...and almost 6 years later

I confess!  I had completely forgotten about this account since setting it up in March 2014, woops!

So much has happened since then, I recall that I was still trying to come to terms with this state, commonly referred to as "retirement", back then.  Trying not to get in the way of the routine that my dear, long suffering wife Kathryn had been enjoying since we moved to Oundle.  

For the 18 months prior to actual retirement in November 2013, I had been working part time, still on a rolling shift pattern of 4 on, 6 off in a Police Call Centre, but with the use of my artists studio at The Rooftop Arts Centre available to me on my rest days, I could get out from under her feet almost as often as when I worked full time (6 shifts on, 4 off.).  It took a long time to shed myself of all the stress that I had acquired somewhat unknowlingly during my 8yrs in that job, the strange hours, including weekends and bank holidays, only added to the often unpleasant stories that I had to deal with, not to mention some of the unpleasant characters I had to speak to.  Not my colleagues, I hasten to add, they were a great bunch who made the work tolerable, and whose delicious, somewhat dark sense of humour got us through the worst of it.

I'm writing this at my desk in what I refer to as the "martCave", which had been the garage here at "martRox Mansion" in Oundle.  I'm surrounded by my usual untidiness, something which I've found difficult to overcome throughout my life, and one reason why we decided to convert the garage into the "martCave".  Kathryn loves to be tidy and organised, everything in it's place and a place for everything is what gives her peace of mind whereas I am pretty much the opposite.  My natural state is one of distraction, one of leaping from one thing to another which translates into lots of stuff going on all the time in my head, and lots of things half done.

This is a little film I made during our sketchbook exhibition @ The Rooftop Arts Centre last year... 

I may well go back over some of my stuff from the last 6yrs in future posts in more detail, but in the meantime I need to spend some time on the current projects that are under way here in the martCave, in Studio 9 @ The Rooftop, and home, rather than this avoidance tactic of blog writing....  bye for now

March Here(already!)

New works-in-progress stacking up nicely, in Studio 9 @

The Rooftop Gallery & Workshops, Corby.

I tend to work in series and on several ideas at the same time

 

I'm also playing with an idea based on the "found objects" art of the immediate post-WW1 era, when as a result of the turmoil created by the conflict, everything, including what constitutes art, had to change.  The inspiration to use plumbing materials came from a sculpture made in the early 20's by one of Marcel Duchamps chums out of the plumbing components of the day.  The finished construction will look quite different, I have some further research and some sums to do before I take it to the next stage...

Working title of this is "Green Tee With Blue Guitar", loosely based on a self-portrait, and one of my guitars(a Samick JTR Roseanne that I am currently besotted by...)  When I'm not in my painting studio I can usually be found in my little martcave making music late into the night.

This year is rushing along at a pace!  March is here already, and the first exhibition I'm entering in 2014 opens on the first weekend of April, so I've been preparing a bunch of canvasses for that.  It's a bit unusual for me in that each artist is given an 8ft x 4ft space to fill with as many or as few works as one likes, whereas the usual form is to submit work for selection.  I've decided to try and fill the space with as much as I can because I need to clear some room in the studio.

On the music front, I'm getting back up to speed on guitar after a long layoff, in particular I'm working on dropped tunings to overcome the fact that due to my injured left hand I can't do bar chords.  As I have recently updated my guitar collection I can have them set up and waiting to go.  It's such a relief to find that I can explore a wider range of chords, and indeed a variety of different guitar sounds.   I've also added several synths, drum machines, effects, and other gear to the martcave, and as with painting, have a number of projects on the go, some in collaboration with others, and some of my own stuff.  I often upload some of my "jams", and ideas on Soundcloud to share with my online pals, these are by no means fully mastered (and in some cases well played) recordings, more like sketches made in the early hours - https://soundcloud.com/martrox

At home we are in some disarray while the builders are in, but the extra room is going to be a real bonus, particularly when the family come visiting, given a fair wind it will be ready by mid-April....