Monthly Archives: Sep 2008

All new to me

Posted on by
Reply
Poetry: is all new to me. Some of you will think this is no big deal, but I’m reading Noël Coward’s "Collected Verse" and now Thomas Hardy’s "Selected Poems".
It’s new to me, it feeds a need in my life right now. In those moments of introspection, which can be quite short, a passage of prose is just the right  dose.
Thomas Hardy initially seems more difficult of the two, but I am sure I will get used to the language. A colleague lent me this copy today, she must have had it since college days as it has been annotated throughout. I love annotated books, second hand books are great for this. Thanks Sarah– I will look after it.

Coward made his living as a song-writer but he says he made an effort to move away from the rigid rhythms and write more freely in his prose. I am really quite excited by all of this; the fact that just a page can hold a thought, one that deserves to stand on its own- not part of a plot or scene. It’s really something, something powerful. As I have said elsewhere, there is a universe in the little things, those often overlooked and deserve close attention. These small pages with a few hundred words do the looking in close-up.
It’s been over ten years since I read any poetry- and that was Spike Milligan. This life is changing (hold on, I don’t have any others).

Is it finished?

Posted on by
Reply
A sudden feeling hit me, while cleaning the edges of a glaze. How uncanny, the suddenness I mean, and relief – it’s worked well enough.
It’s finished!
Oh, what am I talking about; the Angelica painting. I’ll take a photo tomorrow and upload soon after.
Next some portraiture, but I don’t like posting them on here.

I’m painting daily of late, playing with watercolours and finding it
rather fun. It’s a surprisingly precise medium despite all of the
blobby washed puddles that many artists work with. I’m using it for
portraits, something I am honing about now.
I’m getting there too.
The
route through works like this: do portrait sketches a few times to
discover the "issues"- the things that can go awry. Play with the
details in close-ups, as well as drawing from memory, this serves as a
warning. By now, you get to know where erronious elements can creep in.
Sketch it again in colour several times working away from the
dependence on tone until you understand the colour.
Only then, draw it up onto the canvas.

Collected Verse

Posted on by
Reply
Dry, warm with a sweet smelling southerly wind..

Noël Coward:

I am no good at love
My heart should be wise and free
I kill the unfortunate golden goose
whoever it might be
with over articulate tenderness
And too much intensity

I am no good at love
I batter it out of shape
Suspicion tears at my sleepless mind
And, gibbering like an ape,
I lie alone in the endless dark
Knowing there is no escape

I am no good at love
When my easy heart I yeald
Wild words come tumbling from my mouth
Which should have stayed concealed
And my jealousy turns a bed of bliss
into a battlefield

I am no good at love
I betray it with little sins
For I feel the misery of the end
In the moment that it begins
And the bitterness of the last goodbye
Is the bitterness that wins

….what gorgeous bitter melancholy.

Goodnight.

The Wackness

Posted on by
1
17°C, rain has finished for today

Electric Cinema, Birmingham: what a superb cinema- cosy, small, with a bar next to the ticket office, we took our drinks in to see the film- "The Wackness" by Jonathan Levine (2008). the film was superb too. Ben Kingsley put on a captivating performance as s shrink who develops a relationship beyond his profession with a male client. The result was full of charm and wit- he clearly thoroughly enjoyed acting that role, the character was often funny, vulnerable and absurd. The cinematography was good, control of lighting, the very wide-screen format (and the compositions that allows)- assisted by the fact that were were watching 35mm stock. No doubt I missed worthwhile asides, images or other subtleties, so this is high on my list of films- To See Again.

No blind spots

Posted on by
Reply
18°C, windy morning, very wet afternoon. 35 miles

Eye test: now the blind spots have gone, the optician thought that was strange. I’m not so confident in the test, I suspected a false positive 3 years ago, despite the optician’s insistence. He couldn’t see any vitreous floaters either today, I can though. The prescription remains the same, so no new specs. A good result.

The rain, the rain…