“If You Want Blood…” – Acrylic on canvas, 15cm x 15cm x 1cm (April 2022) – A new painting painted this week, the first in a new series of Electric paintings inspired by and to be painted ahead of May’s Art Car Boot Fair.

The Electric Art Car Boot Fair is something like a month away, always an honour to be invited to participate. “Electric” is the theme this time and to me electric says kranked up guitars, the smell of over heating amps and loud loud rock music. Electric music isn’t polite, it isn’t quiet, electric music is raw, visceral, electric music is something you can taste. As we work our way towards the fair I shall be throwing on a very electric album, turning it way up and while it plays, I shall be painting the cover of that album on a fresh blank canvas, the paintings will take no longer than one play of the album, the painting has to be fast, alive, reactionary, instant, flawed, the paintings need to be as raw as the music. The “Electric” series of paintings will evolve in the weeks leading up to the fair and will be available first at the Art Car Boot Fair that happens both online and in real life at Kings Cross, here London on May 14th. More via Art Car Boot Fair in terms of both events.

It is for me a very specific thing, I can’t just paint just any album cover, some of my favourite albums don’t quite fit the criteria, it has to be really electric, it has to have that that “thing”, it has to be right there, crackling, in the grooves, Motorhead albums, as much as I think Overkill is one of the greatest albums ever by anyone, don’t quite have that “electric” factor. AC/DC’s gloriously raw live album If You Want Blood recorded in Glasgow with Bon Scott on home turf on the Powerage Tour of 1978 has “it”, the first Black Sabbath album has “it”, Group Sex, that classic Circle Jerks album has it, the first side of Kiss Alive has “it”, MC5’s proto-punk 1969 live album Kick Out The Jams certainly has it is spades, some of those Black Flag albums have “it”, Never Mind the Bollocks certainly does (but do I want to paint that cover?), Ted Nugent albums certainly do but, as much as I love his music the man is a total utter arse. Tribe 8 albums have that “thing”.  I am going to be very very (very) picky, there’s plenty of pub discussions in this one…    

The “Electric Series” will be a series of Electric paintings, a series painted in the time it takes to play a very electric album just once.  It has to be a very electric very raw album, nothing polite, the series will evolve in the lead up to the Fair with all work being offered exclusively at the Fair first. A series of fast electric acrylic paintings of 15cm square canvas, so far the series features interpretations of album covers by Kiss AC/DC, Circle Jerks, Black Sabbath, MC5, who knows where this will go over the next 30 or so days that are left before the Electric Art Car Boot Fair, I shall be making a lot of noise in the studio with this series.

Meanwhile the “Ten” series of daily concluded paintings goes on. A series of paintings on 10cm square canvas that started in the summer of 2020, one painting brought to a conclusion every day, always 10cms and always on sale at £10 a painting. The Series has been going for over 600 days now, a painting finished every day. All paintings from April and May 2022 will be exclusive to the fair.

The 2022 Amaryllis paintings. A series of paintings from earlier this year that have not been exhibited anywhere and have not been offered for sale anywhere yet. A series of five paintings that will be exclusive to the on-line version of the fair.

The Electric Art Car Boot Fair is taking place on Lewis Cubitt Square, Kings Cross, London on Saturday May 14th from 2-7pm. More details to follow. There will also be an on-line version of the Electric Art Car Boot Fair happening between 14th May and 16th May, watch this space, tickets are on sale now via that link you just passed…