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…………….

zefa 1 the raft and where it is?

zefa 1 update

batida fotografica pelo patrimonio de loule

rauls "teddy bears picnic"

this should bring a smile to your face, sing along please!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZANKFxrcKU

now sit back and experience the wide screen extravaganza!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuNf70eV6sY

you are invited to send bear images, quotes and text for my "unbearable project"

have a look at this next site, images by my friend raul morgado photographer xstrawinnair?

raul can be found wandering camera in hand, cap on backwards in quirky places, there is no hiding place from his roving lens...................... http://raulmorgado.pt.vu

thoughts on travel and journeys

these thoughts occur to me when i am working in my sketchbook.
travel for pleasure! a mysterious journey! the simplest journey is by foot!
"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." -- Robert Louis Stevenson

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." –- Henry Miller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z79Sha1NjvA&NR=1

"No matter where you go, there you are." – unknown

zefa 1 the stone raft part 2

this is the start of part two of the stone raft at zefa !, in almancil, the first few pages of my sketchbook illustrating my thinking process in constructing the painting.the adventure continue from the "salir painting", the story so far, is about cause and effect, joana carda scratches a mark on the ground at the same time the dogs bark in cerberes...how can this be they have no vocal chords?
the story now tells of how the various participants in this mystery met and travel together .....with the dog ever guiding them...the dog with the blue thread in his mouth!i am continuing the idea of theatre, a stage set on which the characters live out the story.
a crack appears in astone in the pyrenees/
this painting starts with " alice" lifting the curtain to reveal a tiny door?....where does it lead??? where is the blue thread leading them?
joaquim sassa and jose anaico meet and decide to set out together, they sleep under an olive tree. joaquim gets up early and gets " deux cheveaux", it has a quiet gentle engine.........jose appears from then trees surrounded by 1000s of starlings so many the sky is black.
off they go in search of pedro orse who lives in orce near granada.pedro felt the ground under his feet tremble at the very instant joan scratched the ground at the very moment joaquim threw the stone at the same moment the dogs barked?
they are being drawn by an invisible magnet?
follow the journey and experience the sights!
i am including many different references from david hockneys "mulholland drive" painting to magrittes " empire of light"
who else will they encounter on this myterious escapade?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7pvA4EHi08

kerstin wagners open studio sept 19 and 20

kirstin wagner opened her studio " ganesha"to friends and visitors over the weekend.kirstin is a friend and fellow member of the algarve artists network.
you can see more of kerstins work a http://www.kerstin-wagner-art.de/

exposicao "a danca dos ursos" loule

the dancing bears are on show in loule from 18 sept to oct 5 at the castello,here i am with "ursa major minor",alongside me is my friend joao espada with his "urso" , see more at http://www.dancadoursos.com/, the bears will reappear at a different location soon.the jazz band "quarteto belle de jour" played during the evening. a group of bears is called "a sleuth" can anyone tell me why?

listen to this, a blast from the past....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8zI5xjwKYw

mobile home project loule 2009

mobile home a project that was run in loule as part of the allgarve art shows shown across the region during the summer,many of the shows where presented in unusual locations for example the salt mines in loule, a church in silves and fonte de pipe an old manor house in loule. milita dore an artist friend took part in the workshops,running over 5 weeks a very concentrated work period. 25 artist from the region took part and where aided by a number of guest artist/tutors whose role was to instigate a series of workshops that where thought provoking, the course was a combination of practice and theory, all members bouncing ideas around and off each other.this show is a presentation of some of the experiences that the artists worked through.the show is housed in an ex olive press which is a fascinating environment in its own right.the work is presented anonomously as it is a collective experience no part more important than whole, it is an accumulation of the results of thinking, it is the start of a kind of self-questioning...searching for a new language a means of presenting ideas.the show has the feeling of a " laboratory", there are many surprises to be had, some statements are part of the fabric of the building, sitting quietly waiting to be seen...or not as the case might be?some of the works are collaborations between artists.

