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...