Art for Grandad

Some of my paintings are very personal for example these abstracts are for my Grandad, no longer with us but still inspiring me despite his passing many years ago.

He worked as a miner all his life, always cheerful and always very hardworking. He used to come home from the pit black with coal dust and his white eyes and smile were a joy to see.

Every morning before he left to descend into the depths of the earth I used to watch him light a fire in the hearth to keep the family warm and to provide hot water. He never complained, he just cheerfully went about his tasks.

Grandad's Embers

Anthracite

These two abstracts reflect some of this, the orange is for the hearth and fire he lit to keep us warm, the greys and black are for the coal he used to dig, and the white is for his bright shining cheerful eyes.

simonsgallery.com

art direct from the artist

Every Picture has a story.. this one went to war!

A few weeks ago I recieved an email for a serving soldier in Afganistan, the long and the short of it was that he was a fan of my work, had 10 months to go until coming home next March. His room/accomodation had no window and could I send him a painting on loan to brighten up his view?

He sent me picture to show how dismal it is.

Well after a bit of consideration and internet searching to make sure he was who he said he was... one has to be a little cautious, I sent one of my landscape paintings, in the hope that when he looks at it it will remind him of a traquil Engish dawn waiting for him when he gets back to our green and pleasant land. I think it does the job perfectly.

I explained to him that I didn't do loans, and that I don't want it back hopefully one day when he's chief of staff he'll give me an MOD contract :0)... actually it's good do a kindness and he deserves it for his cheekyness and lateral thinking, which afterall is what makes our army better than most.

simonsgallery.com

moral booster for the British Army!

Bad tasting art

Last week Tracy Emin's "Unmade Bed" sold for £2.2m ....

I can't help but think that if you have more sense you would probably want to spend your money on something much more pleasant that you can actually hang on your wall and enjoy. I get that if you're mega rich you might want to demonstrate this by investing in objects with notoriety but you might also want to spread some of your wealth in areas that are more deserving.

Whilst I'm very pleased for Tracy and happy that Saatchi made a profit on his £150k investment I can't help but think that spread around £2.2m could have done a lot more good to hard working artists trying to make a living without the backing of Saatchi or the patronage of the very rich.

I often toy with the idea of producing one piece of work and pricing it so high it seems to the majority to be ridiculously priced but so far I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. The most expensive piece in my gallery - simonsgallery.com - is £3750 and this is a painting of The Great Wave of Kanagawa. taking 5 weeks to complete I think I'm probably under pricing myself too. I like my art to transform a room and yes it can be controvertial but mostly it enhances how you feel about the world and your environment.

I don't resent other artist's success and good fortune and if you're wealthy beyond most peoples comprehension good luck to you, but I think it's a sad comment on society now that there are people so rich, where money means so little to them and they can pay £2.2m for an unmade bed! Surely there are worthier causes, it seems to me to be less about art and more about money and PR..... personally I think it demonstrates bad taste.

simonsgallery.com

real art direct from the artist