Daily Sketch 12/01/2012 - Birdhouse

As I was sketching this one I had an earworm by way of a bit of musical nostalgia... "blue canary in the alley by the lightswitch, who watches over you" etc. etc. Who remembers that little gem from They Might Be Giants? Slightly surreal and ever so catchy, the tartist and I used to have the album on cassette tape and almost wore it out, it was late eighties I'm guessing.

So in case you don't remember, or have never heard it here are They Might Be Giants with 'Birdhouse in your Soul' deep lyrical surrealist joy!

The Easter Paradox

Here in the middle of the Easter weekend I find myself compelled to put a little time aside to post something here and paradoxically lost for what it should be. So what I have settled on is a painting and just a few thoughts. Easter has always seemed loaded with paradox the more I think about it, not least for the fact that the most pivotal and important event in the christian narrative has somehow got itself strangely entangled into what was a pagan celebration and hence its moving timetable around the lunar cycle. I've been drawn to one painting in particular this time 'Crucified Tree Form - the agony'
by Theyre Lee-Elliott (1903-1988) from the Methodist art collection and I thank my mate banksyboy for introducing me to this wonderful collection. The painting as the title suggests very directly conveys the agony of the crucifixion with none of the often bolted on distractions of iconography that often clutter pieces about this subject, instead we find a string of barbed wire, rotting flesh on a rather jaundice yellow background.

The artist Theyre Lee Elliott I have discovered to my surprise (after the ubiquitous google search) was a quite brilliant graphic artist too. Brought up as a Christian, but his sister says that he was '..definitely not a practising Christian, Lee Elliot seemed to occupy a space similar to the one I find myself in at the moment, which also resonates with me when I look at this painting.

I can't end this post without confessing that for some unknown reason this Easter I've been thinking about Judas' part in the whole narrative. Perhaps a psycho analyst could shed a bit of light on that! But I seem to keep coming back to his role in this whole story, in fact, how this deeply flawed and tragic person, the ultimate 'bad guy' alters the course of events, of history even, then remorseful he's still unable to live with what he's done.

Etta James, January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012

Quite a few years back now, I had the good fortune to be introduced to the wonderful voice of Etta James, by my great friend and fellow musician and singer 'Grip'. Back then we'd listen to all kinds of random stuff, making up mix-tapes (remember them?) just searching for inspiration or songs to sing.





Etta James it seems was an enormous influence upon ever so many singers and musicians down the years, so, sadly we learned of her death a couple of days ago. In the spirit of giving thanks for her and her singing I thought I'd post a little something up here. In the unlikely event you've never heard her voice here's a couple of her songs for you to enjoy. RIP. Etta.

The Sound Of 2012

So a new year lurches forward already one week old, as the old one recedes rapidly in my rearview mirror. Many questions and some resolutions too, for both me and thetartist. Who will be the sound of 2012? that's a good question, well according to the BBC it's soul singer Michael Kiwanuka who tops their Sound of 2012 list, he really reminds me of Bill Withers. My hope is that perhaps this young man may be in the vanguard of a bunch of emerging songwriters, singers & music makers who will be making music for us that is not 'pasteurised' or 'X-Factored' into a bland stodge.



He's in good company, previous winners include Jessie J, Adele, Mika, Ellie Goulding, Corinne Bailey Rae and Keane.

A Pot Of Tea & A Question On Musical Improvisation

Yesterday my good friend 'Banksy Boy' and I were having one of our deep discussions, over a pot of assam/ceylon blend, about the relative merits of musicians who are readers, (usaully) classically trained and those who come from a more contemporary background, from say a jazz/blues tradition. Our discussion came hot on the heels of loads of stuff we've been reading in blogland about music for worship, both good, bad and in some cases ugly.

We both wondered why is it that in our experience musos. who are classically trained, and more often than not 'technically' far better than their jazz/blues contemporaries are so flummoxed when asked to improvise. A simple question really.
To use your instrument to express yourself, that's all. After all they have the knowledge of scales, arpeggios, modes etc. in thier arsenal but when asked to open up and be creative for a few bars the result is often at best stilted and wooden.

Now my alterior motive behind this post is to share with you one of my favourite saxaphone solos, by Pee Wee Ellis playing with Van Morrison at Montreux in 1980.



Van's singing style also exemplifies the nub of our discussion as it probably breaks all the rules that any music teacher would espouse, but, it reaches deep into both song and listener, in short it has soul.

A New Decade 2011

So friends a new year begins, and a new decade for that matter. We're entering 2011 with our artistandtartist glass half full as is our wont and would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and peaceful new year. What has 2011 in store I wonder, adventure? intrigue? excitement? in order to find out I thought I'd consult that tried and tested oracle into events yet to come, from the mystical far east via my Christmas cracker, the 'Fortune Teller' ~ Miracle fish.





So I placed the little red cellophane visionary upon my open palm and would you believe its head and tail began to move.



These particular movements according to the guide on the reverse side of its packet indicate 'In Love'. What a result! I hope you will all be entering 2011 with hearts that are full.

In The Bleak Midwinter

Well, we've reached that midwinter point again, the Winter Solstice, the shortest day, the longest night.



