Changes - Online Studio Sale 30% OFF

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got” This infallible gem of wisdom was imparted to me many years ago by a multi-millionaire. Such sage advice from anyone successful in life might well prove noteworthy so I return to it whenever things aren’t going to plan.

Having been unable to paint since the end of July I have had plenty of time to reflect on the changes that I have wanted to make to my work for some time. Eight years ago I painted like this: 

 Greengages

Oil on Linen

Around this time I sold my work through Quantum Contemporary Art in London and felt caught in a commercial trap. Each piece like the one would take a week to paint and sell through the gallery (who took 60% commission) for around £2400. “What’s wrong with that?” you may well ask. Well it was “Soulless”. I was producing a commodity rather than a work of art. I felt like a copyist, there was no personality in the work, no ‘Nick’ in it. I would shudder when anyone said “Oh it’s just like a photo!” Well there you are, I don’t want to be a camera. I want to be an Artist – and that’s the really difficult bit - you need to stick with me here.

In 1948 The Philadelphia Museum of Art held a retrospective show of Matisse’s work. In the Exhibition Catalogue he wrote an essay “l’exactitude n’est pa la verite” – Exactitude is not truth. Of his four self portraits in the show, which were simple contour drawings with great liberty of line and strong in character, he said ‘ These drawings seem to me to sum up observations that I have been making for many years on the characteristics of a drawing, characteristics that do not depend on the exact copying of natural forms, nor on the patient assembling of exact details, but the profound feeling of the artist before the objects which he has chosen, on which his attention is focussed, and the spirit of which he has penetrated’

In that paragraph Matisse nails it. That is the difference. Some people will ‘get it’ and some people won’t.

Four years ago, when I was living in France, I managed to get closer with my work to where I wanted to be with this piece:

Apple Blossom

Oil on Panel

There is undoubtedly some ‘Nick’ in it and there is spontaneity and a freedom in the impasto brushstrokes. Unfortunately I got seriously ill shortly after painting this had to return to the UK for major surgery and lost a lot of confidence specifically in ability to paint and in myself generally. Consequently when I got back to painting again I tightened up and reverted a bit toward how I used to paint.

However, after another prolonged period on the sidelines thanks once again to illness and the financial implications associated with my inactivity I have acquired an attitude of “In for a penny in for a pound”. Surely now is just the time to give painting how I would really like to my best shot. In a bizarre way it’s all quite liberating – there is nothing much left to loose.

Managing to get back into the studio over the past couple of weeks I have begun a new journey with my work. Going back to basics in some areas and experimenting with the new in others. It’s not easy, it’s very difficult and at times it seems that there is only frustration. Goodness knows when I will produce anything that will see the light of day. But for inspiration on one of my walls I have the words of someone whose work I admire and who continued to change and adapt successfully throughout his career:

“It’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfil other people’s expectations. If you feel safe in the area that you are working in you are not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little further out of your depth and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom you are just about in the right place to do something exciting” David Bowie

Daffs in a Bottle

Oil on Linen

11" x 8.5"

Framed

£190

Click Here to Purchase

And framed it looks like this and measures 17" x 14" 

pretty then . . . 

Walking in Circles - Online Studio Sale 30% Off

Goodness me we were windswept on our walks today. The wind threatens to blow away what remains of one of the most colourful autumnal displays that I can recall. The gusty weather infuses even more madness into the dogs and in the early evening darkness keeping track of what mischief they are getting up to becomes increasingly difficult.

Those of us who enjoy walking seem to be in an ever decreasing minority. I was taken aback to learn that in the findings of a survey of visitors to National Trust sites, the average distance people walk from the car park is a pitiful100 yards! Aren’t people aware that beyond the Gift Shop/Café/ Toilets lay some of the most beautiful open spaces in Britain? Nope, it seems that people don’t want to walk much now-a-days. The cruel irony is that when they no longer can walk it will be the one singular thing that they do want.

The health benefits of walking cannot be overstated and there is still a great deal to discover in the big outdoors . . . even in this country. Maybe I am just old fashioned or a grumpy old man – potentially both. I believe that people are missing out on so much and that the decline in walkers will in turn mean more public footpath closures. If access to the countryside becomes increasingly limited then so does general awareness of the natural world and care for wildlife will be in decline. We risk losing something very dear, something very precious. We’re all doomed.

