Thursday 31 December 2015

All's well that ends well


I suppose I should do a Janus and review the year, but there are some things that I just will not talk about.

It takes more than 365 days to work out what the most influential event in one's recent life has been, and although hindsight is a wonderful thing, foresight is even better. I wish I had bought that Vincent Black Shadow for £500 in the 1980s.

On Christmas day, The Boy noticed a slight drop in optimism during a conversation and asked me what was up. I had no desire to bring anyone down - and I still don't - but he asked and so I told him. Just a matter of fact.

I said that for the first time in my life, I had lost faith in the future - well, my future anyway. He is riding on the crest right now - straight out of film school and straight into yet another good job in the film industry, doing just what he has always wanted to do - i.e. the right thing.

He advised me to 'live in the moment', and I said that it was living in the moment for the last 45 years that has brought me to where I am now. I didn't get where I am today by thinking ahead, young man.

In my working life, I have tried to portray myself as indispensable to my best clients, and I think I have sort of done it with my current patron. What I have only just realised is that everyone else is indispensable as well. That's what you call slow on the uptake.

Every now and then, we all have to think back to a relatively small time when everything fell into place, and although we should look to the next time that these circumstances should come together like a planetary alignment, we need to go back just to make sure that it is still possible.

For a few years now, I have used the above fire-surround as reassurance that it is possible. It may just look like a rather over-the-top fireplace to an outsider, but - take it from me - it represents the perfect cooperation between a client who knows exactly what he wants, but can only describe it, and describe it very well.

It has to have pears - it is to be sited in an area which has been renowned for its Perry production since medieval times; it has to be apparently too large for the small room; it has to be 17th century in style and naively carved; it has to relate to his wife's beloved garden, with the formal parterres and pargetting of the fruit trees inside it; and - above all - it has to impress his guests.

This one is a one-off, but my best client is surrounded by stone, marble, plaster, paint and metal which has either been made, bought and/or restored by me. There is an almost uncountable amount of objects inside and outside the vast house. This work has to be seen as a whole - you know, the sort of lifetime achievement which gets people a knighthood at this time of year.

I can't show you all this stuff because I have signed an agreement not to, on pain of banishment, a hefty fine, or both. So has everyone else, so there goes my knighthood.

Happy New Year.

26 comments:

  1. I haven't yet checked, but I think I can join you in the absent knighthood arena. But if Barbara Windsor (is she related?) is to be made a 'dame' by her majesty, I'm not sure that this should be our year anyway.

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  2. At my Uncle's funeral last week, his crash helmet was on top of the coffin and we all paid homage to his Vincent Black Shadow !! He bought it back in the 50's and rode it everyday,so very high mileage, soldered a side car onto it and messed about with it good and proper but it's still worth a pretty penny !!
    Wishing you a prosperous 2016 Tom .... keep your pecker up and I look forward to more laughs in the New Year. Lots of love and a virtual kiss from me. XXXX

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    1. Will you inherit it, or is that a rude question?

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  3. Fate can kick the future right out from under the feet of any person. The boy is right; put your feet down in the present and get on with it. Have a happy new year. Enough sentiment; get on with it.

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    1. Ok, I will. What else can we do? 2016, here we come.

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  4. That's a beautiful fireplace. I like the pears and leaves and tiny flowers in the corners.

    Happy New Year to you, Tom.

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  5. I love seeing a bit of your work and hearing the tale of its creation. I'm sure you and he were mighty pleased with the outcome. No one is indispensable, but you have had a pretty good run of being rewarded for doing what you love and excel at. At our age, it is not fun to contemplate the future. xoxo

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  6. Your work is beautiful Tom, such skill, you should be very proud of the result of your efforts. Wishing you a happy new year.

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  7. Your work is indeed beautiful, and I think I have an idea of who commissioned you.

    Happy New Year.

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  8. At this time of year, the 'blahs' often set in. And then they dare to last until about mid-May!!! The cheek of it! I am still in awe of that carving. If it was mine, I would probably touch the pears all the time, as if to pick them off the branches. All the best to you in 2016, Sir Thomas!

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  9. Happy new year Tom, to you and your family.

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  10. Happy New Year, Tom! And wow, that is a gorgeous piece of work.

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  11. Happy New Year. On the way home from work tonight I hated myself. But now I feel better. So will you. Rachel xxx

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  12. Happy New Year Tom. The fire surround is stunning and a testimony to what you've done and to what you can still do.

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  13. Thank you all and I will reply in 2016. Tonight we watch a Harry Potter DVD! YAY!

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Oops I meant to add that I wish you and your family and my fellow followers, a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

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  15. Happy New Year to you and yours, Tom. I enjoy reading your blog though I comment rarely. You scare me just a little. :)

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    1. I'm sorry, Ninaschen. Don't be scared. H.N.Y.

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  16. Two months of rain and darkness is enough to give anyone the miseries. I think that bears have got it right; hibernation throughout January and February ( and sometimes March as well) would suit me fine.
    Cheer up, Tom, think how extremely fortunate you are in having such a fantastic client, they must be like hens' teeth in the 21st century.

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  17. Has the Harry Potter dvd finished yet? You haven't wished me a Happy New Year.

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