Somehow this song from Sting just resonates with me both musically and lyrically on this our longest night...

"Ghost Story"

I watch the Western sky
The sun is sinking
The geese are flying South
It sets me thinking

I did not miss you much
I did not suffer
What did not kill me
Just made me tougher

I feel the winter come
His icy sinews
Now in the fire light
The case continues

Another night in court
The same old trial
The same old questions asked
The same denial

The shadows closely run
Like jury members
I look for answers in
The fire's embers

Why was I missing then
That whole December
I give my usual line:
I don't remember

Another winter comes
His icy fingers creep
Into these bones of mine
These memories never sleep

And all these differences
A cloak I borrow
We kept our distances
Why should it follow I must have loved you

What is the force that binds the stars
I wore this mask to hide my scars
What is the power that pulls the tide
I never could find a place to hide

What moves the Earth around the sun
What could I do but run and run and run
Afraid to love, afraid to fail
A mast without a sail

The moon's a fingernail and slowly sinking
Another day begins and now I'm thinking
That this indifference was my invention
When everything I did sought your attention

You were my compass star
You were my measure
You were a pirate's map
A buried treasure

If this was all correct
The last thing I'd expect
The prosecution rests
It's time that I confess: I must have loved you

The Shuffling First 15 Meme...

'The Hottest Day, Feldy Marshes' ~ Watercolour

I've not indulged myself in one of these 'memes' before, but this one from 'Banksy Boy' had me intrigued. Here's what to do...

1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.
2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.
3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up–song title and artist
–NO editing/cheating, please.

1/ 'Oxford Comma' ~ Vampire Weekend
2/ 'Carraroe'/'Out On The Ocean' ~ Dennis Cahill & Martin Hayes
3/ 'The Meeting' ~ XTC
4/ 'Contusion' ~ Stevie Wonder
5/ 'Sunrise Over Sea' ~ John Butler Trio
6/ 'Come On Let's Go' ~ Los Lobos
7/ 'Brown Eyed Girl' ~ Van Morrison
8/ 'Me And Mr. Jones' ~ Amy Winehouse
9/ 'Some Kind Of Wonderful' ~ Paul Young & Q-tips
10/ 'Fool Who Knows' ~ Nick Lowe
11/ 'Needle & Thread' ~ Richard Thompson
12/ 'Two Dancers' ~ Wild Beasts
13/ 'Nzaji' ~ Mario Rui Silva
14/ 'A Sigh' ~ Crowded House
15/ 'Indian Queens' ~ Nick Lowe

So, this is what I get from a random snapshot of my i-pod, I don't quite know what to make of it as there is simply so much more variety on there that could have cropped up. Only two really contemporary artists there, Vampire Weekend plus the weird and wonderful Wild Beasts. Still an interesting little exercise. Give it a go friends...I'm curious to see what you get on yours!

The Grapes Of Wrath - Poignantly Re Visited

The tartist and I were fortunate to go and watch the Mercury Theatre's production of 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck last night, H/T Peter and what a superb play it is, extremely poignant, moving and hauntingly relevant once again. The time seems absolutely ripe for this amazing story to be re visited right now, and I for one came away feeling very aware of the narrow margin that exists between good fortune and plenty and poverty and desperation. The best play we've seen at the Mercury in quite a while and urge you if you can in the last couple of days it has to run to go and see it if you can, you won't be disappointed I'm sure.

Artie & Vincent

Like millions of people we're woken up most mornings by the dulcet tones of a radio alarm, not too loud you understand, not so quiet as to be ignored. It blips into action this time of year at 6am then for a period of time just after that we find ourselves in that very pleasant semi conscious state listening to whatever the beeb is broadcasting our way. We mostly have on radio two these days, which may be a bit of a giveaway as to which demographic the pair of us has slipped into. We experimented with 6 music for a while but didn't find it quite what we were after for our wake up tunes, but its pretty good later in the day. Once downstairs it has to be radio four for news, weather, 'thought for the day' etc., anyhow I digress.

This morning we were woken by a fabulous swing tune by Artie Shaw titled 'Frenesi', which was a most pleasant start to today. Now hearing this I was reminded of something I read that Artie Shaw was quoted to have said about Vincent Van Gogh and is so simple in it's language but so profoundly true of all great artists, be they painters, writers, musicians etc. that I thought I'd share it here.



'What was Van Gogh about? God knows, we could talk about that forever. One thing we do know is that he was not trying to please somebody else. He was trying to do what he had to do.' ~ Artie Shaw

TBTE 08.09.2010 Village Green No.VG247

Village Green No.VG247

I'm just back from my evening constitutional around the seawall with my canine companion Mabel. This, believe it or not, is one of our village greens here on Mersea Island and is also probably one of the most photographed, sketched & painted scenes by locals and visitors alike. I'm not ashamed to admit that this particular corner of the waterfront just at the end of The Lane has been something of a 'pot boiler' for me too over the years.


'Old Trawlers' ~ Watercolour

I admit it's not much like your architypal village green but little spaces like this muddy one of ours are very precious indeed and definately need preserving.

