a ponderance

a good days graft today closing everything down around six and going for a walk to wind down, the rain seemed to just dissapear yet still umbrellas remained hoisted, I passed a group of people all spread around trying to keep their glad rags dry each making a frantic run for the coach each time the stair well became vacant, the coach taking them on their way to a wedding reception I guess looking at their dresses and lack of coats.

I watched a woman spending her millions while sitting on a bench, staring at her lottery ticket, perhaps she had won the lottery ticket.  as I watched her face went through a entire range of emotions and thoughts, all given way to a different facial expression that, I doubt, she even realised she was showing the world her thoughts.

HER EYES AND SMILES, FROWNS AND A SHAKING OF HER HEAD UP AND DOWN, SIDE TO SIDE, A LITTLE LOOK UPWARDS AND TO THE RIGHT SUGGESTING A DEEPER OR EVEN, SECOND THOUGHT, SHE PONDERED OVER WHO SHE WOULD SHARE THE NEWS WITH, EVEN I EXPECT WHO SHE WOULD SHARE HER WINNINGS WITH!  so engrossed was I that I did not even remember to take a fotograf or make a quick film of her expressions, privacy, a sacred thing.

Peoples faces and body language tell so much, the good, the bad, and, the ugly, the sick and needy, the well to do and the less foretunate yet their still exists the same group structures, everyone with those they aspire to and those they detest, many even have those who they look down upon in their group but who, in this day and age can look down upon anyone, even the Queen has her share of closet secrets that arn't quite as secret as her status should allow.

I thought of myself and was in a way brought mixed feelings, were there more like me then the government would have some major problems, as would supermarkets, social utilities companies and breweries!  It is society that controls the status quo and not they who have the finger pointed

Oh well, another day another blog!
Bye for now
andrew

period ending 20 May 2011

All goes well with the castle instalation, not too much happening at the moment though that really is semi-intentional, it was imagined from the start that it would be a huge undertaking with much more to do than one would at first think.

The local gazette continues to add support with our next update due in next weeks paper, yesterday the project had a plug on Lakeland radio which was a bit of an unexpected event having not been contacted by the station, imagine my surprise to hear of the broadcast from someone in a supermarket, also in the news the report of my former units return from Afghanistan and their humanitarian achievements while there, well done 2 PARA and welcome home.

My collection of fotografs of the castle from various locations around the town is slowly growing as every now and then I find a viewpoint that I was not aware of, this town continues to bring me surprises, not only in relation to the castle but as a town, always there is another little alley way (ginnel) that I've not found before, another picture postcard view, previously unseen in any special way but then along comes another bit of light illuminating the view.

This is a picture of the yard that housed a school and eight almshouses  built in the early 1600's, nothing to do with the castle simply a nice pic in the May sunshine.

The facebook site is the most active part of the process so far, now with over 600 friends even there I find pleasant surprises such as people commenting on fotografs at 3 in the morning, (thanks cherry for your dedicated support) it does make me wonder how history would have fared had the internet and social platforms been around for those who campaigned and worked for many of the charities and organisations that now rely heavily on facebook, twitter and blogs, we might live in a very different world now, only time will show if the presence of such powerful tools will affect our futures hence; the castle has also launched its Twitter feed today, http//twitter.com/poppybid it is a new platform for me and I am not entirely sure how to use it but, it is still early days.

The survey of the castle necessary to calculate the number of poppies and nets continues, not as quick as I would like however this is down mostly to my inability to climb the hill as often as I would like, even then, having conquered the climb the amount of work I am able to do is limited, this is now remedied as another local artist, Tim Leeson, has volunteered to help me out in my struggling attempts to scale the walls and rough ground, tape measure in one hand, sketch book in the other.

I am off today to meet with the Lib Dems Party Chairman, Tim Farron, it is not castle affairs that take me there but a charitable appeal to help save the funding for Stonham, a local housing project that serves homeless and vulnerable persons, hopefully there will be opportunity for me to pass on one of the castle cards to him in a bid to illicit his support for the project in the future, the Stonham Charity however must take priority, fingers crossed for both.

The CD carrying the new Poppy Song commissioned to raise funds for the Castle Poppy Bid, by Country and Western singer/songwriter Rita Bridgeman, is now weeks away from being completed, I have not heard it as yet and am really looking forward to it's release.

