We started a day’s sightseeing with an Art Nouveau walk.  It was lovely to see so many buildings with original features dating back to the late 1800’s.  Our walk culminated in a visit to the former home of the architect Victor Horta, a truly wonderful building especially considering how long it has been there.  The queue to get in took about an hour but it was well worth the wait.

Another highlight of the trip was The Atomium which is a monument in Brussels originally built for Expo ’58, the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn and Les Architectes Polak, it stands 102 metres (335 ft) tall. It has nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.  It was a truly impressive sight though I had confused the meaning of the structure with a comment about the European Parliament!

We visited the Rene Magritte exhibition at the Musee Magritte.  I have a fondness for surreal art and I thought the exhibition was very inspiring, odd, but inspiring.

The Son of Man by Rene Magritte

I couldn’t begin to explain any of his work but there is a huge level of technical skill in the painting.  If you are interested you can click here to see more of his work.

We were wandering down a back street where we cane across the Krethlow Gallery seeing the work of the Swiss artist Wolfgang Zät, truly amazing work, massive hand cut lino prints.  I could have lost myself for hours in the intricacy of his art work.

It was a great break away, can’t wait to go back to Brussels!

I have been on a bit of a mission over the last six months to get more book covers out into the world.  The target is 100 which I am expecting to hit later this year.  Last weekend I hit a bit of a milestone though having  just produced my 80^th cover.    The story is “Testing Their Love” written by Starla Kaye and published by Black Velvet Seductions.  I am pleased with the cover and hope the story is well received, I know we have had sales for the story (it’s available to buy on Amazon and Smashwords) and the ink is barely dry, so it bodes well for the future.    Starla is a great writer and works very hard at her craft.  I have done several covers for her and I look forward to doing many more for her and BVS.  On the subject of Black Velvet Seductions, I am doing my best to get my next story out to coincide with my 100^th cover; that would be great timing, though that does require me pulling my finger out and getting some writing time in!

His take on it is why you should draw every leaf, every branch, twig.  Surely if you want an image with that level of detail, why go to the trouble?  Isn’t it all too fussy? Surely, art goes beyond and transcends that nit-picky level of detail, surely you would take a photograph?

He makes a fair point.   However my argument would be, if you want to draw it why not?  Why not display your skill as an artist? Why would you not want to?  You don’t have to do it every time, but when you want to why is it such a bad thing?

We usually go on to state examples, his being the Impressionist examples of Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne and Turner.  And I agree, they are all great artists.  And I counter with Rembrandt, Rubens, Canaletto, Botticelli and Constable.  My argument would be not that one is better than the other; I simply don’t see art in those terms.  There is art that speaks to me and art that doesn’t.  There is art where you can admire the skill of the artist, yet not really like the subject matter.  There is art you love and yet you would not want to hang it on your walls.  And there is art that strikes you dumb with admiration, there is one that stops me in my tracks every time I see it and when I am at the National Gallery I feel the need to pay homage.  It is The Experiment by Joseph Wright.

The reason my mind has settled on the subject of detail is that I have just finished my latest pencil study, Making the Boy Presentable.

I have questions of my own.  How is art judged?  How and why does art fail?  And how does the artist separate themselves from their art, is a criticism of the art a criticism of the artist?  And how personally should the artist take that?  And indeed the other side of that coin, how seriously should an artist take any praise heaped on a piece of work?

I am certainly not qualified to answer any of these questions, but I would love to hear from anyone who has any opinions on the subject.

There are many more things I love about winter, a kind of glad to be home feeling, I love to get warm in a cold bedroom, comfort food, pies, mashed potato…

After winter, spring.  There is something magical seeing the world coming to life after winter. I am a keen bonsai grower and there is always the doubt in the back of your mind as to whether your trees will survive the winter so seeing the buds is always great.  I can’t think of any down sides to spring, there is a thank goodness the winter is over and the coming of longer days to look forward to.

Summer, well, on the whole I love summer, with the exception of not being so fond of it being generally too warm, but other than that summer is a good season.  There is the added bonus of surrepticiously perving at ladies in thin summer dresses, which can only be surpassed by pool perving, though sadly I don’t get the chance for that often but it is well worth doing when you get the chance! 