Back In The Studio

It's been a while again hasn't it, sorry, but joy of joys I managed to get into my studio again yesterday for a few hours. So I have a new medium sized watercolour underway and a big imperial sheet of the gorgeous 'Arches' stretched and ready to go for a much larger painting that I've been planning for some time. Whilst working yesterday I had a musical studio companion in the form of Sufjan Stevens which seemed to go well with the work, so here's a little taster of the joyfully odd & eclectic Sufjan for those who are not familiar with his music. I know I keep saying this but, I will try to keep more regular with my posting.

We No Speak Americano

This is not part of our usual aural diet, but it's somehow worked it's way in there. We can't stop humming it, and the video is brilliant too, any how we thought we share it with you. Just for the record, an 'Americano' is also a classic long black coffee, I'll tell you why in a future post if you don't already know. Have a good weekend peeps!

The Ukulele Is Good For You!

This short film confirms what we've suspected for some time. The humble ukulele can work wonders.

SFTW ~ F-Sharp

If this doesn't make you laugh...then you're probably dead. Have a good weekend!

The Snow Returns & The Performing Right Society

The view from the Artcafé first thing this morning

As soon as we got to work this morning it started snowing again, only a dusting so far, but very pretty looking out from table 6.

Yesterday I had a phone call from The Performing Right Society, the organisation set up to collect fees on behalf of copyright holders of music, predominantly authors and music publishers. Fair enough, you might think. We've been grudgingly paying our dues since they caught up with us about two years ago, approx. £200 per café, per annum. And yesterday they called to remind us our fee was due for the next 12 months. This fee is apparently due for playing music where the general public is within 'earshot' which obviously includes cafés, shops, hairdressers, garages etc. etc. I can hear you asking what's your problem Jim? well, I have several...

When PRS first make their initial contact they convey themselves as a government style organisation who are collecting monies for all artists broadcast. Failure to do so is met with the threat of legal action. The PRS only collect and distribute money to their own members (who pay a fee to join by the way) by no means all artists. They are not connected to the government. 

Let's assume you are a hairdresser who likes to listen to the BBC on the radio whilst cutting your customer's hair, you are required to pay the PRS. a license fee each year for this. Now, when a song is broadcast, a fee is collected for the writer, performer etc. at the point of broadcast, and presumably a certain percentage of the original purchase price of the media, be it CD or digital download etc. is too. How can it be right that you, the hairdresser, have to pay a fee at the point of reception?...we don't charge our customers twice for their coffee! 

I always pay for the music I download and CD's too, I think it is only right and fair to the artist who's original work I'm enjoying, but this weird blanket license/tax on top is quite frankly 'milking it' and I don't like it. It also takes no account of how many times a particular artist gets a play, I might want to play Mozart all day and no Robbie Williams at all, yet, presumably Mr. Williams still gets a cut, like I say, milking it.

To put it crudely from a PRS. point of view, it is the same music (already paid for), same ears, different room. I don't have much time for researching all the in's and out's but there seems to to be no specific legal definition of a public performance. I'd be curious to know if anyone yet has been successfully 'nicked' for refusing to pay the PRS and it might be well worth an organiseation like the Federation of Small Businesses looking into the legality of these charges. 

I have to add that I, in no way want to deprive musicians and artists of what's due to them (I am one myself) but my instinct tells me that these charges smell fishy.

SFTW ~ How Can You Deny An Electric Car?

We think this is cool, They Might Be Giants' 'Electric Car'. The thought has just occurred to me, that, if and when we embrace the electric car, manufacturers will have to include a mechanism to make a brroom brrrooom sound or else we'll never hear them coming!

Global 'Cooling' & Red Onion Marmalade

Whilst our corner of the globe continues it's cooling spell this afternoon the tartist is making about 3kg. of red onion marmalade. As I enter the kitchen my eyes immediately start streaming with the vapour coming from her endeavors, but it's well worth this minor hardship as her red onion marmalade is so delicious.




The view from the studio this afternoon

I for my part am working on a watercolour that I think I'm going to ironically call 'Deckchairs and Ice Creams'. I'm being accompanied this afternoon by the dulcet tones of Elbow, who produced 'The Seldom Seen Kid', one of the albums of the last decade in my humble opinion.

For The Love Of Maisy

Our chef in Colchester Matt and his wife Sophie have a beautiful 5 year old daughter called Maisy. She has cerebral palsy, severe epilepsy is visually impaired with learning and developemental delays and she could do with some more equipment and therapy to make life more pleasurable.

We're holding a fundraising event at the Mersea Centre (M.I.C.A.) on Saturday 12th December and James' band 'Skandal' are playing free of charge to help us raise at least £1,000 for Maisy. Please come along, tickets are now on sale at the Artcafé and M.I.C.A. Centre price £10.

A Watercolour & Independence Day

Sunshine Over The Huts ~ Watercolour

I was trying to find something appropriately 'warm' for this current heatwave we've been having and was rummaging in my painting archives when I stumbled upon this, painted in July 2007, it has rather too much blue to feel really hot but it will have to do for now. Oh, I nearly forgot to give a little nod to our neighbors across the water (no, not Tollesbury, stupid).



Happy Independence Day.