Till next post, best wishes
andrew 

The Castle

Work continues as the rewards grow up at the castle, around a third of the outer-wall has now been measured up, I could have done more this morning however a thicket of brambles and nettles, plus a young hawthorn thrown in for good measure, forced me to 'guestimate', the last 2 meters of the day,  a decision based solely upon my returning my open sandal covered feet to soft grass; it matters not, enjoyment is the name of this project as I persist in trying to avoid working to a tight schedule, that I reserve for nearer the completion date!

what never ceases to amaze me the level of solitude that can be experienced within the castle walls,  today's trip was of no exception even on my arrival and seeing around a million schoolchildren all sitting in a circle in the centre of the castle walls, I also knew full well that the moment they were released from the restrictions of 'class is on' there would be an a veritable 'explosion' of children in all directions the instant that a 'play-time' was announced, children are like sprinters on the starting block in such a situation, each hanging on their teachers words while waiting for the word that is the teachers equivilent of a starting pistol; I didnt have to wait long.

 Simon from the scaffold company

My peace continued even allowing a sketch while the children buzzed around me like little worker bees, all on a mission though I doubt I could have enjoyed the moment quite so much had it not been for my new, and recent, birthday gift, an MP3 Player, the soothing sounds of grover washington eliminating the children as effectively as telling them to 'go and play elswhere', if anything it was the constant and verbal vigilance of the teachers guiding each of the little terrors from the places where it would have been dangerous for them to play, always someone there to soften the games eh!"

The reason for the trip to the castle was to meet with the scaffold company rep.  I have looked at various ways to support the nets from the tops of the castle walls, scaffold was the winning choice as others such as wooden saddles straddling the tops of the walls or simple concrete weights were flawed in some way, risking potential damage, either to the building walls or the grass within the walls.  I have opted to encircle the interior walls with a box like structure of scaffold posts, each with short legs that will protect the grass ensuring that the minimal amount of grass will be deprived of light.  The scaffold not only will act as a 'hanger' for the nets but also the ballast necessary to prevent the nets being blown off or dislodged in some way, my fingers are crossed that this arrangement is suitable for the English Heritage.

Simon, from Harts Films came to do collect a little more footage for the project.  I have expanded upon the original plan, that being to make a short introductory film for future funding and promotional ventures.

The more I visit the castle the less I see it 'as an object', it has now become more of 'a process', not just from the project point of view but also in seeing the subtle little changes that occur in everything, the castle is, as we all are, in the process of 'getting older', what is now will one day become history; the work that I am doing now has an historical reference, will the walls continue to be maintained and remain exactly, for the next hundred years, or, will they slowly but surely fade away.

It is only the concept of time that allows for change, it is a fact that our time on this earth is too short to notice the changes in 'objects' and therefore  do not see things as being part of a process, the castle one hundred years had far more stones and wall height than now, one day, perhaps, maybe the castle will be of little more than a raised hump of grass covered land, seen only from the air, for that reason I have developed the short inroductory film into something more akin to a documentary style production; charting the ongoing process toward the castle walls becoming covered in poppies through to their removal and disposal, is a story and one I intend to document in film.

Nature starting to take its rightful place over man



For More information on the Castle Poppy Bid, go to facebook and search    Kendal Castle Poppy Bid
in addition to information there are also other foto albums, add yourself as a friend for more updates

Kendal Castle - The secret movie

Life of late has been quite full and draining, both emotionally and physically forcing a weekend of R'n'R. On the physical side there has been a lot of running around the town to the various meetings involved with the castle project notwithstanding the treks up and down the Castle hill for a variety of reasons, surveys, TV and media as well as my own mental process; the external wall mural I have recently been asked to do is in timely delay while an access door is now being cut into the wall where the Mural was intended to go so it is all free time for castle project..

If the project is to be completed as I see it I have to identify all pitfalls and all possibilities. To find these I must firstly be able to visualise the entire event as a film, over and over again in my mind, cutting and pasting here and there, deletions and additions, these visits are absolute escapeism for me, during these moments, there are no people walking around, there are no sounds from the town other than as a harmonious backdrop to the images that I am seeing through my mind.

