13 November 2019
THINK ABOUT IT
Do you ever think about this?
All the complicated processes which keep us alive function WITHOUT OUR HAVING TO THINK ABOUT THEM.
Heart beats in perfect rhythm, lungs breathe in and out, blood flows exactly where it's supposed to flow, nerves, cells, etc. etc. all carry out their duties without a word of instruction from us. Therefore what I want to know is:
Given that the essential functions on which the body's existence depends generally operate with admirable efficiency without conscious thought, why then does consciousness behave so unreliably?
All by themselves, fingernails and toenails grow with what seems to me astonishing speed. Why doesn't wisdom grow inside consciousness with similar speed? Why does the body UNCONSCIOUSLY function harmoniously whereas consciousness has to strive, struggle, suffer and sweat to achieve just a bit of harmony?
11 November 2019
THE RIGHT WORDS
"It takes quite a while for there to be created in the brain a hierarchy of what's most important in one's life and when finally it is made, and in the auditorium the lights are switched on one by one, the result is, as with all good theatre, true bordering on false. Our biographies are, give or take a little, what we choose."
Marius Kociejowski
Trying to psych myself back into the spirit of Double Entendre, my autobio-graphic-novel-in-very-slow-progress, this absolutely relevant quote from the wonderful God's Zoo - Artists, Exiles, Londoners (Carcanet 2014) spurs me on.
Sometimes, if there's a welcoming silence around you, voices appear out of nowhere with exactly the right words you need to hear.
09 November 2019
I'M VOTING LABOUR
04 November 2019
FACE-MAKING
Cold, grey, blah day in London. The only remedy is making faces
02 November 2019
MAKING S{ACE
It's one of those days when I want to clear up, make space. If I were a farmer I could plow a field or if I were John Bercow I could shout ORDER OORRDERR!
My studio is too small for all the stuff, all the past accumulated, saved, roughly stored.
In an old portfolio I found this portrait of my sister Annie which I painted in Paris when I was eighteen and she was twenty-two. I like it. I also like this abstract around 1956 in Vermont, during my drawing-with-string period which didn't last very long.
ANNIE AT 22. NdA 1947. Oil on hessian (burlap) 38 x 46 cms (15 x 18 inches)
CONNECTIONS. NdA circa 1956. Oil and string on board. 35 x 50 cms (14 x 20 inches)
01 November 2019
FRANCES MCDOWALL R.I.P.
Extremely sad news that Frances McDowall died las week. She was the other half of Nicolas McDowall and of The Old Stile Press their unique and marvellous creation, lovingly nurtured by both of them since 1979.
My friendship and collaboration with Frances and Nicolas over many years has been a joy and inspiration and it is impossible to think of The Old Stile Press without Frances' calm, strong, positive presence. My heartfelt condolences to Nicolas and his family. I can't find the words at present.
Watch this video of an interview with the McDowalls by Studio International in 2018.
Frances and Nicolas McDowall
Linocut of Frances and Nicolas by NdA. Haiku by Nicolas McDowall, part of a suite of fourteen relief prints by seven artists at the invitation of Bill Garnett in response to "BE STILL" twelve haiku from the valley of the Wye by Nicolas McDowall, published by The Old Stile Press.
30 October 2019
BEWARE AMAZON PRIME
Sidetracking from Brexit, elections and other probable major catastrophes I notice that my bank account has been debited with a £7.99 which doesn't tally with anything I've spent but was taken by Amazon Prime. I check my Amazon account and, behold, the sneaky bastards have made me a "member" of Amazon Prime without my knowledge or consent, setting up monthly payments of £7.99. After following their deliberately tortuous path I finally manage to cancel this fraudulent "membership" via a "conversation" with a robotic person or actual robot on the "chat" option.
I think it is simply fraud masquerading as benevolent advertising. It is based on the cynical but accurate prediction that many people will not even notice that they've been conned. Yes, Amazon will refund if you wise up and demand it but have a look at the hoops they make you jump through before that happens. The whole Prime thing was very carefully and deviously designed as a trap and it would be useful to know exactly how many people have unwittingly fallen into it. Be warned! You are not paranoid. They actually are out to get you!
