Thursday 3 November 2016

I could do more, but I'm not allowed to


As I sit here waiting for the phone to be delivered, I am reflecting on the way things have turned out over the last few years. The only paid work I have on right now is the half-day a week teaching a young mason sculptural techniques, and I cannot survive on that alone.

Before the financial crash, I envisaged going into my sixties as a smooth transition between the hard and heavy work that I have been doing for years and the lighter, more rewarding activities which would suit an aging body with an experienced eye better than smashing away at stone until I drop, but the world's financiers have made those plans redundant. I had made my bed and I fully intended to lie in it, but the bed has been stolen and a pile of straw has been left in its place.

I still consider myself to be luckier than the generation beneath me, who have not had the opportunities to even experiment with a single career which could be called a 'vocation', so have nothing to fall back on when the shit hits the fan, which it innevitably will. We haven't seen anything yet, and there will be a second, more catastrophic recession which will make the 2008 one look mild.

So I am thinking of returning to making objects which nobody has asked me to make, since nobody is asking me to make anything at the moment, but I can guess that the more wealthy may not be able to resist something which they never knew they wanted until it is put before them as an unsolicited offer. I made the above shell about a year before I sold it, and I could have made many more objects in that time, were it not that I was too busy fulfilling orders.

So maybe I am turning into a dreaded Art sculptor again. I am planning a trip to the Isle of Portland to pick up a 1/4 ton block to make this shell, 4 or 5 times life-size. Want one?


44 comments:

  1. I would have thought that people would be clamouring for your skills....masons and sculptures can't be ten a penny
    Can they?

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    1. Good ones aren't, but it is an extremely expensive process and people are hanging onto their pennies to see what is going to happen when Trump gets elected. In the 2008 crash, builders did very well, because it was better to put your money into bricks and mortar than leave it in the bank to dwindle away or get stolen. Property prices consequently went up and the first rung of the housing ladder became completely out of reach, even for middle-class young people. There is now a move to get the baby-boomers to leave property and estate to their children BEFORE they die, and before we have a nation of homeless people who have had no education beyond primary school. We had it very easy indeed.

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  2. The phone has arrived.... with instructions to charge it for 10 hours before setting it up...

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  3. What happened to you in 2008? Income went down on savings and some investments Your capital though should still be intact even though it is producing less for you.

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    1. My capital? Oh yes, I forgot all about that. I'll go under the bed right now and pull it out - make it work for me.

      If you read what I said above, it is other people's attitude toward their capital that affects people like me the most. We could do without Alan B'stard-type smugness right now, thanks.

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    2. I wasn't being intentionally smug. i just didnt understand. Sorry.

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    3. Ha ha! That's ok. I was just over-reacting as Ursula expects me to. It's my duty.

      This post has already produced a food-parcel - Jack@ is going to send me her old iPhone for H.I. to use in conjunction with mine. I have no pride, it seems...

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    4. That's nice x and one for Jackie x I liked that you understood my post last night. It was originally going to be that one line (that you drew attention to) only because that said it all.

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    5. Yes - we will be able to sync and connect - in different rooms! I think more people got that line than you may think.

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    6. Commmiserations, Tom. With three m just so you know I mean it. I don't think you overreacting, Tom. 2008 and its aftermath were shite for many. I went down the swirl of the drain hole so fast I couldn't reach the plug. Main thing is to never give up even when you do find yourself swept along the sewage. Think of it as a game of "Snakes and Ladders".

      And forget "pride". Few of us can afford it. And, anyway, in an increasingly disconnected world people are oddly chuffed when you ask them for a favour.

      Will give your predicament some thought. Can't make promises. But whilst running around in rags I do have connections with the riches, not least in Bath! HA.

      Chin, chin,
      U

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    7. That last bit sounds intriguing. I thought I was well-connected. I think this post sounds like a moan, but I do mention how lucky I feel compared to many more others, not least the young. For instance, I don't know how the Brexit vote will affect all those elderly Brits who retired to Spain, and who are already losing their pesnions and property. Give me the wind and rain any day.

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  4. Tom, your work is stunning. (And for once I'm being serious) I love it. Can we see more please?

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    1. I'll show you a huge fire surround I made for someone, because it is a very good example of what can be done when the client knows exactly what they want, but does not know quite what it looks like, but then manages to find someone who knows what they are talking about and gives them a free hand.

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    2. I've just remembered that all my photos are locked away in an old operating system, and I haven't yet worked out how to get them out. The newer photos I am not allowed to show anyone, because of client confidentiality - another reason why the client should pay more for everything than less private people!

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  5. Billary is as bent as a nine-bob note. That became obvious the day Marc Rich was given a presidential pardon and was able to return from exile in Swisserland. The Billary foundation duly received a $450,000 windfall via Rich's ex. They all pee in the same pot. It stinks. Hold on to your straw. They fixed it for Bernie Sanders. Trump is the resistance. He is a product of a corrupt system just as certain people were in Germany within living memory.

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    1. Are you campaigning for Trump? I know that there is not much to choose from, but I think it ought to be a no-brainer, no matter what you think of the Clinton clan.

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    2. If I was an American I'd vote for the green lady Stein, or one of the other no-hopers.

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    3. On today's blog I've drawn a cartoon Trump. I said somewhere else it's a Ronald MacDonald clone against the mad woman from 101 Dalmatians.

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  6. Yes, it could all come crashing down after our election. At least over here. I adore the work you've done. You are right about the one's that can afford it, but they want it for next to nothing. I read about a man in NYC, that made millions on the streets selling some little dollar objects like can openers or some such. Can't wait to hear how you love your phone.

