Rust Never Sleeps 5: H*3

H*3, oil on board, 18" x 24".

I know at least one person has been waiting for this, so here it finally is. More rust.

Another one from the rich seam of colour, font and rust at Eyemouth harbour. I've got three more canvasses roughed out and ready to go.

I added the diagonal shadow at a very late stage on this, and it suddenly made the whole painting make sense. It's difficult to give a sense of perspective and depth on what is obviously a flat surface, but the shadow just made it 'leap' somehow.

I was looking through some estate agency auction materials from the mid 1830s today - handbills, posters, lithographic prints, maps etc., which was a very exciting thing for a history and font nerd. I got some interesting ideas, not unconnected with the fishing boat work, which I'm quite excited about. Hopefully something will come of it. More rust first, though.

Music on Monday: Fish Tale

Oh yeah, Music on Monday. Sorry, I had this scheduled and forgot to write anything about it.

This is Chris Wood, a monster of the current folk scene (BBC Folksinger of the Year 2011), which makes him a very small monster in global terms, but it's the globe's loss. It's people like Chris Wood that keep folk music alive, not simply by playing the old songs but writing new material in the 'folk' idiom. New songs about 'downsizing' to be happier, asparagus, his daughter hoofing someone's glasses across the schoolyard, and this beauty, an updated version of true love and the travels of a lost ring, in the chrome and steam setting of a chip shop.

Music on Monday: Band Substance

Whenever my friend Colin and I would get together and I was drinking more than I do these days, it was inevitable that two things would happen; a lot of red wine would get consumed, and at about two in the morning the Band's 'Last Waltz' DVD would come out. So this song in particular has a lot of very good, if a bit hazy, memories for me and gives me a particularly warm feeling, as it was Colin who introduced me to The Band in the first place.

Judged on its own merits, though, this is a 24 carat piece of bespoke hand-tooled teak-oiled magnificence in its own limited edition presentation case. The Weight is one of Robbie Robertson's finest compositions, and in this version the Staples' contribution runs through it like a vein of ore. It still puts the hairs up on the back of my neck.

Fair to Moderate, and the Return of H*3.

Post St.Abbs Fair analysis.

It was the hardcore wool crowd, and it was quite quiet all day, but it did afford some interesting analysis of what went and what didn't. Again, the Catnip cards proved the most popular, and I took the long hours of idleness as opportunity to doodle out a couple of new ones. The new square canvasses got a lot of interest too, and the reproduction cards of them sold, so I think I'm right in believing that there's something to follow there.

Met and chatted with lots of interesting people, both stallholders and browsers, and got a couple of good leads for future fairs and possible collective exhibitions. And I paid for my half of the table and had a bit of cash in the pocket at the end of it.

Oh aye, and to those who passed through, laughed at the cards for free and didn't buy one, that's virtually shoplifting.

And thanks above all to Lyndsay, a.k.a. the Border Tart who staged a tactical Malteser run when the stallholders were flagging and said kind things about my work and is therefore a Good Person.

As a result, I'm following the hankering I had for rusty letters and cracking on again with another such study from Eyemouth harbour; H*3 is back up on the easel and awaiting the on-clagging of paint. Can't wait.

It's a Sign

I made a sign for my half of the table for fairs, seeing as Laura has a large eye-catching sign and I don't. Well, I still don't, but it is a sign.

I spent a lot of time mulling over the font and came to the conclusion I'd really like it to be Gill Sans, same as on my website. I couldn't really just paint it successfully, I thought, but as I was staring at the piece of driftplank it occurred to me that it would look good if the letters were cut into the wood. I pricked out the outline of the letters, and scratched a guideline. I was going to use a chisel to cut but used my linocut burin set instead, as the u-shaped graver proved more controllable. I painted the letters in with acrylic. I think it looks quite smart, considering it's hacked out of a plank.

Public Flogging

First fair of the year on Saturday, the Woolfest at St. Abbs. I shall be there selling some original paintings, photograph prints and cards, and generally taking up space on Laura's table with my gimcrack homemade display units. It was very worthwhile last year, so fingers crossed that the good people of the Borders turn out with their wallets again.

I've added two new cards to the Catnip range (there are four now, so it's a 'range.') The habits and behaviour of cats.

Squarescapes

Two more squarescapes. There is another one but it looks pretty revolting, I don't think it photographed very well.