22 October 2019
STEVEN APPLEBY PORTRAIT
The portrait I've been working on, which is now finished, is of the brilliant cartoonist Steven Appleby. I've always loved his work, his comic strips for the Guardian and other publications, his books, his absurd/astute/surreal/absolutely real sense of humour, very much in tune with how I see things. It was the happiest of coincidences that he was one of the judges of the Laydeez Do Comics 2019 Awardfor a graphic novel-in-progress and that I won one of the awards.
Iit was fantastic to meet Steven at the prize-giving event at the Free Word Centre on 31 March this year and, of course, to know that he liked my work. I asked if I could paint his portrait. He agreed and we arranged times when he could come and sit for me. In between sittings I worked from some photos I took.
I think my portrait captures something more inward than outward in his expression. Steven is a man who dresses as a woman. He transvests, not occasionally but all the time. It's who he is. I found this quality fascinating and enlightening. It made the issue of gender totally irrelevant and at the same time crucial. I don't feel there is anything odd or artificial about his appearance, on the contrary, it seems natural and beautiful to see male and female characteristics in one person. Here is Steven Appleby, cartoonist par excellence, proud to call him my friend.
Steven Appleby. NdA 2019. Oil on canvas. 50 x 61 cms (20 x 24 inches)
21 October 2019
REAL LIVE FRIENDS
There's nothing like meeting someone in your actual real life when it comes to friendship. Social media friends are great and I'm truly greatfull (not a mis-spelling) for those I've got to know through this cybernetic window. But a window is just a window and social media is not actual society.
Yesterday afternoon I had the real live pleasure of a visit from Pamela Robertson Pearce. We've only met via Facebook before but her multi-dimensional presence in my own 3-D home space was something really special. She even matched the colours in some of my paintings.
17 October 2019
ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART
My absence from the internet should not be construed as absence from this planet. No no! Still plenty of time left on my dance card.....I hope. I have simply been busy wih a terrific new portrait (to be revealed next week) and various stupid hassles with (absent) teeth.
10 October 2019
BLAISE CENDRARS IN LETCHWORTH
Last Thursdat night at David's Bookshop in Letchworth Garden City went really well. Wonderful bookshop, appreciative audience, generous help from everyone. In the first half of the evening John Gohorry read his Ile de Ré suite of poems, vignettes filled with seaside atmosphere, light and warmth.
In the second half, Dick Jones, Doug McGowan and I did our Blaise Cendrars thing: reading/video/music, all in harmony and synchronicity. The room was full and the applause sincerely enthusiastic. Later, people looked through a copy of the Old Stile Press livre d'artiste, our TransSiberian book, and understood the difference between a hand-produced limited edition and a mass-produced book.
26 September 2019
EVENT COMING UP
This occasion was organised by John Gohorry, poet in residence at the bookshop, who will read his ÎIe de Ré poems, accompanied by Doug McGowan on guitar.
The second part of the evening, with Dick Jones, Doug McGowan and myself, is a repeat of the 'performance' we put on at the London Review Bookshop on 6th July 2015 to launch the Old Stile Press publication of Trans-Siberian Prosody and Little Jeanne de France. I've posted about this livre d'artiste before but you can see it all here. A few copies are still available.
My full original video will be projected behind Dick's live reading and Doug's live guitar. Here are links to the music composed and played by Doug for this presentation:
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-bells-motif
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-exotic
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-jeannes-theme
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-theme
09 October 2019
DEAR CHRISTINE IN SWANSEA
An event I'm part of but unfortunately will not be able to attend in person this time. is the Dear Christine exhibition in Swansea at the Elysium Galleryopening on 4th October. I was at its first showing in May this year at the Vane Gallery in Newcastle and posted photos of the private view.
Thanks to the unceasing efforts of Fionn Wilson, artist and creator-curator of this show, the show is now on tour and will be in London in February next year. Meanwhile in Swansea, there will be poetry, music, film, talks, as well as all theChristine Keeler-related art works by twenty artists (including moi) at the Elysium Gallery.
