week ending 6 July 2011

It has been a great 3 months progress since my last post, The Mural is on stand-by at the moment, in a turn of good fortune and with only a couple of weeks to go before the expiry of a planning approval for a doorway to be cut out and fitted for the premises next door The Joshua Tree Restaurant received a notice approving the works, It would have been otherwise awful to have installed the Grand Design only to have a part of it ripped out, so, for now I have gained extra time to commit to other projects.

Aside general pottering about, bits of experimentation and a few trials of life I have two projects on the go, the First, and my primary concern, is the Kendal Castle Poppy Installation for which there is a separate Blog and its own Facebook site now in active and regular use.

I started a 3 week proactive marketing strategy which was in the form of targeting selectively individuals and groups and requesting their support through friendship, since that time I have allowed the site to grow in autonomously through its own viral nature and have been both satisfied and pleased with the result.

In the period following, around 3 months now and as I write this, the site following and popularity has increased to a wonderful figure somewhere close to the 800 mark with a second level following in well in excess of 2,000.000 and that is a very conservative estimation.

On the practical side there have been 16 visits to the castle, as many meetings, good press coverage and great local support on the street, from individuals to Local businesses; currently I await the structural survey report which contributes to acceptance of the project by English Heritage who oversee the care and welfare of the UK's prime historical buildings.

My other project is a more personal one as I continue my explorations of paint and canvas with the splash and pour influence of Jackson Pollock, an influential painter from the 1950s and one with whom I share many traits, sadly and for the most, his powerfully negative aspect.

small ( 12" x 4") experimental piece

To Date I have finished 5 Medium to large canvases, each one with a subtle difference than the style of perhaps his most commonly associated works, each one taking me on a tiny journey, a stepping stone onto the next piece; I expect to continue this series over the next couple of years while taking small forays into other exploratory directions, reconnaissance trips into, perhaps, once visited though still nonetheless unknown territories, of sculpture, film and photography.

All history is contributory to my life of learning new things, of revisiting and revising old ideas;  it is most surprising, when looking back in time with a better informed mind, it is then that you find an alternate world, things missed the first time around are now found, things that had been ignored, much of which had no relevance at that moment and only now fit into the bigger picture.

So much time is spent looking back that I only have half the amount of time to plan ahead, it is a slower pace of life but speed is no longer of importance, so, watch this space and thanks for reading.