How the values of the British public have changed since I was a lad. I’ll wager that come the spring, on a sunny evening when I take the dogs down for a walk over the marshes, I will struggle to get a fag paper between the cars parked around the green at Salthouse. The first time I witnessed this, my heart sank thinking that there would be hundreds of people making their way out to the sea. They weren’t of course; they were all at the Dun Cow pub. Granted they were actually ‘outside’ in the pub garden. However, they were oblivious to their surroundings (and each other) glued to their phones or tablets apparently only able to experience the world via a small screen. Perhaps they were watching ‘Springwatch’

Here is today's (bargain) painting:

Beets 'n' Leeks

Oil on Linen Panel

8"x 6"

Framed

£85

Click here to Purchase

And framed it looks like this and measures 10" x 8" . . . and looks great in the kitchen

Spinning Top

I have begun to feel a bit better recently. Less vertigo, occasional dizzy spells generally feeling a bit spaced out most of the time (what’s new?) . . . sort of drunk without the fun really. As my energy levels have also improved my mood has shifted from despair through frustration and anger arriving now at determination. So I will push on no matter what and beat this malady. Which is all well and good but . . .

My dogs; Elgar and Turner are Border Terrier Poodle crosses. They love unconditionally, are intelligent, are good with other dogs and have more energy than EDF. They are surprisingly fast and will chase anything over great distances until they are literally dots on the horizon. At times they can be a handful (like when the Tesco delivery man comes) but they are my constant companions and I wouldn’t have it any other way. They are also a great motivator for helping me to overcome this vertigo malarkey by getting me out walking every morning and evening.

A week or so ago it was our regular morning walk at Salthouse. It was 7:30 on a grey gusty morning and as I parked the car to let dogs out I could see that the combination of a high tide and a strong wind was washing the North Sea over the sea defences. Huge ‘Turner-esk’ clouds were rolling in and it began to rain. “Looking ominous” I thought and revised our normal walk to a simple circular route out and over the marshes to and along the defences for half a mile then back over the marshes joining the footpath over the fields, returning to Salthouse.

The marshes were almost completely flooded. The water on the footpath came up to the tops of my wellies and slowed the dogs’ progress as they half walked/ half swam alongside me. “This is crazy” I thought “I really should turn back” but then my determination got the better of me and drove me on “No I am going to beat this illness and get better. This walk is just a challenge that I need to meet along the way”.

The sea defences at Salthouse are banks of shingle that rise sharply about twenty five feet above the marshes and slope down on the other side naturally into the sea. Some days they take on a ‘Canute’ character and this was one such day. As we struggled off the flood plane and clambered up the shingle I could see how rough the sea was. The waves were crashing just below the very top of the defences sending stones clattering down to the marshes. Remind me whose idea was this?

As we forged ahead, with me trying to ensure the dogs didn’t get washed away in the surf, I was deep in thought considering the possibilities for the headlines in the Eastern Daily Press the following day:

‘Dog lost in rough sea’

‘Two dogs lost in rough sea’

‘Dog walker lost in rough sea leaving two dogs homeless’

‘Dog walker and two dogs lost in rough sea’

And at that point a Hare tuned up out of nowhere right in front of us. Yes a Hare as in ‘a fast-running, long-eared mammal that resembles a large rabbit, having very long hind legs and typically found in grassland or open woodland’ .

So why was it here for Petes’ sake?

According to Fergus Collins who is the editor of Countryfile Magazine - In order to get full nutritional value out of its grass and herb food, a hare must pass it through its system twice – it eats its own droppings. This method is known as refrection. It also means that the animals spend less time out in the open grazing and can do some of their secondary ‘eating’ in safe hideaways. Rather than thinking it was a safe place to eat his own pooh I think Hares live on the Marshes feeding off the grasses there and this one was simply stranded on the shingle between the flooded marshes and the sea.

Fergus goes on to tell us that The main predators of hares are foxes, weasels, stoats, polecats, buzzards and golden eagles . . .and today my dogs!  And Fergus reliably informs us that Hares have been recorded running at up to 72kmh (45mph) to escape danger.

Still stunned at discovering the Hare I just stood and watched in a haze as the dogs also noticed our long eared friend. It was like the start of the 3:30 at Kempton. Usain Bolt would have had trouble keeping up, so dizzy Nick in wellies on a shingle bank had no chance. But they wouldn’t catch it, would give up and come trotting back in due course. I was more concerned about them getting swept away in the waves than catching anything.

