Found a flat screen computer monitor in the street sometime ago, been kicking around here in the studio (with all the other found things waiting to be painted on), the monitor has been here for a couple of years picking up bits of leaf growth and such on it, a piece is never finished until someone takes it away. Dragged the monitor out and painted a fresh leaf on it this week, this one feels like it needs to be taken away now, or maybe plugged in and stood in a gallery on that 1960’s crate (eight shilling deposit so it says on the side, found the crate on the street as well).  I never consider a piece finished until it is taken away, if a piece stays around here then leaves and such will grow, new layers, ever evolving, never stopping, than monitor is finished (for now).

I was outside yesterday growing black and pink hop leaves on a found piece of marine plywood, I was working on another piece actually (there’s usually several pieces being painted on) when a passer by asked if that one was finished and could he buy it. It wasn’t finished at the time, he insisted it was we had quite a long friendly chat about it, as much as he wanted to, I wouldn’t let him take it, in my head it wasn’t finished. I know I keep saying a a piece is never finished but they do generally arrive in a state that I do consider finished, when a piece goes on a gallery wall (or out on the street) it is considered finished, but then if it does come back here to the studio new layers will eventually grow on it. Yesterday’s piece was simply work still in progress, it is finished now, Hopstarz, several layers of black, blue, red and white starz painted over the last few weeks and now underneath those pink and black hop leaves painted yesterday (those starz were always going to be underneath a layer of leaves) . I imagine it will be “dropped” next week, or taken to the next show and hung on a gallery wall with other starz and leaves and….

That cat sent his/her owner out to buy some pieces at the Brick Lane Art Car Boot Fair, did I share that photo already, it does make me smile, nothing wrong with art smiling now and again and there really isn’t enough cats on the internet (next week we’re at the All Dogs Matter show in Victoria Park, East London by the way).

Now who wants one slightly used Computer monitor, one careless owner, taken as seen, might not be in fully working order, no refunds?  Everything is a canvas (well besides a cat, a cat is never a canvas). More about the dog show and such in a bit, leaves to paint, hops to grow, old beer bottle crates to recycle, Starz records to play, drops to carefully “drop”.

More recent pieces…..