By playing this film in my head it allows me to run through the entire event in real time throughout different time periods of each day, this would include watching the different modes of transportation both to and from the castle following the events completion, currently I have been looking at Horse and Carts loaded with blood red poppies each one in my having light, reflection, movement colour and ambience, on a different level a simple a link of respect to the towns past,

each time I visit the castle, the weather is different providing different view, different sceneries, different affects on the materials used and the interactions of man against elements, wet, dry, moist, warm, different smells on different days, different emotions, when one thing is different everthing is different, when you smell the life from a damp and living earth you essentially smell out the possibility of damage to the natural ecology, by feet, wheels, equipment, metal, wood and rope, from my part I get to enjoy all of these different visions and emotions along my own journey; a couple of drey horses. Heads down on a frosty morn followed by glistening poppies; how beautiful an image of tribute that would that be.

The various access points to the castle hill, all will need to be removed and replaced for the transport, these works will need permissions, I can to know who and where I have to go for the permissions, this film I watch, conjured up from my own known reality allows also for ensuring the health and safety of individuals (and animals) who will work in the setting up the instalation, if something goes wrong in my mind I can take steps to rectify through a change in design or chronology of events; only when I am able to successfully complete the project through to the castle being returned to its previous timeless condition in my mind, only then the installation start to be put into place and removed safely only through this process will it bring the veteran and the viewer together in heart and mind.

This 'connection' is truly what it is all about, it is about the work reaching out for a purpose, be that purpose of joy, sorrow, a memory, or just inspiration, even if that be but one viewer who who takes something away with them, in the case of 'Vigilance', the Installation, it has done its job, that however can only come when every aspect of every detail is cohesive with every other part of this mind invasion machine that is art, put simply, if something isn't right no matter how small, it is all wrong and the thing wont work, it wont do the veterans justice for their sacrifice and it wont find empathy with the families left behind.

The drain on my emotions is equal to that on my physical well being though this in itself is an inspirational drain. When I am fatigued I cant but help to feel for those who patrol the streets of Afghanistan on constant alert for their and their colleagues lives, hours upon hours of walking in the heat and dust, misstrusting any and all who is not sharing the same uniform though at the same time maintaining a friendly aire holding their fears, their fatigue, their tiredness and families deep inside, knowing that their next second could be their last, yet they continue in the professional manner our forces excel, they have to, its how they stay alive a bit longer, no, by comparison my suffering and exertion is zero.

Back to the project; this week sees provisional agreement from the local District Council that they would like to see the Event take place and that they would support my Bid at future discussions, in particular English Heritage, I await a date for that meeting and will post details on the facebook site (Kendal Castle Poppy Bid)when we have that meeting and the results of which, for the most, their main concern will be that the castle will be treated with due respect and that there will be no structural work either on the building or the ground.

Also a part of local council remit is the licensing department that deals with enforcement of street collections and events to raise funds, at Wednesdays meeting it was all quite positive with minimal form filling, the way the town has been split into sub areas for the purpose of revenue collection which would also include buskers and street entertainers and probably Big Issue sellers, is something new to me as I had not previously imagined that such control was enforced even in the sitting down and the playing of music in the street.

The facebook site, having had its automated fun blocking software ban me from the network on two occasions for inviting too many people, forces me to now allow the friends list to grow organically without marketting the event, this is frustrating in one way but positive in another as I am now able to watch the viral nature of social networking 'do its thing', on occasion this brings along a surprise new friend, sometimes in another country who has no direct link with the event until you do some tracing back and find that they are a friend of a friend of another friend, terrific stuff. Thats about it for now, not a lot of studio work done this past ten days though fortunately there are only two commission on the easel neither particularly demanding technically and borne of fun, something for me to chill out to after a day on the streets. Take care and have a good weekend

Studio 8 Live

Studio 8 now live at stickam.com/andrew_charles The live video stream, allows for my entire artistic process to be seen and shared, the opportunity not only for viewers to see what goes on behind the scenes as it were but also for me to share and to find information;, there is still some tweaking to do but it is up and running all the same complete with two way chat screen.

growing results

with the ten minatures with Malcolm at the framing shop I am able to crack on with the ten accompanying boards.

Each one formed from three quarter inch ply cut at a local joiners, the final size after a lot of tooing and frowing settled at 10 x 23 cm.

Raw Canvas was stretched over each board and primed with two layers of white gesso before being textured with acrylic paint mixed with an acrylic gloss medium for added depth of colour.

