zefa on hold..plus bits and bats

here we are again the text goes where it likes and changes font size at will.....will i ever get it right...wall on hold...the 2cv is in the field awaiting some renovations like a new front tyre, and some body filling......the mini 2cv was given to me years ago by david and helen evans who now live in australia...it surfaced like magic in my studio the other day....good "karma" for the project...its even got my name on it........guess who is sitting in the 2cv..yep?...morris minor alias sebastian...he is in charge of all renovations....quality control.....at the moment i am reading the salmon of doubt  a concoction of douglas adams writings..a snippet that i like is...and even now,when i have dark night of the soul as a writer and think that i cant do this anymore, the one thing that i reach for is not the fact that i have had best sellers or huge advances. It is the fact that Frank Holland once gave me ten out of ten, and at some fundamental level i must be able to do it"

zefa 1 mad dash day off to india

technology totally baffles me I cant put the text where I want to I am victim to the vagueries of the program...i have tried to load a video....no luck...i dont know why i dont jusy stick to painting the brush goes where i put it....now the text has centred....today has been busy trying to get rid of all the white as my old art teacher used to say when we were painting ...get rid of all the white then you cnn see what you are doing????.....brigita and kasia came for a visit...showed them around ...nice to see them

wall to date...wall up date....data on the wall

saturday afternoon at the end of the day of "dois cavalos".......monday is my last day on the wall before our india trip...and saskia and sebastian are coming for a holiday so its off to vilamoura for icecreams......beach trips....fishing.......playgrounds in quateira........marufo a favourite chicken  eatery for saskia and me.....and more ice cream for guess who?..then byron and jason arrive for some golf and probably marufo too............
the grey window frames may stay they may go they are part of an installation by the general which has now changed in its content..I have drawn hundreds of birds which jeta has painted...the birds are central to the stone raft story...however the general has had the idea that the birdsa are trapped in a huge net....but some escape to live another life...we are connecting two images or ideas...we have an ongoing dialogue about what we are both doing and trying to achieve...no two days are the same...thats the fun in the project or should i say seriously the  challenge for both of us....

follow the holts on the india blog................i will also add add thoughts about the zefa wall as and when they arrive.........

in search of "deux chevaux" or "dois cavalos"

antonio dias and charlie holt went in search of "Deux Chevaux" today some where near tavira, a graveyard for old cars, voila! there it was a red one.....perfect for the next part of the saga.my intention is to paint a summary of the stone raft on the car and to do something in the interior....i am only at the ideas stage so far. problem where do i keep it?....where will i work on it when the weather breaks, maybe i can put it it my studio...when i have taken the engine out...to make it lighter and movable....first job is sorting out the tyres. this is really exciting.....watch this space for more updates.............................. in the afternoon back to zefa one to continue painting, i am trying to complete the first 5 metres before we go to india....so that if there is any influence from the trip it can be built into the idea as seemlessly as possible....the first part of the painting is partially obscured by an olive tree ( a small one)

you can follow the holts india trip here on the blogspot........

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMdYvUS6HaQ

zefa update on the raft

it appears that i have little or no control where the images appear on the page....serendipity....or is there a solution?

progress on the wall the characters are appearing from the tiny door, and are flying on magic carpets...not in the story but i like the idae that the characters appear in different places all at the same time like the line that was drawn at the same time the stone was thrown like the same time pedro felt the earth tremble,,, image 2 shows the bird wall which is a combined work...i draw the birds, jeta paints them and bota filipe painted the black grid which has trapped many of the birds...some however have escaped we are connecting this section to the raft in which the starlings appear like a black cloud, originally there where grey framed windows hanging on the wall one of botas many interventions...they may very well disappear as the idea is working well visually...we have working meetings to discuss ideas each day, it is a moveable feast...nothing is fixed in tablets of stone. the wall is evolving....

lisboa a cultural visit

An October cultural visit to lisboa, primarily to meet either Jose Saramago or his grandaughter Ana.
But firstly to meet and hear sam play in an underground car park at the marquis do pombal……we had a meal with the promoter and pete tha zouk portugals top dj…….what an amazing gig over 3000 people…this was the first time that we had heard sam since he played at barca in Manchester 12 plus years ago?………………….sam and gav where brilliant…they really whipped the crowd up.
Lots of culture..paula rego in caiscais……oriente museu……vera cortes gallery to talk about vhils aka Alexander Fartos work…….museu agua in principe real…and lots more
Today we met Ana with Isabel at the Saramago Foundation to talk about my ideas for a concertina book based on the Unknown Island and the Stone Raft…we chatted about possible ideas including an idea to organise a Saramago image based show…………….