Stargazing

I haven't posted any new work in a wee while. I am at something of a crossroads at the moment. So last night, I took a time out following a fruitful photo shoot with my new model, a budding astronomer, and took a look at the sky. There are some pretty big distances out there between the stars and the planets readers, a sobering thought and a useful one to acknowledge in the search for inspiration!

Master Class!

Nope, I haven't gone to the Texan desert via India - this is from way back in March when I was caught by a very enthusiastic local child while on an early morning bikeride in southern India, dragged off to the local school and coerced into giving a drawing masterclass. All very weird, and my students do look pretty bored. I did the best I could with limited resources - a green marker pen and a bit of crumpled paper if I recall - but still - a mcarthur was produced - albeit a green one.. And what's more the president of the village has it..A good one as well, no wonder though, look at my model - adorable!!!!

Desert Storm

I had the inspired idea last night while having a few drinks of taking my suits out of the city and putting them into a wilderness. And where would the Road be more lonesome than the desert? Suprisingly, this still seems to be a good idea this morning and I am now seriously considering a short trip to Texas which is, according to my new model - a particularly unreliable source, the closest desert to NYC. I've been hankering after getting out of all this concrete for a while and a wee business trip to all that sand might just be the ticket!

Fire!

I've done a bit of work on this piece again today - up at the crack of dawn - I think it's looking good and just comparing it to the first 42nd Street drawing to see which road is more lonesome - not sure - both are pretty damn lonesome.

There's a fire on the street outside the studio today! - 3 fire engines, a hell of a lot of smoke, hundreds of people and a lot of hysteria! looks like a gang member has set alight a bin - how New York - I love it!

The Road Is Lonesome

The Road Is Lonesome - yes it is. It seems there's nowhere much more lonesome than these massive intersections of commuters where I've been hanging out. I keep being drawn back to there and these perspectives from street level. So this is the start of the left hand side of a very big diptych which will be about 2.5 m in length.

I'm feeling pretty tearful today readers - a mixture of the torrential rain, the large amount of gangrenous homeless in the subway stations this morning, too many sad Marlena Shaw tracks on the ipod and the melancholy of my new piece.. Pure Sorrow.

Queens Soiree

I was invited round to a house in Queens on Friday evening for dinner - home of the artists Kate Burnet and Dan Woerner who work on some very wild and interesting projects as collaborators - see link. We had a gay old time and got through a fair amount of wine. Their pad is incredible with an extremely vertical ladder leading to a roof terrace which I scaled in heels every time I needed to smoke. Thankfully the smoking was brought indoors eventually although I still ended the night having a wee snooze in the broom cupboard - such are artists dinner parties I suppose.

Invasion

My epic version of the jumping rats - provisional title, "Invasion", is gathering force. It's very labour intensive so it's taking a while due to its size and the number of rats involved. It's causing a bit of controversy on Stanton Street and just to clarify they're not Twin Towers jumpers, they're invaders. Just wait till I get that Manhattan skyline in...

I spent a lot of yesterday on my knees getting the material for the next epic 42nd Street drawing - I was knocked over and stood on quite a bit but I think it's going to be worth it - fingers Xed.

Sign Of The Times

This is more or less done - It's turned out a pretty dark image - no surprise there!But quite a poweful one I think. The building is one I saw in Brooklyn with a huge burnt out Savings Bank sign - very now I thought to myself. I have a huge amount of ideas so best get on with the next - the work is getting bigger and bigger...

Happy Mondays

I skipped out of bed this morning, buoyed by the barrage of post I had received over the weekend and after briefly toying with the idea of taking the day off, I decided to get back into the studio to crack on with the mission. Besides, I had to get my belly button photographed by my fellow studio partner Korean artist Sung Min Lee for her installation. It looked really disgusting such was the closeupness of the photo but she assured me it was perfectly normal, and I presume she's seen a lot. Her sculpted belly buttons are really pretty cool - I shall post some photos when she's got mine done.

Prepare for a bombardment of postcards this week readers - my real mail obsession is reaching new heights! And what goes around comes around - so they say....

Lightening Strikes Thrice!!!!

DRUM ROLL..........


Lightning has struck again - I believe I should have more patience!! Three more entries into the Unmissable McArthur Blog Contest! These pearls of wisdom have come in again all the way from Deutschland to help me Break America..