The Leyland Clock

This is a sketch of the Leyland Clock that stood within the garden of the Brewery Arts Centre, currently away for repair the site, as it stands at the moment is a bit of an eyesore, so, with hope that it returns soon, or someone decides that something a little more aesthetically pleasing to the eye would be better placed.

In the meantime, back to BYGONE DAYS from Arthur R. Nicholls Historian and Vice Chairman of Kendal Civic Society

There used to be a standing joke about the Leyland Clock in the grounds of Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre, that it always showed the right time, - at 1.50 twice a day!

Despite the advertisement on the clock - 'Leyand Motors For All Time' - it had ceased to work for some 20 years or more.

The Lancashire Steam Motor Company started up in 1896 and later as Leyland Motors Ltd, placed clocks at seven prominent positions on major trunk roads. The clocks were mounted on latticework towers , the face hanging below a sign advertising the name of the firm.

Our Kendal clock was on the A6 North of the old Jungle Cafe, south of Shap summit. It had faces showing in both directions at an angle, studded with reflex lenses to reflect car headlanps.

For many years the clock was wound by Thomas Huck, a local farmer, who was paid £2 a year for his pains and after his death by his daughter, Mrs Lenore Knoles.

Seeming to have outgrown its usefulness it was removed in 1970 and stored for three years before being put up again at the Brewery where relapsed into its slumber.

The British Commercial Vehicle Museum Trust placed a commemorative stone at the old site, inscribed with a brief history of the Leyland Clocks, and refurbished it, starting it again at noon on Sunday October 6, 1966. It was later taken away for further work.

When it returns if you want to know the time don't ask a policeman but look at the Leyland Clock . Hopefully, it will have right.

End of News Piece. NB. I hope the good Arthur R Nicholls wont be upset being a now regular inclusion of my BLOG I shall have to place a note to him; on my list of things to do.

Returning from the Brewery I passed under the recent edition to the Town Centre, a pedestrian walk way under the now familiar scaffold that adheres to the exterior wall of the recent Fire Damage to the property that gave home to around 13 Artists, each losing a life times work and gaining a brand new start in life, to lose everything and to have to start again, with nothing, is a terrifically cleansing experience and indeed as much a spiritual as a practical opportunity for rebirth.

For those with a sense of curiosity, the huge tanks that sit around the base of the scaffold is simply water, ballast to hold down the scaffold, not something that I have seen before having spent many occasions staring up into the maze that is a scaffold system, each piece fitting like a jigsaw piece and with a specific design and purpose with Health and Safety at its fore, not only for the workers but also for passers by, Scaffold, when it collapses is not unlike the 'mexican wave', or the dominoes that people lay out in their thousands to watch them all topple with a flick of a finger, when it starts to go a thousand pieces or more role in quite a beautiful way.

John Watton -artist and forger

I was first introduced to the carvings on the gatepost on Serpentine Road by Andrew Crawford, now a (slightly) older man who enjoys sharing his times of old Kendal through the eyes of one who once roamed the streets, a young and exploratory boy, at the time he was unable to tell me anything about the carvings other than, "Thers' not many folk know they're ere". Even today few venture from the centre of town be they local or tourist unless they have specific business in that area.

Today when off in search of them to provide the fotographs for this BLOG I have to admit to having no slight difficulty in locating them even then, not without getting a little lost in the ancient walkways of Kentbank, what a fascinating part of Town.

Arthur R Nicholls historian and vice chairman of Kendal Civic Society however provides the information to go with the carvings and echoes my earlier comments on the pace of peoples lives forcing them to be missing out on some little treasures.

BYGONE DAYS - by A.R.Nicholls

We are so often in a hurry or taken up with private thoughts and worries that we fail to notice strange and interesting things on our way.

A gatepost of a house in Serpentine Road is a case in point. There, carved in stone by John Watton are the faces of the remarkable mans four children.

He was chosen by the K Shoes Company in 1949 to be the first editor of their house magazine, The Eyelet. It illustrated the work of the different departments and factories, tellin gabout the hobbies, holidays and the like of the employees, to foster a family feeling.

John was so successful in his task that he remained as editor until 1975 when an economy drive saw the magazine was discontinued.

But this wasn't his first outing in print.

