The mood lives on

Twenty-two years ago, with my wife in the final months of our oldest daughter’s pregnancy, I was trying to make ends meet on the pristine island of Bermuda.   As there was little in the way of riotous squalor that I could get my teeth into, my watercolours became as orderly as the landscape. 

  

But within my portfolio for that period there can be found a note of rebellion.   I clearly remember, as I threw down the thunderous washes in this painting, that my thoughts were of my beloved Caribbean.  The mood lives on.

Creativity and the comfort zone

By some strange quirk in the makeup of artists, and contrary to expectations, creativity does not fare well in the comfort zone.  If given luxury and financial security we procrastinate: put every obstacle in our way and we produce our best work.

Thus my present creative zeal owes its origin to the trials and tribulations that are doing their best to thwart me.  The New Year heralded the breakdown of every device we possess.  But despite no electricity supply (the final straw) and three weeks of tropical downpours, the creative urge lives on with vengeance. 

Today’s picture shows work in progress on the torso of my life-size bathing figure.