Breaking boundaries to World Party

Breaking A Man Into A Million Pieces -(from my dear confused feminist friend Martina - but which man Martina? - you have to be a bit more specific I think. Surely it has to be a powerful american in the arts - any old man is simply too easy and not fruitful enough..)

And the first American entry

BreakDance!!!! - one of my favourites I believe. Well done Mr. Lubbock!

Which leads me to my thoughts of yesterday. Breakdancing in my storefront studio space could well increase interest in McArthurs. I had also toyed with the idea of racier/more ridiculous outfits to increase interest, thereby aiding in the BA mission. Many thanks and as a goodwill gesture, these entries will also be receiving prizes forthwith, despite the fact they are somewhat late.

WINNERS!!!!!!

Incredible! Just as I was doggedly staggering in off the New York City Streets last night thinking I was going to post something about my life and human expectations being too high, my romanticism always setting me up for disappointment, the fact that nobody understands me etc etc etc. and that I would have to set an end of comptition date for entries as nobody had responded, I entered the building to discover a couple of late, but nonetheless incredibly appreciated entries to the unmissable McArthur blog contest which I have to say have restored my faith in all things human.

And they are therefore the winners, and what's more where have they come from these mysterious entries I ask you readers? Not the UK, evidently where the population is too jaded it would seem to indulge me in my frivolity. Mainland Europe! A German I can understand, but two Spaniards really does surprise me. The days are gone when I refer to Spaniards as being late and useless.

The winning suggestions for Breaking America are: (Forgive the English, these guys are winners)

Breaking your Highhills
Breaking your own prejudices (prejuicios)
Breaquing Childhood Traumas

Tantas Gracias chicas, no sabeis cuanto me hais ayudado hoy con vuestras energias..
Dankescheune Ms. Schlaeger, my german is shit but I appreciate your efforts...

Your fantastic prizes will be in the post swiftly..XXXXX

High Fliers

I saw these in a gallery in Chelsea the other day, by a Chinese artist who now sadly escapes me. Very beautiful I thought. Very roughly made, but the shadows and the lighting really made them incredible in the space. Not that impressed with the contents of the Chelsea galleries apart from these, they really need some McArthurs in there.. They will realise soon enough I should think...

Record Breaker

This still isn't finished, there are a lot of areas still to resolve but I've broken the back of it I think. I was going to put more figures or cabs on the horizon but I think I will just fade it to grey and have all those poor suits walking into the mist.

I also may have a buyer for it already, which is positive, as although I STILL haven't broken America - no bloody wonder with the number of entries for my unmissable blog contest, I could possibly break my own sales record for selling something that's not a commission before it's even finished. Those are the benefits of working in a "storefront" I suppose.

Tomorrow I'll get this finished and back onto graffiti to have a bit of fun. No more nightmares so far...

Tuesday Confusion

This is another very large piece I've started using the material from 42nd Street early hours. I'm trying to have a lot of pieces on the go at one time so it could be a while before anything's finished. It's taking a bit of getting used to working in the fishbowl of the gallery, but it's also a great way of meeting potential clients. The storefront element is a winner I would say. "Storefront" !!, listen to me - I'm yanking up by the day.

It was pretty tough to get out of bed this morning. I had a horrendously disturbing and vivid dream, the content of which I cannot post unfotunately. Trust me, you wouldn't want to know. However, it has motivated me to buy myself a new pillow this evening, which will hopefully calm my troubled subconscious. I can't risk another dream like that one..

Grafitero part 2

The start of the first big drawing, now I'm installed in the gallery. This is a mixture of spray can and willow charcoal and it's going to be a pretty big drawing. The spray is brilliant fun, my graffiti experience in Berlin has been a good one. The only problem is it stinks and I may poison myself and everyone in proximity. But it's art baby..

Oh The Torment

I stayed up pretty late last night taking a long hard look at myself, and I'll tell you something for nothing, I'm not getting any younger. I haven't done a self portrait for some years but I'll really have to do them a bit more frequently so I get a few more in before my face falls off altogether.

It was kind of a Wacko Jacko night, as we'd been looking at some old moonwalking footage and I used to indulge myself in late night drawing and Jacko listening as a teenager in my room. All very angsty. So I did it again. Wonderful, apart from the fact that I've been smoking and boozing for 17 years since.

Anyway, if nothing else, it was a good way to have a look and a think about where the fillers and surgery should start. If only I'd had my personal physician on site I could have set him to work straight away.