I like the Americans and their funny phrases and the way they call their arse their butt. I’ve had this week off work, to get a show hung and also to “veg out” a bit. Delivering work for the show was a bit manic as they phoned me once I’d got home requesting more work. Another hour and a half in the car later.. Still, one result was that they’re showing some of my drawings on canvas. I’m a little wary about these as they seem to go down in a bit of a love/hate way with people. RED Gallery up in Hull loved them and I used my exhibitor’s fee to make more like Darrell (below, photo taken in artificial light – 70 x 70 cm) and Lee (bottom, photo taken in natural light – 100 x 130 cm).

I keep Lee on the wall in the bathroom as the raw canvas doesn’t seem to mind humidity changes too much.

The house is pretty empty of smaller pieces now, which I find a little distressing. So much so, that yesterday I stretched some very old work up on dodgy canvases I couldn’t use to paint on. The work is from 2004-2005, from my final show at Loughborough, from my final horrible year at Loughborough. It wasn’t an easy year, I hated my paintings, I couldn’t see what I’d do once graduated and I felt like a total failure. I didn’t paint for over a year after graduating. Anyway, at the time I was obsessed with blue, pthalocyanine blue in particular, and started using my paints incorrectly.. Really incorrectly, mixing household acrylic-type stuff with my oils. The works are tacky to this day and have an almost PVC feel to them, hence the odd smell. I am not sure how long they’re going to last on my wall!