Watton joined the Border Regiment as a Territorial before the outbreak of the Second World War and received a commission.

During Dunkirk he was taken prisoner at the nearby village of Incheville, becoming a prisoner of war.

Yet he was never content to remain in prison, making several abortive attempts to escape, and was eventually moved to a more secure place. As an officer he was incarcerated in the infamous Colditz Castle where he used his artistic skills in forging German documents and passports for fellow officers to use in their escape attempts.

He also acted as an official artist and unbelievably, was able to send drawings of life in the castle for publication in The Illustrated London News.

End of news piece.

D0g Kennel Wood

I first found the site of the wood conservation organisation in Queens Road some years ago, on that day in particular I was fortunate to find not a soul working or walking in the grounds, I enjoyed a wonderful peaceful half day in the grounds without disturbance or in knowledge of the history, that was until last week.

BYGONE DAYS by Arthur R Niholls, historian and vice chairman of Kendal Civic Society.

DOGS. Either you love them or hate them. Two problems still beset us today, that of dog mess in the streets and parks, and dangerous types of dogs attacking people. Aproblem that was only eradicated n Britain in 1922 was that of mad dogs. That is dogs suffering from rabies.

A rabid dog would foam at the mouth, the disease causing such distress that it would bite anything at han.

When it bit a human being it transmitted rabies or hydrophobia, which is a craving for or fear of wather.

Its symptoms were terrible and it was often fatal; in 1838 there were 24 cases of humans dying from the disease. What had all that do do with Kendal?

Such events happened too often even here and action was taken in 1846 resulting in the municipal dog pound or kennel being constructed in a part of Serpentine Woods known as Dog Kennel Wook, which is now the BTCV tree nursery, where the ruins my still lie. A plaque was fixed to the wall of the kennel reading 'Kendal Dog Kennel - Erected by Private Subscription' 1846' the plaque is now preserved in Kendal Museum's store.

Various attempts were made nationally to control the scourge but it was not until the Dogs Act of 1871 that powers were given to local authorities to take measures such as fining owners and destroying mad dogs.

Thankfully, we have little fear of catching rabies today. if ou hear the name Dog Kennel Wood you will know why it was so called.

End of News Piece

Sandes Hospital

The local newspaper, The Westmoreland Gazette, is for the most part, a community

Newspaper, as Cumbria opens its gates a little wider to the outside world this is slowly becoming something of diminishing responsibility.

One of my favorite parts of the paper is its 'Nostalgia' page, testimony from some of our older residents of life in Kendal from another era, a regular spot for Arthur Nicholls, historian and vice chairman of Kendal Civic Society, that brings the reader a small insight into notes of historical folk lore and history, it is this which I bring today and hopefully on other days.

BYGONE DAYS by Arthur Nicholls

A constant stream of pedestrians passes the gatehouse of Sandes Hospital in Highgate each day without thinking of looking inside. there under the archway is the insignificant, black painted Poor Box. The hospital was not a medical establishment but one providing hospitality.

In 1659 Thomas Sandes, a wealthy wool trader, endowed the hospital for the benefit of eight poor widows aged 52 and upward who were, or had been, workers in wool and were of good reputation. 52 was then a good age for a working woman.

In return for a free cottage and a shilling a week, the women had to work, carding, spinning and weaving raw Kendal cottons supplied by Thomas. The requirement to work ended in 1852 when the cottages were turned into almshouses.

They received security in their declining years but little else. they were not allowed to marry or receive male visitors and to some extent depended on the charity of others through the Poor Box.

In the yard behind were their small cottages and a chapel. A school and library were originally housed in the gatehouse before the school moved into a building at the end of the yard and became the Blue-coat School.

It was an honour to be elected for a place in the school, which merged with the Grammar School in 1889.

End of News piece.

Blue coat schools originated in Tudor times,

Thomas Sandes was also Mayor of Kendal in 1647

The coat of arms above the entrance to the Alms houses was divised by Thomas Sandes and was an amalgam of the Shearman Dyers Arms and those of the Sandes (Sandys) family, neither of which he was entitled to use.

the coat of arms shows a swag of woollen cloth which surmounts the shield and the initials TSK refer to Thomas and Katherine Sandes, the date of 1659 was probably when construction of the Hospital began.