24 September 2019
EYEWITNESSING
Whether you believe the universe was designed by Richard Dawkins, Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney, an accidental merger of incompatible ideas or none of the above, ultimately we just want to talk about ourselves and I must tell you that it's not fair.
Why, at the relatively young age of ninety, should I suddenly be attacked by some of the slings and arrows of so-called "Old Age" when, up to now, due to my exceptionally good genetic CV I was guaranteed immunity? Don't tell me I didn't read the small print because up to yesterday...YESTERDAY.. I could and did read the small print on everything, food, cosmetic labels, advertisements, terms and conditions etc.
Yesterday, in an eye-testing room at a local hospital, a doctor looked into my eyes and said, enthusiastically: Yes indeed you have cataracts in both eyes as well as some age-related symptoms.
Patiently, I explained that I am an Artist and that my excellent eyesight has been my life-long pride, joy and necessity.
The doctor speaks softly into a microphone attached to his computer and gives it information. He then tells me I'll get a letter in a couple of months with an appointment for cataract surgery in the left eye and then a couple of months later, for the right eye. On the form I take to the desk on my way out he has written "Artist" under "Occupation".
detail of Self-Portrait 2019
20 September 2019
DENTAL DIVERSION
Another tooth kicked the bucket today, the dentist's bucket. This leaves me seven wonky ones of my own and one more pretender to be added, but not before next week because, you know, these things take time.
The current landscape of my inner mouth looks like Stonehenge with larger gaps, less symmetry and no ancient myths. I will embarass myself by taking a selfie but use your imagination (if it's not otherwise employed at the moment) to get the full inside picture.
Have just consumed half a tub of coffee ice cream in memory of the choppers I've lost over the years. Good riddance you badly designed bastards.
16 September 2019
STREET PARTY TIME
Street party in my neighbourhood, always a joyous occasion organised by the people, for the people, with the people, weather cooperating brilliantly yesterday.
Great home-cooked food, wonderful music by Kentish Town band the Sandersons, magic show for the kiddies, dog show for the doggies, live spiders, snakes and bees for children and adults to learn from, Scottish dancing to prance to, film show and much more, all on the street where I live.
The party has taken place on this particulart street every September for the past twenty years. Yesterday was its anniversary, Long may it continue to enliven the community.
The Sandersons Kentish Town band.
04 September 2019
THE END OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY?
Spent too much time yesterday watching the mesmerising chaos unfolding in Parliament and noticing how much better ITV and Channel 4 news broadcasting is compared to the BBC.
Quite fun in an appalling sort of way to watch Boris Johnson shooting himself in the foot simply by displaying the devious, pretentious, hypocritical, scheming and basically ineffective person he is, totally unfit to be leader of this country or anywhere else apart from Clownland.
03 September 2019
CLOUDS AND SILVER LINING
If there's one good thing about the Boris Johnson farce it's that Jeremy Corbyn may well be elected Prime Minister.
I know that some of you, even some of my best friends, would not be happy about this. All I can say is: wait and see.
Good article here.
31 August 2019
NOT THE WORLD NEWS
Started a new portrait. Won't say anymore about it until it's done.
Also clearing space to get down to seriously finishing my graphic novel, Double Entendre.
Also received the walking stick I ordered: it's blue with shiny silver dots - at least it doesn't look like an oldie's stick. Or shtick.
26 August 2019
POST NINE-OH
ost nine oh
Where do I stand?
On right hip gone wrong
On right leg in feeble protest?
Neon-blue stick
Is in the post
Your order can no longer
be changed.
Ah yes, my order!
That is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler
In the mind
To stand and struggle
Or sit and watch teevee
Til the cows
The blind cows
Come home?
Nothing like a good cliché
To distract you
From the point
My point
This Monday morning
This freefrom carnival morning
Is where do I stand
After the big nine oh?
The answer my friends
The only right answer
To a rhetorical question is
Beh.......
15 August 2019
MORE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Just to round off the birthday, another photo then I'll move on.
