Trade Imbalance

Below is the image of a book cover containing one of my Universal Declaration of Human Rights images, (a series of 30 works -- each one representing an Article of the Declaration):



The painting in question is of Article 23. I painted it way back in 1991.

Should be available around October 31st, according to Amazon. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Museum On The Seam

These are some photos I took in Jerusalem back in June, when I was there for a few days to visit the Museum On The Seam, a "boutique" political art museum in Israel. I'm in a show there opening in a few weeks time (Oct. 12th), "Bare Life". More details will be posted when I have them.


Above: view of the exterior of the Museum On The Seam, 4 Chel Handasa St.


Above: Notre Dame Hotel, Jerusalem. I stayed here.


Above: The Dome Of The Rock & The Western Wall.

Guardian Of The Forest

A new mythical drawing:



Brush & ink on paper, 2007, 12" x 12" approx.

Alone

Here's a new drawing:



Brush & ink on paper, 2007, 12" x 12". I hadn't done a fine-line drawing recently, so I thought I'd do one. Should probably do a few more...

Review of "Chips For Supper" by Stephen Harrison

I haven't had as much time as I thought I might to listen to this, partly due to work pressures, partly due to finding a compatible CD player to play this on. As it's a self-produced effort, it can misbehave on some players. I'm listening as I'm typing here.



Stephen isn't giving me much to go on by way of dates. I recognize some of the pieces from the mid-80s Heyday days, in fact I'm playing keyboards on one of them (track 13, "Pull Up A Chair", as noted in a previous post). There are also the Heyday tracks "Sad & Blue" & "Pack On Your Back" given the big production treatment by Alan Rankine (of Associates fame) & Paul Haig. Unfortunately, while it's good to hear Stephen's voice in a widescreen setting, as it were, the synths overpower the pieces a little. I also remember the epic (6 and a half minutes, more or less), "Lucky Moon", as a song we rehearsed but never quite got the hang of. It sparkles here. Kudos also to Ewan Burke for his restrained production work on tracks 1 & 18 ("Never Say Die" & "Winter Sun").

There are 19 tracks on this CD, only 4 of which I was familiar with. The rest of the material does not disappoint. Stephen is a very accomplished, sometimes quirky (which is still good) songwriter & singer. I'd hazard a guess that on most of the tracks here, it's mostly him playing the instruments -- guitars, keyboards, bass(?) & drum machine. The songs at first sound fragile & delicate, but reveal a harder core on further listens. Songs of longing & melancholy, lost love, the tedium of daily existence, snatches of happiness. The song titles, "Emotional One", "Help Us With The Pain", "World Of Shame", & so on, give a fairly direct picture of the subject matter.

Jangly guitars, a lonely voice which somehow retains traces of optimism, a sense of timelessness, every song a little classic that could somehow be a hit single somewhere...it's very difficult to play favorites as all the songs are very strong yet distinct. I really need to listen to this a lot more. These are Stephen Harrison's soundtracks to short movies maybe he'll make someday. They should be shot with a handheld camera in a grainy black & white, somewhere in Europe, on a rainy day, perhaps. I'm rambling...

Chips For Supper. Who knew they could be so satisfying? Get in touch with Stephen Harrison here.

Thanks for the CD.

Chips For Supper

Stephen Harrison's retrospective CD:



Stephen was the singer/songwriter in Heyday, the band I was in during the mid 80s in Edinburgh. He's just self-released this CD. It is very good. I'm going to do a little review here after I've listened to it some more. In the meantime, here's Stephen's MySpace page for Heyday.

BTW, I'm playing keyboards on track 13, "Pull Up A Chair".

Little Dictator

New small painting:



Acrylic on board, 2007, 12" x 9".

Sinking

Here's another sketch done in Jerusalem back in June:



Same size as pages below -- 6" x 4" approx. Done in pen.

Machine [Gun] Minotaur

BTW, here are the original sketches for "Machine Gun Minotaur" (below, somewhere). I did them while staying at the Notre Dame Hotel in Jerusalem back in June this year:



Each of the 2 pages above is approx. 6" high by 4" wide. Click on image for a much better view.

The Road To Tomorrow

Which is where all roads go:



Acrylic on board, 2007, 14" x 11". Not often that I do landscapes these days. I won a prize for one once, oh, around 27 years ago. Where does life go?

The Ghosts of Hiroshima

New painting:



Acrylic on masonite, 2007, 30" x 18".

This Modern World

Basic survival can be a trial these days:



Acrylic on masonite, 2007, 30" x 18".

PTSD

Hopefully, this one is viscerally self-explanatory:



Acrylic on masonite, 2007, 18" x 30". Another anti-war image.

As this is a quite wide image, it's automatically condensed by Blogger to fit into the column. Clicking on the photo will give you a better view.

Control Tower

Coming soon to a location near you:



Acrylic on board, 2007, 16" x 12". I actually did this painting a while ago, but was having problems photographing it, due to the glare the matt black background would pick up.

Machine Gun Minotaur

A new painting combining mythology & mayhem:


(image updated 09/06/07)

Acrylic on masonite, 2007, 30" x 18". I may do a large-scale version of this one. I'm not sure. Might leave as is, or develop the idea further...

Heyday Scotland Playlist

I've managed to embed the playlist of some of Heyday's songs from the mid-80s below. I hope Stephen doesn't mind (Hi, Stephen). See the entry under this one for photo & links. My personal favorite of the songs we recorded is still "Sad & Blue".

Back in a previous existence...

My old band Heyday, circa 1984-5:



That's me playing the Korg keyboard. We were pretty good & could've made it to the big time...(gets misty-eyed). Click on over to myspace.com/heydayuk to see & hear more. The singer/songwriter is Stephen Harrison, who is still writing music & has just released a retrospective CD, "Chips for Supper". Can't wait to hear it. He is really good & deserves some long overdue attention. Tell him I said hi...

Stephen also has a MySpace page for himself at myspace.com/closeuprecords for his music & his Close Up Records music label.

PS by "my" old band, I mean "the band I was in".

PPS the bass player in the photo, & the drummer not visible in the photo were David Weddell & Ronnie Torrance, respectively, who were in the legendary (apparently) Edinburgh band Josef K in the late 70s/early 80s.

Metropolis Under Siege

New painting, kind of a dystopian view of the world to come:


(image updated 09/05/2007)

Acrylic on masonite, 2007, 18" x 30".

However, there is still some kind of hope -- the greenish hue suggests some kind of organic life. On the whole, a protest against a technologically inhuman & overwhelming world.

Drowning Man

New painting in a more raw, expressionistic style (which I like):


(note: image revised 09/04/2007)

Acrylic on board, 2007, 14" x 11".

Is this a political comment on the state of the world (or the US?). Is it a personal meditation on aging or creativity? Is it a metaphysical comment upon the relation between humankind and the universe? All of the above, probably. I never know.