Autumn, maybe it is the artist in me, but, well, it is the colours that make autumn such a lovely season.  There is also the feeling of the year coming to an end as autumn turns back to winter.  On the face of it a year coming to an end sounds a bad thing but I find it rather refreshing for a number of reasons.  There is the feeling of the harvest of art and writing gathered in for a year, the wheel turning full circle, there is a little regret for all the things not done, but there is the promise of the virginal blank page of the New Year…..  and what artist can resist making the first mark on that new blank page?

London has a real mix of emotions for me; it has the very best and the very worst of experiences for me.  On one hand it has a unique history, and sights and a culture unlike any other city.  Christmas in London, like a lot of world capitals, is a magical place, a kaleidoscope of accents and faces, examples of the world’s population within yards of you.  I have been to London a few times this year and have immersed myself in my capital’s culture, seeing exhibitions, museums and shows.   Some of my highlights, the show “Warhorse” and the Degas exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art.

I love to see a show, live performance or otherwise, for the theatre there is something magical about it, the willing suspension of disbelief and the communal experiences.  As the lights go down I always think of a quote from Laurence Olivier, “The theatre is a magical darkened room where people come together…. to cough.”

There is a down side to London, well, it’s not fair to single out London; it is my problem in any crowded space.  I hate to be jostled and the London Underground seems to bring out the worst in my phobia.  On the upside of that though, summer is worse, when you can add hot and sweaty to the mix!

On my recent expedition to the capital, some friends and I visited a Christmas market, really very atmospheric,  flakes of snow in the air and the smell of mulled wine, really very nice…..  despite the jostling!  A big thing for me, in shops and public places, is why do people feel the need to be right in my shoes?  Don’t get me started on Christmas shopping ……  I feel sure a psychologist will write and tell me the error of my ways!  But it is indeed most annoying.

Anyway, back to my London jaunts, a recent Christmas trip took us to Soho which is always good for seeing life in all it’s glorious shades! Aside from the colourful locals, two other highlights were a visit to the vodka bar and a glorious meal at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, fine food and great company made for a wonderful day out.  That particular evening was crowned off with a trip to a port bar.  Not the most sober evening I have ever spent, but a great time none-the-less!

Also this year, I had a trip to the Imperial War Museum, a place I have not visited since my teens.  It was interesting to revisit the museum with adult eyes.  There were a number of new exhibitions including  a rather sobering holocaust exhibition.  There was a very moving Victoria Cross exhibition, our highest military medal, many awarded posthumously. It was captivating and I was told that I had spent an hour and a half looking round this relatively small room.  Each exhibit had a short biography and an account of the reasons why the recipient earned the award.  It is difficult to single out any one, but I was delighted to see two from the action at “Rorke’s Drift” the commander of the action John Rouse Merriott Chard. Just over 150 British and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison against an intense assault by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors.  Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders along with a number of other decorations and honours.  That is to take nothing away from the other exhibits as it was a great way to spend a morning.

So in conclusion considering the noise, the jostling and general mêlée that is a capital city, back to the thought “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life” well……..  I’m not quite tired of it just yet!

2011 was an interesting year, full of contrasts, with good and not so good aspects.  A couple of exhibitions were really not good and a couple of exhibitions were really great.   I had a year of painting pictures of aircraft for an on-going exhibition in Coventry.  I completed some erotic art work that I am rather proud of.  I also brought my tally of book covers to 74.  There will be a big cheer and a pop of bubbly when I hit the 100, which hopefully I will do later this year.

I don’t like to crow too much about forthcoming events.  With that too there is a divergence of thought.  For publicity you should shout from the roof tops, but there is a big part of me that worries that if I say anything I will put the mockers on it!  A good example of this is an exhibition in London at the end of the month.  I have had two pictures shortlisted.  Now do I yell from the roof tops?  But what if neither go into the final exhibition?  I hear my marketing gurus shouting “Tell the world!  Getting shortlisted is pretty good!”  They may well be right.   And yet……  I would feel a fool if I did and no pictures are selected. 

I have the feeling this will be a good year for art….  Watch this space.

My stand at Erotica 2010

This year the organisers of “Erotica” seem to have changed their tack.  Art was always a big focal point of the show. For the last five shows I went to the art gallery was the first thing you encountered when entering.  This year art has been dismissed to the balcony and given the costs of exhibiting I reluctantly made the decision not to show my work there this year.  It is a great pity as I will miss the camaraderie of The Guild of Erotic Artists, the excitement of the big event and meeting friends and clients.  The show is a melting pot of ideas, a mix of the exotic and bizaare and I am sorry not to be a part of that.  I wish my friends and fellow Guild members all the very best and wish I could be there with them.

