resistance Gallery was, quite frankly, beyond my wildest dreams. It's full speed ahead on the visual feast. Sexy. Exciting. Mad. A truly spirited evening.  I put together this TWILIGHT SHIFT  as a memento of the occasion with the photographs I took that night, accompanied by my composition.

I've written parts for Sarah Anne Robins (flute) and Robert Schuck (clarinet) on several pieces. They bring great warmth to my music. I particularly admire their improvisations, I think they really enhance the atmosphere of the tune. The Turkish Nay which Robert plays, in particular, adds a wonderful layer of spooky mist.

Here is more Lucha Britannia talent.













































Philip Bedwell . Marnie Scarlet . Tammy Torture . Benjamin Louche . 
Garry Vanderhorne . Shiro Yoshida . Miranda Barrie . Jonathan Ross

RESISTANCE GALLERY 265 Poyser Street Bethnal Green London E2 9RF

Wednesday 16 June 2010

The Dawn Has A Lot To Offer

 


I photographed the dawn on my phone over a six-month period. There is always time for a photograph, no matter how late I'm running. The photos were taken between shampoo and eyeliner, creaking wardrobe door and flurry of garments.

The dawn began infiltrating my dreams until I was wholly imbued with the spirit of night turning to day. This feeling is the raw material for my painting, The Dawn Has A Lot To Offer.

There is always a beginning.






The painting begins ...










In my dreams there are colossal, intricate gates constructed like the inside of a watch. A mechanism. I wait with my camera for the moment the light shines through the gates igniting the mechanism, setting it in motion. I'm looking up at this awesome spectacle. I must capture the shape of the light in my lens as it spills through.





Draw a line under it ...


One morning, waking suddenly after another vivid dream, I looked out of the window to see this column of light.  It didn't last for long and then the fog rolled in with the dawn chorus increasing in brilliance.




To watch the light change in the morning is a rare treat, it's never the same. There comes a moment when the light peaks, just before you see the sun pop up on the horizon. This is the moment I love the most.




 


The Dawn has a lot to offer ...
Oil on board, 80 x 80 cm



One Saturday morning when I really should have been asleep in bed enjoying a lie in, restlessness dragged my body outside to capture this moment on my camera.



Samurai Dawn






E X H I B I T I O N


an introduction to the painting, photography and music of
GAYNOR PERRY
MAY 5 - 31 2011

PRIVATE VIEWS

Thursday May 5th 6.30 - 8.30pm
Tuesday May 10th 6.30 - 8.30pm
Sunday May 15th 12.00 - 3.00pm

viewing by appointment at other times


Gaynorʼs inspiration manifests itself in a variety of artistic media. From an early age Gaynor often sought out the dark, mythical places around her home town of Hull and let her imagination breathe life into the haunted stillness of her surroundings creating a new reality to explore, inhabit and interpret through drawing and song. Exploring the minds subconscious imagery, Gaynor succeeds in “keeping the possible impossibility of dreams” ever near allowing her to capture the fleeting moments between imagination and perception. The realisation of these moments often demands more than one expression with the kernel of an idea feeding into a painting, music or even a photograph. Her works have been described as "evocative, sensual and transportative."

Gaynor does not consider her art as separate or apart from everyday life but as integral to the realisation and development of the human spirit. Although each piece is an incredibly personal testament, they each possess the capability to strike a harmonically resonant and emotional chord in anyone who allows themselves the time to be with them.


Jonathan Ross
Gallery 286
286 Earl's Court Road
(2 minutes walk south from Earl’s Court Tube)
London SW5 9AS

T: 020 7370 2239
email: jross@gallery286.com
www.gallery286.com