But I watched them continue to pursue the Hare . . . and gain on it. They were working as a pair; Elgar above and now slightly beyond the Hare and Turner swimming along below in the flooded marsh forming a pincer movement. And they caught it! . . .

After scrambling around I eventually caught up with them all and from there on in it was a bit like the Battle for Stalingrad. One dog barking the other yelping, the Hare screeching, the rain now lashing down in bucket loads, waves crashing over the defences and me shouting utterly futile commands while desperately trying to remain upright.

Each time I got hold of one dog it would open up an escape route for the Hare thus resuming the chase for the remaining dog. What a nightmare. Eventually I got hold of both the dogs.

The Hare, like me had seen better days but was OK.

BTW A male hare is called a Jack, a female is a Jill.

Steady On - Online Studio Sale . . . 30% OFF

I have lived here in North Norfolk for just over 4 years now and still at times fail to understand the broad East Anglia accent. I don’t stand a snowballs chance in hell of understanding my neighbours elderly gardener. In early autumn I answered a knock at the front door and there he stood in my porch in his gardening outfit comprising of a far too tight fitting beige jacket, a ladies hat and wellies turned over at the top. I froze, not because of his attire but in the knowledge that we (well he anyway) was about to enter into a form of communication that only one of us would comprehend.

I greeted him with “Good Afternoon” and he grunted something which I took for confirmation that it was indeed afternoon, maybe a good one - maybe not. Then it was his turn. He went on for a while in his strange dialect, stopped and then looked at me expectantly. I have absolutely no idea what he had said. Thinking on my feet I came up with what I thought was a clever ‘open’ response that should cover all eventualities for anything that he could have said.

“I agree, yes indeed”

With that he nodded, grunted, pulled his ladies hat down at both sides by its wide brim, turned on his wellied heels and was gone.

Phew it was over. There have been times when I have been abroad and not spoken the native language but have understood more of what was being said.

A couple of days later the dogs were barking persistently at something in the garden. I peered out of the window to investigate. My neighbours' gardener was in my apple tree, bag in hand picking everything within reach. Mystery solved then.

Staying with the accent - on another occasion I overheard a conversation about farming. I think it might have been on BBC Radio Norfolk. It was an agricultural item and the discussion was about a farm, with apparently 5 Sows and Pigs. Goodness I thought, How on earth can they make a living? and carried on with my work. Later when I had tuned into the accent a bit better I realised it was a farm with five thousand pigs. Deary me.

All this is leading up to a recent walk (looking at the horizon to help with my vertigo) when we met a fellow dog walker who is a native Norfolk man. We got to discussing the obedience of dogs  and recall.

You need to imagine the East Anglia accent here when he said:

“I reckon my uncle had it about right. He used to say I never had trouble training a dog . . . they always come back after a couple of weeks”

Here is today's (bargain) painting:

Carrots

Oil On Canvas Panel

 12" x 8" 

Framed

£180

Click Here to Purchase

. . . and here is how it looks in its frame (framed size is 15.5" x 11.5") 

Balancing Act - Online Studio Sale . . . 30% OFF

In most cases it would be difficult to identify someone with a vestibular disorder by simply looking at them. Mostly we look well, so it’s particularly frustrating when people believe that I am making it up while I am trying to be sociable with a spinning head and nausea. Full of scepticism for my plight they tell me how well I look. I have learnt to avoid people like this. They won’t think that there is anything wrong with you unless you offer up a severed limb. For some idea of what it is like with a vestibular problem go to http://vestibular.org/understanding-vestibular-disorder/symptoms

I have been continuing to ‘work through’ dizzy spells when at times I feel that I should stop before I either lose balance or throw up or maybe both. This seems to be the key to recovery from a vestibular problem. One has to do it to re-calibrate the brain - It’s difficult, necessary and beneficial.

Walking in wide open spaces is helping too. Another favourite and regular walk of ours is on the coast at Salthouse. The village takes its name from the production of the once valuable commodity of salt - in the Domesday Book it is referred to as ‘The House for the Storing of Salt’. For what is now a small village of 250 people it has a rich history. Evidence of human activity in the area has been discovered dating back as far as 2000 BC and there was once a Roman Settlement here with a small port. I love the place as it is today, it has a really good ‘vibe’.

