Author: Colin Slater – artist
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Roots to Branches 20
18.2.13 There were some obvious candidates for the tunes rolling around in my head today, I had such a rich source of material to choose from. It could have been Respighi’s ‘Birds’, ‘On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring’ by Delius, Vaughan Williams’ ‘A Lark Ascending’, Rossini’s ‘Thieving Magpie’, Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird Suite’ or anything from…
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Roots to Branches 19
14.2.13 ‘……Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchelAnd shining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school…….’ (As You Like It, Act II Scene VII) Whining? Creeping like snail? Unwillingly? To Fulbridge? Not likely! Shining morning faces emerging……………………and to steal the words of Lennon and McCartney, the painting is starting to come together……………………right now……………………over me
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Roots to Branches 18
12.2.13 I’m not a calligrapher or a signwriter, so I’m not finding the painting of letters the quickest of tasks but there’s a good reason for this. As far as this part of the composition is concerned, the line of typography will either work well or very badly, there is no in-between. Spacing, structure and…
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Roots to Branches 17
11.2.13 ‘Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that’ – Bill Shankly It’s said that when a football team wins at the weekend, their supporters trot off to work the next week with a…
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Roots to Branches 16
8.2.13 Cold weather has returned and the thermometer hasn’t moved much in the studio today, steadfastly refusing to nudge above 8°. Be that as it may, a Fulbridge Oak has started to flourish. That, and a proliferating army of Lilliputians!
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Roots to Branches 15
7.2.13 As always, it’s been a pleasure working with the company of Sarah Walker. She has such an artistic and descriptive term of phrase, and it’s a privilege to listen to her insight and knowledge. Bearing in mind the project I’m engaged on, the special guest on her Radio 3 Essential Classics programme this week…
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Roots to Branches 14
5.2.13 Another burnt sienna hand day, but only to be expected when painting with a rag. Some progress, it doesn’t feel like much, but it’s coming along. Gradually more shapes are emerging and the composition is becoming clearer. I’ve also reminisced of a visit to the Church of Saint Valéry in Varengueville on the Normandy coast…
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Roots to Branches 13
4.2.13 ‘Out, damned spot! out, I say!………………What, will these hands ne’er be clean?’ (Macbeth, Act V Scene 1) My hands may bear some similarity to those of Lady Macbeth but painting has at last begun in earnest and, working swiftly, a large area has been covered revealing something of the shapes within the composition. The…
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Roots to Branches 12
1.2.13 February. Two weeks have been spent working with the Fulbridge Entrance project and I feel exhausted already! The good news however is that although it’s taken 4 long, hard working days, the drawing stage has been completed. A weekend now to recharge the batteries, and on Monday morning, painting!
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Roots to Branches 11
31.1.13 A day spent with Bridge, Brahms, Bach, Boccherini, Schumann, Tippett, Palestrina and Liszt amongst others, but most importantly……………………Sarah Walker! The drawing stage of the right hand side of the composition almost completed