Ski

New book thinking about a set of new paintings. The pictures are upside down:

Tagliatelle

Spaghetti junctions 

Off piste skiing tracks

Pile of logs in France

Cheese fondue as depicted in Asterix 

Heavy Alpine theme here. I wondered when skiing whether it is a stigma to write poems in the social ski scene, and a stigma to write poems about skiing in the poetry scene. 

Nice

In the cold, cold canyon there are layers of rock;

Some are gneiss, some are not.

A book

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid sit by a fire in the desert and for the whole scene they say nothing, because one of them is an introvert and one of them is an extrovert who is learning to become more comfortable with silence. If they were speaking, however, they would be speaking in Iambic Pentameter. It's bizarre. 

Nice piece from c. 2006, in situ at the house of dear friends Tom and Cathy 

Pineapple by my mum. 1977

I did this, found it at home. It's a masterpiece but looks a bit twee from here. A Christmas gift for my parents- Began it en plein air.

Nice 

Walid Siti at Edge of Arabia

Rhyming tennis poem

I became aware of the Renaissance in Florence

Age sixteen (Needed my memory to be jogged more recently)

And I became aware of trams in Leipzig, Germany, 

But it was really driven home living in Edinburgh these last six years. 

And so at Wimbledon 2014, televised on TV,

These two subjects meet

As I watch from a pub in Battersea. 

Chandeleir

From last summer. Made it into a tent for the Assembly House show. 

I have been thinking of writing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid into a play, just out of interest really. I'm also thinking I'd make the set to go with it- lots of cactuses. 

Cheesse

Discussed with Tom Hartley Booth the idea of a chess match between two pro chess players using a chess board made of cheese and pieces made of cheese. When a piece is taken, it gets eaten. The notion of a ripe Brie rook oozing round the board is appealing. 

Wine

Vineyards, paint colours and paving are interesting me at the moment. I would like to plant a vineyard or two. Farrow and Ball colours are marvellous because they have a broad sweep of names, from the accurate abstract (Elephant's Breath is the famous one- it is grey, basically) to the misleading literal (Light Grey) as well as ones that are exclusive, like Hardwick White, which only makes sense if you've been to Hardwick (I haven't. It's not white, that's for sure). 

Paving is interesting because it's like hatching on the floor of a town or city. Juxtaposed against long grass= lovely stuff. 

Thinking about cutting out the sky from every photo in the Ocado Life magazine and making a blue collage. 

New poem on laurencecallaghan.co.uk/writing 

It's about arriving in Mexico. Everyone was happy to be flying Air Alaska, Bridget and I included. Free pretzels! The pilot was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I seem to be interested in mountain colours at the moment. 

I'm also interested in Matisse's Cartier Bresson book cover, complex carbs and writing stories. Have been thinking about Richard Scarry's book Busy, busy world. 

Thinking about still lifes arranged in smily faces after making this birthday card for Simon Summers. 

Portuguese

I have not been to Portugal or Greece but I have seen Mamma Mia and I have eaten at Nandos. Background to the poem Portugese on laurencecallaghan.com/writing 

I am thinking about books and the possibility of building a false gallery within a library, and then within that building a makeshift library called the Library of Kindness. I am thinking that the books might be free and never have a deadline for returning them... 

Between Two Holy Days

25-12-2009

I am a broken man

in a paper hat

being taught to celebrate

I am being unravelled

but understanding

how close the Christ child leans

as I spend this holy day

close to tears

I have a backbone

that's not my own,

holding up these things

and all is well

because all of these things will be

so emphatically well

at the end

I am a broken man

with a half-grasp on many truths

and a half-recognition

of what is good, asking,

Does integrity hurt?

Hot Chicks An Easter Hymn (Sing in Dull Tragedy)

Hey, this city,

You with your streets lined with sex and money

There are miracles on your pavements

The dead man stands

(You are no longer enough for me)

Stand up

Something that's extraordinary (now)

I fell in lust with an idea

Of being in with the hot chicks

For the sake of me

My name on lips

Immediately meet my percieved needs

...And then the sun rose...

Stand up

Something that's extraordinary

There are gaps to be filled

Up and down these restless hills

On these orphaned streets

I like the idea

I like the look of light

I like the metaphor but it's not

really a metaphor, is it,

when the sun comes up?

I have re-invented my blog, like Jasper Johns did with his oeuvre. And like Piet Mondrian didn't. 

Nouveau

Work in studio and sketchbook, thinking about "the shadow of a big rock in a thirsty land" and the desert places rejoicing. All is well