Located 4 miles north of Holt, Salthouse looks out onto 66 hectares of costal grazing salt marshes. It is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of the North Norfolk Heritage Coast and an area of international importance for wildlife – particularly birds. Part of the joy of walking here is to be amongst the cacophony of birdsong at dawn or dusk. I will never tire of the sensation of being beneath the low flight path of hundreds of geese, or a pair of mute swans. In the summer I regularly spot the turquoise flash of a Kingfisher along the banks of the canals that drain the marshes. Back from the coast in the heath land above Salthouse Night Jars and Nightingales can be heard in early summer. Twitchers Paradise.

Our walk takes Elgar, Turner and me up behind the Dun Cow Pub toward the neighbouring village of Cley over farm land above and back from the marshes. The footpath cuts diagonally across a few wheat fields making this walk fun during the summer. Strolling on a sunny day through golden waist high crop while looking across the marshes and out to sea. At high vantage points along the way we can see the tower of St Nicholas Church of Salthouse behind us and far in front the tower of St Nicholas Church of Blakeney . . . so I’m in good company. After a mile or so the path leads down and toward the coast alongside a large pond at Snipes Marsh. Here we cross the coast road and head back on ourselves along the grandly named “Attenborough Walk” which joins the marshes of Cley and Salthouse. At the end of this path we head out toward the coast and over the sea defences onto the beach, often meeting a seal or two on our way back to Salthouse along the waters edge.  

Any hopes of seeing David along the “Attenborough Walk” are dashed, it’s not a regular haunt . . . he did open it though. The Norfolk Wildlife Trust bought the 8km stretch of land in 2012 and over the following three years the land was transformed from its former use as commercial shooting ground to a protected coastal site. Much nicer to look and appreciate things than to shoot them eh?

Here is today's (bargain) painting:

Little Sunflower

Oil on Gessoed Panel

6.5" x 4.5"

Framed

SOLD

. . . and framed it looks like this (and measures 8" x 6")

Giddy Up - Online Studio Sale . . . 30% OFF

Following the advice of my consultant surgeon I have been ‘doing as much as possible within reason’ and spending time walking outside looking at the horizon. The dogs, as predicted, love it. With the exception of a dizziness/vertigo episode last night while watching ‘Blue Planet’, which put me to bed early, so far so good.

This morning after a good 12 hours sleep I walked the dogs over one of our favourite walks. From the centre of Holt we walk over Spout Hills – The site of the towns’ water supply during the 19^th Century where it was drawn up from a bore. That is long since gone and Spout Hills is now 14 acres of common land given over to wet meadow, bracken heath, woodland and pond. There are trees smothered in blossom in spring, orchids in summer and fungi and golden beech in the autumn.

Beyond the common land we descend down some steps through sloe bushes onto a path that was the old Midland and Great Northern railway line. There is no longer any track just a path and the cuttings are now heavily wooded either side. Much to the delight of Elgar and Turner (my dogs) this is home to dozens of squirrels and some Muntjac deer so they get plenty of exercise chasing them while I get a great deal of amusement at their unsuccessful yet valiant efforts to catch something.

At the end of the track we pass through a wood of huge beech trees which is full of Bluebells at the end of April and the start of May and now has a carpet of crunchy autumnal leaves. The path leads us out onto a field given over to pasture where the dogs chase each other and I take in a magnificent view over rolling fields and woods as far as the eye can see. Facing west, it’s a great vantage point to take in the sunset during evening walks. We continue on over fields of sugar beet and winter wheat to an old ford adjacent to a water meadow close to the small hamlet of Letheringsett from there we return home.

This morning it was marvellous - crisp, cold, bright and sunny – barely a cloud in the sky. And at a time when it doesn’t seem like a week can pass without the media telling us it was the coldest, hottest, wettest, or driest day, week, month or year on record its reassuring that the weather occasionally behaves vaguely as it should for the time of year.

Right back to the linocut for me . . .


Here is today's (bargain) painting (but bigger this one):

Tomatoes & Spring Onions
Oil on Canvas Panel

9.5" x 9.5"

Framed

SOLD

And framed it looks like this and measures 15.25"x 15.25":

Still in a Spin - Online Studio Sale . . . 30% OFF

NNUH yesterday afternoon.

"I really feel sorry for you, you have been unlucky twice" said my surgeon Mr Prinsley referring to the removal of my lower left jaw and cheek in order to remove a cancerous tumour and the loss of hearing in my right ear following my mastoidectomy.

