driftwood from the magic beach

i lived in brighton for a while and i would cycle to the beach at dawn ... to swim if the weather permitted ... and to collect small pieces of driftwood that had some texture and/or animation

walking alone beside the waves in all weathers, and having some trivial purpose, was extremely therapeutic ... the sea has many rhythms and the mind slows down imperceptibly whilst you are near to it

i gave each piece of dry wood two or three coats of acrylic paint with a good sable brush ... watered-down liquitex is nice because it has a fine texture and when brushed on gently will flow and creep into most of the cracks and crevices ... i found i could mix and keep a colour for a long time in an airtight 35mm film canister

you have to be patient and must allow each coat to harden and set

when the colours seemed right, i would give them an extra coat of liquitex translucent gold ... the microscopic flakes of mica migrate and congregate while the paint is liquid

all you need is time and patience and good eyesight

that proustian/faustian feeling ... didn't we used to have chewing gum that tasted like this ?

once upon a time a man of a certain age kept a box ...

... in which lay hidden, for many years, ...

... a magic beach

the artesian well on wandsworth road

maurice lambert, sculptor of the barbaric edifice at 33 grosvenor place

born in france, lived in england, son of george, a rarther distinguished painter from australia, see first two paintings of maurice

... the question is, how did Maurice get from A to Z ?

to me, his work makes him seem like a character out of hitchcock
















































































































http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=basildon&w=13385968%40N00

henry vii chapel pinnacles and weather vanes

reading challenge ... a little primer for the larger picture

a new series of reasonably accessible lectures to whet our appetites for attempting to read marx's capital


http://davidharvey.org/



... and an interesting update on commodities from today's paper, from which the AP/Monty Davis photo is borrowed



http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/16/food.biofuels

iconography class ...

once upon a time in the cathedral at strasbourg, the figure on the left represented the church and the figure on the right, blindfolded and carrying a broken spear, represented the synagogue

... and when the moon is full, they slip silently from their plinth and steal away to give chase until dawn upon putney heath ...

the V&A courtyard transformed

oliver's army ... the jury's still out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell

oh, please please please, buy me a new ironing board ? ... i've nothing to wear !

simplistic, moi ?

the forty-two days detention issue takes our society right back to the origins of habeus corpus, because we even had bad rulers in the good old days !



for me it isn't what the papers have been describing as a FREEDOM issue, because i doubt that freedom is ever absolute in any society


for me it is a JUSTICE issue, because, no matter what the crime, justice must always be done, and must always be seen to be done without hindrance ... gordon brown & his supporters should know that showing the prisoner of the state to the court regularly is a fit and necessary test of the state's own necessary sense of national shame and honour ... and therefore, by implication, of it's leader's true patriotism


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

we don't own a tv yet tv licensing have sent me an intimidatory ultimatum, but why should i even purchase a stamp for a tax on my honesty ?

powel and pressburger's black narcissus

and at that moment, the silence in the cinema was shattered as the loved one gasped,

"WHERE CAN I BUY THAT LIPSTICK ?"

i've hung out the washing .... and i promise i'll plug in the vacuum cleaner ... as soon as i've finished this article ...

but ... one hour later ...

a favourite front door, usually concealed by a parked car when i drive through lindfield

bletchingley churchyard