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    1. The phone is charging as we speak - for 10 hours... Maybe I should have an ebay sideline like can-openers, especially since people are going to be drinking more whether or not they can afford to!

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    2. Donna, a friend from UK went to the LA Olympics. On a sweltering day here was a long and patient queue for water at 50 cents a plastic cup from a man with a barrel on a small table near a stadium entrance. As my friend neared the front of the queue the barrel ran dry. My friend, being a salesman himself, followed the water salesman to see where he was going, and was amazed to discover he was just filling his barrel free of charge from a water tap on a wall out of sight but nearby. He's also a millionaire by now I should think.

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    3. There is a word for people like that.

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  7. Thank you for showing us these pictures of beautiful sculpture you've created. Of course, I wish I could actually touch them, too.

    As someone who signed the gallery petition, I've gotten an update email today. Seems as if the eviction is being put on hold until after an election. At first I didn't understand the use of the word "purdah" in the decision's context...then I cotton'd on to it.

    Continued best wishes to you.

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    1. Yes, 44AD is being encouraged to register as a charity, when they will get discounted rent and rates from the council.

      Only the top one is a carving, the lower one is a shell yet to be copied.

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    2. Thanks Tom, for clearing up my error. Now I'll look forward to see what the shell inspires you to create. Shells have always inspired me, only to create in 2-D.

      I've now heard the news about the UK court decision re Brexit. More blog discussion arriving soon, I guess.

      Best wishes.

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    3. It will be a simple copy, not really 'art' at all. I am amazed at the arrogance of people who seem to think they can improve on objects like this.

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  8. The time when I bought 'works of art' is past Tom. I'm sorry. My house is just full of beautiful things I have acquired over the years - now is the time to begin getting rid of some of them.

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    1. I don't understand the latest trend for de-cluttering. I love sorting through other people's junk.

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  9. An antique dealer friend always buys Interiors Magazine. He sees what's trendy, and buys specifically. Maybe Interiors Magazine should feature on your Hepplewhite coffee table.

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    1. I have appeared in Interiors Magazine three times now.

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    2. Start a trend, then follow it. Even better.

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    3. Or go against it - better still.

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  10. If it's not one cause, Tom, it's another. My "straw" went up in the care of three children, and I'm still beavering away.
    The bit about the well off buying low is laughably true. I spent a year weaving again, but it's an occupation in itself, and I was juggling three, between children, the township and weaving. So, I ended it and sold all my stock at 50% off. It flew off the rack. Now, that was a bitter chuckle.

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    1. Yes, I would never ever be out of good work if I halved my fees.

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  11. Since I retired I've had much more time to spend on my hobbies, which are embroidery, crazy quilting and Chinese silk painting (another form of embroidery.) At the moment I am making a series of 6 Victorian Christmas boots, which have been ordered from the States. They seem willing to pay prices that people in the UK just wouldn't entertain. Even so, I can't take into account the number of hours that I put into a piece, so basically I get back the cost of my materials and anything over that is a bonus. So I understand how difficult it is to make a living as an artist. I try to support local talent, and we have a wood carver living near us that we have commissioned work from, 2 cats (3ft and 4ft tall) 1 elephant (4ft tall) 2 0wls (both about 3ft tall) and a wonderful sea horse, nearly as tall as me (mind you I am a short arse) I love modern wall art and have quite a lot of nice pieces (mainly limited edition prints, because I can't always afford the originals, but I do have some lovely watercolours and oils, that I've managed to pick up at auctions. I love modern art...trouble is, I've run out of wall space. I can't post attachments to your blog, if you would like to see some of my collection, let me know a site I can send pics to. At the moment a lot of my pieces which are usually free range, have been corralled because we're about to have a lot of messy work done on the house. My husband has quite a large collection of African wood carvings (mainly half naked women, ) He also has a wonderful sculpture of an Africa woman sculpted in leopard skin, and I have a large toad in the same stone. We bought them from an Arts in Action exhibition in Oxfordshire a couple of years ago.

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  12. Sorry, that should have read 'leopard stone. Not skin. I wouldn't do that. My favourites are probably bronzes. I have a wonderful sphinx which dates from regency times. 3 beautiful cats and a wonderful bronze of Cleopatra holding a rein on a panther (?) which I bought for my husband's 60th birthday. I've been offered a good profit on it, but i'm NOT selling

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    1. I think that 'leopard stone' is a type of soapstone, i.e. gypsum. You can carve it with a penknife. Just make a simple blog of your own and post up pictures?

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  13. Don't forget that the marketing of the 'shells' must include top notch photographic prints (in frames & signed natch.) and the odd good quality printed tee shirt and top quality mugs.

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    1. We are doing t-shirts as merchandising in H.I.'s exhibition, but we do not expect to make any money from it. We could be surprised, I suppose.

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  14. That shell is breath-takingly beautiful, Tom! Do you have contacts to Garden-Magazines, Garden TV-Shows or Exhibitions like those from the RHS? People who can pay must have a chance to see it.
    As to the future of the young I am very alarmed too. And as to pride: What's the point? I care less about that nowadays, and how/and if people might like what I do (though I still care - only not that much).

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    1. I have featured in those mags a few times, but I am not really fascinating enough for them - unless I pay for advertising!

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  15. Sorry - I'll finish replying when I have worked out a way to transfer contacts from my old phone to new. I could be some time...

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    1. That's all well and good. But do you know your onions?

      U

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    2. That is a very good (and very mystifying) question. I will do my best to answer it as soon as I have gained any understanding of it. You know me, I have no secrets.

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