This one is when we're all singing Je Ne Regrette Rien. I'm in the foreground leading the choir. Habie Schwartz took an album of terrific pics of the whole party and posted them on Facebook.
JE NE REGRETTE RIEN Lyrics by Michel Vaucaire (translated by moi). Music by Charles Dumont
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing
Not the good
Not the bad
It's all the same to me.
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing
It's paid for
Swept away
Forgotten
Don't give a damn about the past.
With all my souvenirs
I lit a blazing bonfire
All those pains, those pleasures
Don't need them anymore
Swept away my loves
With all their trremolos
Swept them away forever
I'm starting from scratch.
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing.
My life, my joy
From here on
It all starts with you.
10 August 2019
BIG NINE-OH BIRTHDAY PARTY
The party at a local pub on the seventh of August was excellent. I forbade the most boring song ever invented (Happy Birthday) and instead demanded that everyone join me in singing, in French, the much more appropriate Je Ne Regrette Rien made famous by Edith Piaf.
Whatever age you reach on your next birthday, I suggest that you do likewise, sing JNRR with feeling and you might find that any left-over regrets vanish like smoke. Or not.
22 March 2019
SELF-PUBLISHING- Part 4
My relationship with the Deity is argumentative but generally good. Put it this way: we believe in each other. Whether you believe or disbelieve in a Deity is not my business and frankly, my dears, I don’t give a damn. Religion is a whole other story, a problematic one. Please keep in mind that when I say Deity or the G-word I’m not talking about religion, any religion. I’m referring to Something which is real, unknowable, and not
a human construction.
Yes I know! The logical response to that statement is:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
My answer to that response is:
Ha ha ha ha! Logic has nothing to do with it.
I started drawing The God Interviews in 2004 as a comic strip, posting installments on my blog. It got such enthusiastic comments that I decided to see if any mainstream publishers would be interested. Again I received the “lovely but not commercial” replies so I opted, reluctantly, for self-publishing.
Digital technology was now available and preparing a print-ready PDF, though time-consuming, was not a problem for me. I chose to have full colour throughout - a mistake which made printing the book much more expensive than it would have been had I stuck to black and white. Initially I used Lulu to print the book and sell it via a page on their website but their charges were too high so I found other companies to print extra copies on demand.
The God Interviews, the book, was launched at the Cartoon Museum in 2006 and had some excellent reviews but, as usual, I didn't have the contacts, the patience or the chutzpah to promote it adequately so it sits on the shelf, dozing. I’m out of copies at present but used copies are generally available via Amazon, AbeBooks or other dealers. I will get at least 50 copies reprinted so if you can't find one secondhand, let me know, Herewith the cover and some sample images.
18 March 2019
SELF-PUBLISHING - Part 3
In 1979-1980 I drew/wrote (drote?) a journal to let off a lot of steam during a period dominated by a difficult and steam-filled relationship. Existential angst liberally sprinkled with self-deprecating humour, it ended up as Augustine's True Confession. In 1989 I applied for financial help from the Arts Council to self-publish this book. Having painstakingly filled in the many requisite forms, obtained printing quotes, worked out a budget etc. I sent in my application and behold! It was accepted. The Arts Council of Great Britain gave me about £1000 towards the publication of Augustine's True Confession for which I was immensely grateful, even if the actual costs were twice that amount. Distribution and promotion, as always in self-publishing, were the problem and I gave away more copies than were sold. But eventually they were all gone.
In the photos below, the cover on the left is the one I used on that 1989 first edition. The simpler one next to it is on the second (current) edition published jointly in 2016 by NdA Press (me) and
bookartbookshop (wonderful
Tanya Peixoto) to coincide with an exhibition of some of my artists' books which Tanya invited me to hold at her legendary bookshop in London in May 2016.
You can buy copies of this edition right now for £10 (plus postage) either from:
bookartbookshop, 17 Pitfield Street, Hoxton, London N1 6HB
or from me (leave a comment below).
Box/stand for the original journal of Augustine's True Confession.