"Thank you" I replied "I'll admit I do sometimes think of my head as being like a rotten apple having you cutting out the bad bits here and there" I joked. 

It was comforting to know that he cared.

"Your right ear" he continued "is what we refer to as a 'dead ear' (nice). The disease from the cholesteatoma that we removed damaged not only your hearing but also those parts of your inner ear that manage your balance. In your case balance is therefore managed mostly by your left side. So your current problem is more likely to do with the recent infection affecting your left ear and the balance mechanism"

No wonder then that I have been so wretched with this infection - I only have half the normal balance equipment I should have and the bits I have got left have been buggered up with infection.

We turned the conversation to recovery. He commended me on my changes in diet to tackle this infection and help to fight off other potential lurgies and he assured me that I would get back to (near) normal but couldn't say how long it would take.

"Is there anything else I can do?" I asked. "Do as much as you can within reason this will retrain the brain and left side balance mechanism" he replied "and eyesight has big impact on balance so (and my dogs are going to love this) spend time walking outside looking at the horizon" -  Fortunately there's plenty of horizon in North Norfolk.

So reflecting on my hospital visit while I sat in the rush hour traffic on the way home three things came to mind. 1) I have spent enough time in and out of hospitals over the past four years (I could probably get a first class honours degree in human biology) 2) I will recover and not to forget that there are people worse off than me and 3) . . . How bloody lucky we are to have the NHS.  

Onward and upward.

Here is today's (bargain) painting:

Tulips in a White Milk Jug

Oil on Linen Panel

8" x 6"

SOLD

and framed it looks like this (and measures about 11" x 9"): 

Call me Dizzy - Online Studio Sale . . . 30% OFF

Thank you for all the lovely supportive messages on FB and via email. Although I am getting on top of my malady gradually it doesn't seem to be a linear improvement. I get a good (ish) day or two and then the next I feel as if I have gone back to square one.

Painting is still a struggle and its been easy to waste materials having to abandon something when I have taken a turn for the worse. Eager to do something and not wanting to waste time I thought I needed to work in a medium that I could leave when I felt ill and then come back to when I felt better not incurring any wastage in the process. I fancied doing something a bit more tactile. 

During the Holt Festival this year I met Max Angus a print maker who produces beautiful linocut prints and her work interested me sufficiently to research the process and maybe try it myself. There has been a lot to learn; the different linos, tools, inks, papers and presses. Its early days but I am enjoying learning a new creative art form. Its always good to try other mediums as I believe it gives one a fresh impetus on return to the main art form. It has given me new ideas about composition and colour and other subject matter to consider. In the medium term I hope it will get me back painting - so too I hope will my meeting later today with my Surgeon at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital. 

Here is today's (bargain) painting:

Lemons & Eggs

Oil on Canvas Panel

8" x 8" (image size)

Framed

SOLD

and framed it looks like this:

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired - Online Studio Sale . . . 30% OFF

Following a radical mastoidectomy operation 18 months ago to remove a cholesteatoma from my right middle ear I have suffered bouts of vertigo and dizziness. These episodes, which continually interrupted my work, would eventually subside and I would return to near normal and get back to the easel.

At the end of July I had two particularly nasty vertigo attacks and this time the dizziness didn’t go away, it hung around in waves of fluctuating intensity joined by its new found friends – nausea, tinnitus, brain fog, balance difficulty and fatigue. This continued for 3 months unabated. It was totally debilitating.

After numerous visits to the GP and eventually a referral back to my consultant surgeon an MRI scan revealed no abnormalities. It is therefore most likely that the root of my problem is a chronic viral infection which in itself doesn’t sound too dramatic does it? But the past three months have been hell. I have found it difficult to function let alone paint. Time and again I would get to the easel in an attempt to get at least something done but within a short time my head would be spinning and wave of nausea and fatigue would engulf me.

As a result of all this malarkey I have fallen behind somewhat. Besides getting zero work done I had to cancel my Autumn Open Studios Exhibition scheduled for the last week of October. So to keep the wolf from the door I am having an online studio sale. Beginning today I will post some of my paintings discounted by 30% for the next couple of weeks. 

Here is today's (bargain) painting:

Pink Roses

Oil on Linen

10" x 7"

Framed (Framed Size 13" x 10")

SOLD

And Framed . . . Lovely!