Dr Briggs, a clergyman of Kendal, reorganised the Kendal Blue Coat School so as to include a day school of industry for the children of the poor of his town. this was probably around 1786 and based on the success of Haygarth's work in Chester Blue coat school.

The Blue coat school was for the education of forty boys, who were tought the art of carding and weaving, and thirty girls, being children of the inhabitants of Kendal; the hospital as a residence of eight poor widows six from Kendal, one from Skelsmergh and the other from Strickland and all to be nominated by the mayor and aldermen as trustees of the charity; the 'inmates' receive the weekly sum of five shillings (25p) each and a provision was made for a schoolmaster to read prayers to the widows twice a day, to teach poor children preparatory to their entering the free-school

The founder also bequeathed a library to the Blue coat school.

The original gatehouse still stands and has not changed a great deal and is currently a Tea Room, set in the wall remains the original black metal poor box (foto above), the alms houses are still in the yard behind (foto above) and still home elderly folk.

the houses were rebuilt in 1852 by Miles Thompson. in 1886 the school merged with Kendal Grammar School which was succeeded in 1980 by the now Kirkbie Kendal School, whole trustees still own the property.

Another post of interest, entitled 'IN THIS WEEK' highlites of the past, 100 years, 50 years and 25 years ago, People of the past that were, or are, associated with Cumbria and 'The Past in Numbers, in this weeks Gazette it is 10p - The cost of a parking space at Kendal's £200,000 multi-storey car park when it opened in April 1972, currently amidst the constant public outcry over the lack of parking spaces in Kendal, it is more likely to be in the pounds rather than Pence.

Dignity and Respect

As the towns folk remain devisive regarding their winter wonderland, my wonderland is how it is justified to allow trucks and Heavy Duty vehicles to thunder along the roads with historic buildings hundreds of years old either beside them and between.

Between the town council and the local press the Money numbers add up toward having an adequate amount of money to consider a mini vamp of the Kirkland Area, the agreed reason being to assist and encourage a proportion of the million or so extra people expected to enter the town as a result of the completion of the K- Shoes project (spring the proposed completion date)

For Kendal to properly absorb those numbers of visit the city centre, in my opinion, should be pedestrianised fully for a mile radius from the town centre, take a look at York, a superb example of what an historical town can achieve when it wants, and..... it stops those trucks that vibrate and shake our architectural history, it may be in small amounts however damage is acumalative, as remedy for this situation buildings should be regularly monitoring............ and so damn peaceful as to allow a fuller chance to absorb the vibrations of history that resonate.

Where words are not enough

tripping the light

Even as christmas approaches the light is changing, the air becoming clearer and crisper as the frost draws in the nights.

before this however, at least at the moment of this, the latest paint work for the exhibition, the light was absolutely breathtaking, a rare occasion for one such as I, quick as a flash, the image was, literally burned into my brain, a little like looking at the sun for more than a millisecond and being left with a foggy blindness in the middle of your vision.

Contrary to trying to blind yourself in a vain bid to 'see the planet Sun through the glare' (has anyone else tried that or am I the only artist in the world to risk his sight in such a futile and reckless act!)

On this occasion this is that which remained, my back yard, the miserable sight that I wake to each morning, it is typical of so many of the places in Kendal that, in some strange associated way, remind me of the Berlin Wall of old except the wall that stands before me is the pathway to somewhere rather than the end of the path.

The shadows that are cast by the darkening sky are quite deep due to the steepness of the hill and Kendals amazing architects that seemed to cram as much as possible into the smallest available space though to still afford the residents a piece of valuable personal space, like a jigsaw, they all fit together nicely.

I have just written to a chap called arthur nicholls who writes the most amazing columns in the local community newspaper and by far the better person to tell you of this amazing place than I, hopefully I will be able to bring you his words and eagerly await reply.

The secret places

Does anyone ever really look at the town they live in, how much of a town does someone look at when they choose to visit, questions, rhetoric, no one could ever give a difinitive answer however my guess is that in general those who live in a town are so overworked, overstressed, over involved in lifes issues that all but the necessary is overlooked.

Equally so as a tourist, while signs and bill boards, restrictive and coersive instructions guide and direct people, in accordance either with traffic flow maintenance or by sending people to find, places to eat, drink to sit and rest, there are places of interest where people are signposted, the main tourists areas, but what of the areas that are overlooked or deemed unimportant, this town is full of them and eagerly await my artistic exploration, it is these places that capture my heart rather than the main drag.