the museum is a intruiging idea using the contained spaces in the press like a labyrinth of ideas and images.we feel like giants in the land of lilliput, a cabinet of curiosities.

it was instructive and enlightening having milita talk about the input of each artist/tutor each bringing something different to the project, which was a part of the whole.how the participants related to each other..............

the great colin jellicoe

today i visited my manchester artist friend "the great colin jellicoe", his gallery has been running in manchester for almost 50 years, a real achievement ,he has seen gallerys come and go and he is still in portland street.if you visit the gallery then be prepared for an eccentric establishment i get great pleasure out of my visits. you can make a virtual visit at http://www.colinjellicoe.co.uk/ do not be fooled with this technology ,colin still uses a typewriter.he is a manchester legend with a mischievous glint in his eye.

a conversation with anthony gormley

here i am in crosby having a meaningful converstion with an anthony gormley man who seems to stuck in the sand.
this really is a spectacular setting for the iron men, they are dotted along a short length of coastline, like sentinels.when the tide comes in they dissappear only to reemerge as the tide recedes.
just before this i had lunch in liverpool town hall a local dish called"scouse"
and just before that had visited the tate a show on colour and a fascinating sculpture show.
if you have a photo of the men send it to me...dont forget a caption?

joana vasconcelos in loule

joanas show taking shape in loule the gallery was just like a studio for the first few days, it was facinating to have joana talk to me about her ideas and how she planned and developed ideas.she draws a very precise idea of the intention and then embarks on its construction using materials that she has collected from all over the world, traditional methods are employed from knitting to lace work and re-presented having a new identity, they are elevated to new heights. Wherever this sculpture is exhibited she adds fabrics and object that identify with the location, here in Loule she added Fishes and crabs as we are by the sea.Isabel and Palmeira helped her stitch some of these objects in place.It is reminiscent of when women used to meet and sew together, it is a collective effort that changes its identity over time the piece has an inbuilt history, people that are involved feel part of the work.This I think is important as we are living in an ever mass produced sanitised society. This piece really does invoke play and playtime. It was good to see everyone that came into the gallery smile immediately as they entered into the spirit of the work.The whole piece is subversive and all evasive, it is quirky and surreal and has I feel connections with Niki de Saint Phalle.Another aspect of the work is it is soft like a giant childs toy, I watched childrens faces in the gallery as they looked in wonder at this huge playful object which like all good work has its serious content albeit disguised The world we inhabit is wrapped in cotton wool dont do this dont do that, be careful you must not say this or that Contaminacao and Condutex are subversive interventions in our make believe world are they a dream or are they reality. This is the world of Pere Ubu.

friends

the general,bota filipe sets off with his paints for the latest adventure of the "salir project" painting the approach wall bright orange from the bridge to the gateway of the quinta.

here we see the general practicing his golf swing or is he just in one of his creative modes?

he is standing in front of the orange to be wall!!!!! and heres john lamonby the painter of the ria formosa....

stone raft.............salir

joana carda scratches the ground with her elm stick, joaquim sassa throws a stone,pedro orce feels the ground tremble jose anaico is followed by 1000s of starlings and the old lady finds a blue sock in the attic?????

my joana is based on the old lady that spits at the sky!!!!!!!

an assemblage of stuff

saskia and sebastian visit "imaginarium" in faro what a fantastic entrance for kids, there are lots of eccentric things to be found especially the pocket money stuff wacki mooing machines, stickers, and others

a sketchbook froman exhibition of sketchbooks held at the holden gallery in manchester 2009. even when you select the postion of the image and text in this blog they appear to take on a life of their own, its almost as if thereis a random element at work or maybe I the operator have not figured out what to do , I rather like the lack of control, it throws up new ideas in page layout and aesthetics?is the softwear really a surrealist manifetation?

a visual poema lurking in quarteira ,this part of a series based on the idea of sureal theater of dreams, you might interested in a book,"dreaming with open eyes" by tucker its a book that I delve into on a regular basis, it was also the title that the late george melly had for an exhibition that he curated many years ago, I had the privelidge of going to a talk that george gave in rochdale art gallery many years ago.