On a much more upbeat note I have done a couple of smaller shows that have proved lucrative and fun to do.  I was down in London a few weeks back, it was a great show and it was great to see some of my “Erotica” regulars and make a number of new friends who I look forward to getting to know in the fullness of time.   Last weekend’s exhibition was at my own Cambridgeshire studio.

A view of part of the studio showing my two newest pencil pieces, After the Feast and Patiently Waiting (top centre and right)

It is always good to see folk in my own working environment as it has a much less clinical and all together more homely feel to it.    I shared my studio space with two friends, the photographer Rob Morris and the jewellery and assemblage artist, Marian Savill.

One of Marian's jewellery displays

We held a preview night on the Friday.  It was a lively night, see link to a short video below, and we were supported well by the press.

The Art of Richard Savage ~ Studio Exhibition Preview Evening October 2011

All in all, it was a great event and I would like to thank everyone who visited over the three days.

Writing this has brought to mind my change in attitude.  Going back ten or fifteen years, I had some pretty strong ideas about exhibitions.  I am not sure if it is my natural shyness when it comes to being in public or my Englishness, as in the English rather think you are showing off if you are out in the lime light.  Back then I got embarrassed is somebody said they liked my work.  My attitude has changed; it has had to change.  You can’t really survive as an artist if your skin is that thin.  I have had people like my work, and others hate my work.  I have developed an indifference to either reaction to my work, obviously I would prefer people to like it, but I can’t get too distressed with negative comments.  What interests me more is why they like or dislike a piece of work.  I suppose my attitude to being in a spotlight has changed because of the need to sell my work and the profound change that occurred because of working with Americans.  When you work for American publishers they don’t take kindly to the English self deprecating attitude.  I was told once quite bluntly “If you don’t believe in your work why the hell should I want to buy it?”  and that is a fair point.  These days, when exhibiting, I stand there and chat to anyone that shows interest and I am happy to do so.

Looking to next year, I am hoping to launch my new non fiction book “Beauty in Every Form” at a London gallery in the spring.  There will be several events to launch this book, watch this space for further details.

There is an inherent irritation in seeing that unattainable deal advertised, a feeling of the little man under the thumb of the international conglomerate, a con that we can’t do anything about.

There are two companies in particular that really get me.  The first is Travelodge, £19 per night which really jars when you are staying in the same place and paying £70 per night!  That brings up a second point, they have the cheek to charge you £10 early check in if you want to get into the room before 3pm.  I was booking in at an exhibition the other day and a guy was trying to book in under this deal. I had already given up, realising that it was a no win scenario.  This other poor sap needed to be broken into submission.  Importantly, he asked why he could not have a room for £19 as there was a six foot sign advertising the fact you could get them at that rate.  The girl behind the counter informed him that the room rate that day, set by head office, was £90.  I watched on as he argued his point for nearly 20 minutes.  I felt like telling him…..  “My friend, give up hope now!  There is more chance of a rich man passing through the eye of a needle than you getting a room at that price”.   But something stopped me, maybe it is that vague hope we cling on to that just one day someone will get the room at the offer price and wouldn’t it be great to be there just that once to see it?

Another example of this charlatan’s approach to marketing is a certain airline that I couldn’t possibly name…  oh, go on then…  Easyjet.  The ads display unbelievable prices to draw people in and then you are subjected to a surcharge if you want to take luggage, a surcharge for a guarantee that you can sit with your partner.  Then, of course, there is airport tax and fuel surcharge duty.  It was one of those discount airlines that tried to abolish seats, preferring to herd you sheep-like into pens, presumably so tight you can’t fall over.  It made me think a little of the slave ships.  When I think of it I feel all nostalgic looking back to a time when I didn’t feel conned trying to get on a flight, that you will want little extras like seats and that  ridiculous notion that you might have luggage.

I believe the price advertised should be the price paid.  Going back to discounted rooms, a little tip that I have tried and it does work……..   Ring up the booking desk and say you want one of the special rooms at that illusive promotion price.  When they say it is not available inform them that it is ok….  And that you will look on their website for the next 24 hours and if the offer is not amended you will inform trading standards…  I got my room….

With airlines, it is a lost cause….  Yet I have dreams of doing an art commission for the CEO’s of one of these discount airline companies.  Yes, I will gladly paint you a picture…..  it will cost you just £1.  Oh…  Did I mention paper tax??  Pencil tax??  Eraser duty??