And Exhale

…(for those of you that were holding your breaths between posts)….

…been tardy with communicating with the outside world, but I have an excuse or two….

…have been focused on the above…

…have been adjusting to new work hours and getting my head round larger, heavier machinery to operate…

…have been trying to assimilate the fact the my local city council representatives think “consultation” means telling me how it’s gonna be and not answering a single question I have put to them re:- them screwing the resale value of my property by sticking a sewer thru half of it….

…(am supposed to be typing a lengthy letter to “them” instead of blogging!)….

…being asked to come out of retirement from a certain area of my skill base to help someone organise a huge donation to charity….

…being asked to contribute to two (count ’em) compilation comics after god knows how long away from black and white creations….

….but I am still here.

…here’s a wee sneak at what this piece might be heading towards when done…

…bones still need to be re-burned, but I think this should elucidate the matter somewhat….

…and…

…inhale.

Back To The Coal Face

…flying by the third…

…you know that feeling when you feel like you have way more in your mouth than you should have put in there?…

…that feeling….

Big Secret Project IV

….more of those big secret project pieces that should have been posted ages ago….

…only 2 to go….

….saving the best for last!

I Should Be On Stuff

….like t-shirts or skateboards…

…thats what that gallery owner said way back before lockdown….

…took me awhile to realise that nephew Max could be a source for used boards….and when asked at the Xmas brunch table if he had any he immediately left the table for 20 minutes to go find them!….

….and here are the results…

….Cheers Max…

….all boards had the original graphics ground off….stained to look like “real” wood…all skulls “n” bones and graphic edges burnt on with the trusty poker work machine….

…Max decided to go for a ridable option (these three are well thrashed)…and will bring me a fresh board to redecorate….a board we can document the wear and tear on…

….should be interesting….

BSP II

….here’s some more of these…

….nothing more to say really…

…got a new job….

…taking a week off to transition from night shift to day shift….

…which way is up?….

Ok Ok

…you’re right…it IS time I showed you some of the big secret project….after all I finished it last year…

…only to get bogged down by an over ambitious framing “option” that involved gluing a multitude of pieces of badly cut ply wood into a herringbone pattern….

..then filling in the gaps and cutting the whole shebang in to strips…

….then (the bit that isn’t getting done in the near future)…..(if ever!) shaping/sanding them and bunging them onto the finished art works….

…I haven’t looked at these pieces since January….

…these are the first two in a series of ten….

…they are 46cm by 46cm in their socks…

…ready?….

…right…

…ahem…

…without further ado, I’m proud present part one of the big secret project – revealed….

….(sure you’re ready?)….

…some stills…

…there are 10 pieces in the group…

…three more pairs and two stand alones….

…stay tuned.

Double Spread Paintbook

….and half of that would be….

…ergo the other half would be….

…and the coffee table I intend adorning with this design would be….

…er…

…buried under a mountain of other partially complete flights of fancy in the corner…..

Now Were Where We

…oh that’s right…

…paint book…page 26….

Snowflakes

….not that kind….

…this kind…

….the kind with skulls and crossbones in the middle….

Double Down Paintbook Saturday

…..because I’m not 100% happy with this image….

…it’s a bit sparsey for my liking….I think turning the skulls in particular directions opened up the gaps between a bit much….

…looks fine if you lean into it…

….but…yeah/nah and on to the next thing….

…also…. feeling “didn’t-post-last-week-shame”….

…so here’s a paintbook bonus….

….initial plan with template “superimposed”….

…and it ends up looking like…..

…whole thing will be circular if I get time to take it further….I think I had lazy-susans in mind…