Problem Solved

Snoozing ~ Watercolour
...correct colours this time!

The Fourth Plinth

'Plimsole Line' ~ Watercolour

It's Antony Gormley's turn on the Fourth Plinth, starting today.

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.

...I'm Filled With Gladness!

The tartist and I got home from work yesterday both flagging from the exertion of feeding and watering our customers in the tropical heat of this current sunny spell and put our feet up and turned the T.V. on in order to watch what was left of this year's Glastonbury music festival. We were not dissapointed, about to take to the stage were Madness, those erstwhile exponents of 'cockney ska' and purveyors of umpteen hit records over the past 30 years (go on, count 'em!).



There I sat grinning from ear to ear with our telly turned up nice and loud as Suggs and his nutty band of merry men entertained as if it was 1980 again playing hit after hit mixed with songs from their most recent concept album (yes Madness have just released a concept album) 'The Liberty of Norton Folgate'. Why is the artist waxing lyrical so? I hear you ask. Well, when I first heard madness' music it had an immediate and profound effect on me, so much so I immediatly replaced my dreadful seventies 'mullet' for a No.3 back and sides, bought myself a crombie coat, fred perry shirt and Doc. Martens. This was music coming from my generation and here they are still, men mostly in their early fifties, still vital, still cool, still able to 'work' a crowd and as I watched the Glastonbury crowd, some in safari suits, pith helmets & false moustaches, some with lime green wigs even a chap on an inflatable sofa crowd surfing and just for a short while my faith in humanity was restored...to quote the nutty boys 'if this is madness then I'm filled with gladness'!

Our Friend Joan

Today we took a break from the heat of the café to join our friend Joan at her 85th birthday party. We first met Joan when the Artcafé was in its infancy about six years ago and she's been a regular customer and we have become firm friends. One of the things we're particularly proud of at the café is that people of all ages (including 85 year olds) feel perfectly comfortable sitting on their own passing the time with a coffee. In fact the tartist and I have witnessed many blossoming friendships and one or two love stories as a result of sitting with a coffee in the Artcafé. This for us is a really important function of a business such as ours, not just the food and drink but providing a meeting place for people of all ages and tastes etc. So, happy birthday Joan from theartistandthetartist!

Snoozing ~ Watercolour
This is weird, somehow blogger is inverting colours at the moment. I've tried posting this picture several times with the same strange result, anyhow I'll wait and see if anyone else is getting muddled up colours, then try again.

TBTE

I had a most agreeable spot of dinner with the tartist this fine evening at The Coast Inn, overlooking the fleet as we islanders like to call the three muddy channels you can see in the distance. You will have also noticed the two pint glasses containing our beverages, often (for me especially) these would contain something very much darker and 'hoppy', but not this evening. You see I become quite a sucker for this trend of cider drinking, not that cider drinking is in any way a new concept, but the simple idea of filling a pint glass full of ice then pouring your pint of cider over it is, I think, a stroke of genius. On such a warm late June evening it made a perfect accompaniment to my fish and chips. Then with the sun still warm on our backs we walked up the gentle incline towards home, feeling quite fortunate to live on this muddy Essex island.