Of these places there are many, the image of Castle How( above), erected to commemorate a great battle that once existed in times long past, equally as 'unimportant' are the areas around the site of the canal head, the very heart of the import and export of goods and materials. I have to admit that even the finding of this latter location was by no means a quick and easy task coming a full 3 years into my occupancy of the town; what other secrets lie ahead for me to uncover, only time will tell.

YARD 5

Acrylic on Canvas

BELLEVUE PLACE

Acrylic on Canvas

Light and life

venturing forth into the town I just managed to catch the most perfect light, standing on one of the park benches along the high-street allowed me the perfect view right to the end of the street above the heads of the hustle and bustle of life as people went about their business.

This is my first large piece for the Doodle Bar Exhibition next september and is in distinct contrast to the ginnel pics created earlier in the year, measuring 120 x 60 cm.

There was no initial sketching as is usually the case for me and my concentration was on the colours of the sky and the absence of distinct shadowed areas, it is not the best picture but I guess that is why I am a painter and not a photographer! Canvas is my support of choice, there is something a bit special about painting on canvas, I dont know what words can best describe it as it is more of an affinity with the material more than anything else.

As I stood there looking over the heads the streets were busier than normal, it had nothing to do with the christmas rush as there is little in evidence to suggest the time of year however I could not but help to feel a little, anger, frustration, sadness even that, with promises of an International food market and music, it takes little to drag people from their homes, sadness that so many remained tucked away during the recent Remembrance Day Parade and anger that the simple thought of food was the driving force behind the people attendance in the town when a third of the world is experiencing starvation, a point brought home all the more as I watched one of the local homeless people rushing to wherever he was going.

autumn arrival

No Kendal Images for you this week so heres a couple of recent acrylic works.

Autumn is here, the trees are bare and the lost souls, viz a viz abandoned gloves are starting to appear perched on fences and walls, alas the other catologue of fotos if these lost souls have been destroyed courtesy of a virus piggy backing a legitimate programme, what can you do other than to resign yourself to accepting things that are totally beyond your control and, of course, start to photograph them all over again.

In an optimistic aire that would do justice to Buddah himself, the conservative estimate of around 4 thousand images covering the past three years has been completely disregarded, the alternative is depression incarnate; in addition to these image files I also lost a lot of admin and written work so I am pretty well setting off from scratch now.

The Town, well into the autumnal changes borne of light, filtered almost, forcing everything to be just that little bit more defined than during the summer, colours are flatter and graphical design of general shapes and objects crisper and more pronounced, but back to the block.

It has been a week of functions for me, Rememberance Sunday, The United Nations Association Peace Group, The 'end the War' campaign group, a session with the Kendal Branch of MIND where I look after the Art therapy group until someone qualified comes along, a few hours in the of the John Bateson * the Towns Mayor and fellow councellors while they discussed and perused the planned changes for Kendal, I am for sure not the only resident of Kendal who knows of these town enhancements but I am the only one who has shared in the passion of those responsible for that change, the end of the week was rounded of by attendance at a preview nite for one of the local and gifted artists(More details on this in the BLOG, Art, philosophy and a Spiritual Journey) one meeting was missed, Tim Farron, the local Lib Dem Leader speaking in a local hall.

Back to kendal, what changes are happening around here, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds for redevelopment, my personal opinion is that it is not enough and could, if goaded become quite political in my discourse however will endeavour to remain on track; all this redevelopment, houses, homes, reopening of the canal, whole areas within the town seeing a future of open land for recreation and, I was happy to hear, a unification of all that does not balance up.

There is a fund available now for shop fronts to do up the facade that is the tourist bait, money for developement schemes and many other projects such as public art, in that regard I have a networking meeting in December and look forward to reporting back.

work has been steady though from the imagery for this BLOGS purpose, that being the town, there has been little progress still with only a hand full of images completed with all others sitting in the wings. the one part of the Doodle Room exhibition will be the photographic works and they are growing nicely.

* Johns Role as Mayor ends in May of this year,, with his recent and successful interest in local research I am hoping that he would be able to come aboard in the last few weeks leading up to the exhibition to help me tie in a few loose ends that will most definitely be there.