14 March 2019
SELF-PUBLISHING - Part 2
In 1984 my cartoon alter ego Augustine was born. Suddenly there she was, my fully altered ego. Why the name Augustine?
a) I was born in August.
b) My mother’s middle name was Augustine.
c) Augustine Road was a street next to where I lived at the time.
d) in 1979 I drew a journal titled Augustine’s True Confession (not yet the cartoon Augustine and not Saint Augustine either).
Up to 1988 I produced ten Augustine mini-comics in a series called SMALL PACKAGES. This was before digital technology therefore to produce and distribute these booklets, I used ancient processes such as photocopying, folding, cutting, stapling and sending via snailmail.
By word of mouth and innumerable letters I managed to acquire about 200 subscribers. I charged only 50 pence per booklet and if they paid in advance for a year they received a new Augustine booklet every month, more or less. After a while I increased the price to 60 pence per mini-comic. I was overjoyed when The Augustine Adventures got rave reviews from everybody who received them. See some of these reviews.
I loved drawing these comics but all the photocopying, stapling etc. became a time-wasting chore and, feeling confident, I started searching for a publisher to take over the business of bringing Augustine to the wide world so that I could concentrate on creating new scenarios for her. But the world of publishers wasn’t ready for Augustine andI have a file of pleasant rejections, including “Love it but not commercial enough.” Discouraged, I ended the Small Packages series at booklet No.10, Augustine Angry.
What a total freaking idiot I was! I should have continued, just carried on drawing the booklets, photocopying, stapling, sending them, and by now Augustine would be a household name. Maybe I should bring out an Augustine Omnibus?
12 March 2019
ON SELF-PUBLISHING - Part 1
Returning to the subject of publishing, herewith my experience of self-publishing.
I’ve always written stuff but not writerly writing, you know what I mean? I just have a habit, since childhod, of writing my thoughts down, at least those which seem worth a second thought, usually with images, often cartoons. I've accumulated projects for books galore (hardly ever fiction).
Whenever a book project has seemed to be ready for sharing with the world, I’ve sent it round to mainstream publishers and/or agents. But when there's been no response, or when response has been “Love it but it’s not commercial” (precisely what the head of one well-known publishing house told me) then I resorted to self-publishing. I’m not including here limited edition artist’s books because I’ve posted about these often and they’re featured here.
The preparation of an illustrated book for self-publishing is something I enjoy and with digital technology it's become fairly easy if you have a knack for that sort of thing. The problem comes once the book is ready and you, you alone, are responsible for promoting and selling enough copies of this creature to cover your printing costs, or even make a small profit or, failing both of those goals, at least to find somebody who will write an intelligent, attentive review of it, preferably not family or friends who believe everything you do is genius (okay I don't have many of these).
Here are my self-published so-called Trade Books: intended for mass-market distribution at low-prices. I’ll elaborate one by one in the next posts.
25 February 2019
SHORT LISTED!
Yessss! First longlisted and now shortlisted! What next in this listed world?
Winners will be announced on 31 March.
24 February 2019
BEING PUBLISHED- Part 3 - HUMOROUSLY
Life offers experiences I can’t refuse. Some of them demand translation into a suitable medium which, for me, often requires humour. Even miserable situations have a funny side and that’s how The Joy of Letting Women Down came about.
I decided to satirise the type of man (I named him the Worshipped Male or WM) who is irresistible to women but I also wanted to make fun of the women (including myself) who, against our better judgement, are irresistibly drawn to him/them.
After several rejections and nearly-but-not-really finding an agent, the book was taken by Robson Books and published in 2000. I was interviewed on a few radio programmes, which was fun, but apart from a couple of local papers,the book was ignored by the press. Oddly enough, it also didn’t seem to be available in most bookshops where I..ahem..looked for it. I blame the cover though it was my idea and my design. Probably a mistake.
I still think the book is funny and exageratedly accurate but what with MeToo and everything I can’t imagine it being re-issued today. Anyhow it’s available secondhand for practically nothing on Amazon and elsewhere so go for it! Here's a taste.
