the stone raft...the travellers are nearing Lisboa

 

a recap not a nightcap....the intrepid travellers are in the 2cv following the dog....my dog is the old zefa dog who has very bad hind legs....arthritis....as you may kow i am not a dog person......my studio is his kennel...we share it...wherever i go the dog follows....dragging his legs.....alas he is no more..."zefadog"is his name and he is in the painting....back to the raft......the dog has some blue wool dangling from its mouth......the 2 cv goes very slowly following the dog...they never questioned why?....blind faith or fate or innate trust or some mystical magnetism drawing them to a distant destination........the blue wool is echoed in the painting with a winding blue road based on hockneys painting of mulholland drive....there are a few jig saw peices........how we put the story together bit by bit.....some peices fit     some peices will fit eventually.....some are cul de sacs........how to portray lisboa? without being to obvious...............when the travellers arrive in lisboa they stay @ a hotel in rua alecrim....uknown tthe birds form into an enormous cloudlike shape frightening all of lisboa........

manchester street art 2010

now you see it now you dont......the northern quarter has been hoovered of grafitti....has the city council had a purge or is there a  mad anti grafitti artist out there?

the artist  in market street, a very talented guy...if you see him working give him a second thought...better stilll make a donation however small!

seen in rusholme a sad building that was once proud... a centre for conversation and meeting people

the click of the balls is now faded!

cordoba..chillida and a patio garden

hil and i went on the garden club trip to cordoba........the wheels on the bus went round and round and round about cordoba...our driver appeared clueless in gaza......@ last our hostal...bags dropped and out....lunch of boquerones.......spinach and chickpeas and some albondegas...ace! at los palcos in a courtyard....it rained drumming an incessant beat on the plastic roof...we wandered like the fish "wanda"...we bumped into a chillida show.....monumental sculpture......paper works and a great video on him and his work....i had seen a big show of his in bcn many years ago...back into the streets and saw a wacki wire wall piece....poetry and whimsey like a delicate dancing miro.......we were then in the red light district.....why no gardens yet? they do not open til 7pm....to mini conifers in pots signify a patio....number uno ....in we go the walls are splattered with pots full of flowers......a riot of colour......the only roblem for me is that they are all very much the same.....finding some small scale graffiti in a very tidy hoovered town....hil was the map reader....great maps .....i dont think......in one of the main streets we came across a house covered in calligraphy and we met the pen man...what a character....more gradens and balconies....then we met rodrigues and his girlfriend in their patio....it was ace totally unglued.....plants in shoes....pebbles balanced in plantpots....paint spattered plates and great music....what a refreshing place after all the anal patios....lunch in the internet cafe migos with chorizo....hil had paella...waited 20 mins but worth it....the alcazar...formal gardens and wonderful topiary...plus koi...we missed out on the mesquita this time round....a last lunch of boquerones....pinchos of pork and deep fried battered aubergine served with a sugar cane dip........over the roman bridge and away...

the saramago wall and chico

i could feel some eyes on my back.......you know the feeling.....it was a surprise visit from chico...the man from salir......chico is the general factotum....a man of many parts...always with a smile......he was working with antonio....i think looking for old farm implements @ the generals fathers house....a new project that the general is working on....progress is going well....lots of white bits painted.....there are stilll about 30 metres to go........the wall arrives in lisboa next....with a hotel.......and the birds....id forgotten them.......and the dog with the blue wool..........

zefa salir and almancil in april.......plus volcanic dust!!!!!!!!

volcanic dust equals a family get together.....so says shovell.......saski and claire were having a short break.....sam was fising in toulouse...in fact making a fishing film....he also had a gig in lisbon........iceland exploded......no planes.........the 2 girls found themselves with an enforced extended holiday........sam was driven to barcelona by davide a fishing friend....he did the gig and then caught a train to the algarve.......mixed weather and lots of food.....i managed to escape to zefa almancil to work on the wall for a few hours in the week.....sam...hil and i went upto salir to see chico and the other saramago wall paintings......i particularly like the totemlike highly coloured structure by the general........picture above...wednesday am at zefa 1 trying to get as much done s possible before a large black cloud emptied itself on my head.....lucky me only a few drops....i am now contemplating the next move on the wall....it seems endless.....i also have some very big canvases in the generals studio to finish....plus a peice of work for the music festival in loule

bits of manchester march 2010

bits of manchester scene on foot........the sandwich shop in ducie street where philips gallery was close by.....which moved to the northern quarter.......now in tib lane........when i was a student in rochdale we used to get down onto the towpath of the medlock and walk under the city appearing in a variety of locations...... . i was incredulous at the demise of urbis...............i was on my way to see what was on.............................before i got there a friend told me the news...............the late urbis...........whatever happened to this fantastic idea of the museum of the city..............a missed opportunity that will never be reinstated....some good shows ............hacienda..........black panthers...........photos of hidden manchester...............now to become a football museum....theres one in preston i think?..............whilst walking around the northern..... quarter on my search for urban grafitti............surprise! surprise!................someone has been round with a tin of paint and hidden them.........but on a closer look there are a number of small ones left....subversion is still alive and well...i am not going to say where or what they are...in case the anti grafitti brush will be out again.........i continued on to vinyl exchange to see my friend russell marland dj.......the story so far....

malcom mclaren punk guru

 a sad day.....with the passing of a creative entrepeneur....i have just read a transcript of the infamous interview held with the sex pistols and bill grundy.....whilst listening to the filth and the fury a sex pistols film by julian temple....only last week i found a record of my sons whilst looking for a long forgotten john cooper clarke...beasly street....it was a todd terry remix of francoise hardy produced by malcom.......coincidences...as i have only recently started to listen to punk music....as part of a project that i am currently working on based on street art and graffiti....which will include music...i have also just started reading phil strongmans book "pretty vacant" a history of punk........
a mini extrapolation from strongmans book......." london 1975....on his way to the kitchen mclaren trips over a homeless would be guitarist....steve jones......somewhere in north london ray stevenson goes to bed....in the east end on a roof john wardle relights a joint....whilst john lydon thinks about an audition he has just had.....in a garden shed  in suburban hounslow dave goodman plays his four track endlessly...in a stoke newington squat glen matlock struggles with a new riff......headlines will be made...at that moment no one new what was going to be unleashed....no one except malcom mclaren who was only 29....or possibly one of the youths on the east end roof..........