19 February 2019
BEING PUBLISHED EDUCATIONALLY - Part 2
Always searching for sources of income which won’t require me to do things I hate doing, I started sending ideas to relevant magazines. One of them, Canvas (now defunct) accepted my proposal to write and illustrate a series called Experiments in Seeing. They published this series and others I sent from 1968 to 1970.
I then decided to expand the theme into a book and sent an outline to various publishers. It was accepted by Batsford and published in 1973 as Designing with Natural Forms. I didn’t like this title, preferring Experiments in Seeing (because that’s what it was) but I had no say in the matter. Didn’t have much say about remuneration either: sitting in the office of the head of Batsford, an old school English gentleman, I politely pointed out that the royalties offered to me in the contract were beyond ridiculous in view of all the work I was doing. He laughed in jolly English gentlemanly fashion and said that having my name on the book should be reward enough…ha ha! But he did, very slightly, increase the percentage of royalties to be paid to me.
The premise of this book is an experiment: to take a few familiar subjects and look at them as if you'd never seen them before, allowing ideas to arise spontaneously from this concentrated but ‘innocent’ way of seeing. I didn’t want to know in advance what the results would be and they surprised me. Designing with Natural Forms got great reviews and, like An Artist's Workbook, made no money. The truth is that money and I have never had a close relationship. We don’t understand each other, don’t speak the same language, don’t iike each other, and that’s that.
Water was the first topic I chose to focus on. I filled a dish with water and asked Ted to take photos of the patterns made by the waves when I shook the dish. A lot of unexpected ideas arose from this. You'll have to get the book in order to see how this and the other experiments arose and progressed.
TO BE CONTINUED
18 February 2019
BEING PUBLISHED EDUCATIONALLY- Part 1
I was part-time teaching a multi-media class to adults at Camden Arts Centre when the publishers Studio Vista got in touch and asked if I’d be interested to do a book on collage for their How-To-Do It series. Naturally I said yes! Then I thought: h’m, I don’t really use collage that much but I can certainly write about it. I asked Jack Yates, a colleague who worked mainly with collage, whether he’d like to collaborate and do some of the How-to examples. Of course he said yes. We signed a contract with Studio Vista and Creating in Collage did well - there were Dutch and Swedish editions and it was also published in the U.S. by Watson Guptill.
With one foot in the door of mainstream publishing I felt encouraged to gather the notes I always kept about my work and when teaching. I came up with the idea for a book to be called An Artist’s Workbookand sent an outline to David Herbert, then head of Studio Vista. He was enthusiastic. I signed a contract and was paid an advance (about £500) which seemed astonishing - this was 1968 and I was just about managing to pay my bedsitting room rent. I needed many photographs which were taken by an excellent photographer, my friend Ted Sebley. Studio Vista published the book in 1969 and it was taken up in the U.S. by Van Nostrand Reinhold. It had great reviews in the educational press.
Quote from the Foreword by Maurice de Sausmarez to An Artist’s Workbook:
“Natalie d’Arbeloff clearly defines the nature of a workbook as a personal inventory of formal ideas, and she is well aware that it has its ultimate justification only in the development of works specifically related to the individual creative talent and temperament. It is, at one and the same time, a means of study and a spur to creative thinking.” May 1969
An Artist’s Workbook went out of print years ago but second hand copies are still available via Amazon etc. I’d love to find a publisher who would bring out a new edition (rights have reverted to me).
Here is a link to Amazon page where you can find secondhand copies of some of my books. Ignore the "unavailable" under Old Stile Press publications: not true! they are available from OSP. The artists' books on that list are not mainstream published and don't belong there. More on this later.
BEING PUBLISHED
My adventures in publishing have wandered along two different roads. For the benefit of anyone who might find it useful, herewith a resumé in answer to the question: how was it for you? The future is yet to come and I’m hoping for an interesting sequel.
1. BEING PUBLISHED (by those whose business it is to publish)
2. SELF-PUBLISHED (doing it myself, willingly or reluctantly)
Under the above headings are sub-headings which I’ll elaborate on in the next post.
