Parkbench

It wouldn't happen without my sponsors.

2010-02-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

My last show 'Erik the lost god of Crete' went well with a lot of interest from the media at a local level especially Swithin Fry of Stroud FM.
But I need to say a big thank you to my sponsors who, on a yearly bases, help me put on such events.
They are tempted by gifts and food, which is all there is really, and provide sometimes quite large sums to see me through. This money is used for materials and occasional travel, but always in the realm of facilitating my work. I have to make the ends meet, it's no free lunch, that would not be fair.
A lot of the projects that I consider are only made possible through their donations and the freedom this gives me can not be over stated.
Thank you. You know who you are.

Cambridge
A flying visit to Cambridge found me at the bar of the Eagle pub. I had forgotten just what a perfect pub it is and also the extraordinary ceiling. I was unaware that the tradition of smoking with a candle your name dated back to the 17C.

On the bright side

2010-02-09T02:35:00.000-08:00

Some of the generous comments left:
The best I have seen here for ages. Love em. Jo Bousfeild

A ray of sunshine into a bleak February Day. I felt warmed. Paul Tucker

Very glad to have seen your exhibition - I love the play and interaction between colour and forms/symbols - Intriguing story and great connections to Greece portrayed in your art. Verna

Elegant, witty original work. I do of course admire the spirit of improvisation. Using this in relationship to storytelling and myth making seems a high-risk strategy. I admire this - so well do terry. regards etc - Roger Jones

They came and went!

2010-02-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

One day I will be perfectly prepared for the private view disappointment. But not this one.
They said they would come, they wished me well, they even joked about the air fair but in the end the no-shows were in the majority by 10.1.
I still look at the work and feel proud, but I do wish a few more could have made it.

Erik is made public

2010-01-19T02:17:00.000-08:00

Well its on its way.
Putting the final touches to the opening and public launch of Erik, the book.
With another exhibition planed for October there is a bit of a juggerling act as to what to show. Not that I don't have enough but what to show where.
Frames are almost complete as I write poster are up and invites are out.
It remains, as always as to who turns up, but I do hope one of the grand children can make it though I doubt it.
I'm looking forward to giving it its first reading though very nervous. A little practice might be a good idea.

Erik

The lost god of Crete

By Terry Cripps

Book Preview

Berlin

2010-01-14T06:48:00.001-08:00

Nothing can prepare you for what is Berlin. Every 15-20 minutes you find a new view, and I do not mean the picturesque, but the way your perceptions are constantly challenged.
I was not prepared for the level of emotion that would be produced in me from being at the heart of so much resent history. I felt all of the 20th century was here in some form.
It is remarkable how the Germans have come to terms with their place in the history of Europe and confronted it in the last 20 years.
I wanted to visit the Jewish memorials and thought they would be tucked away but no. No other nation would have put a memorial to the Jewish Holocaust in clear site of the Reichstadt and in so doing place the memory of that part in the history of Germany at the heart of every day.

Some comments are more welcome than others

2010-01-14T04:56:00.000-08:00

A fine day at ...

Country fair held ...

By Terry Cripps

Book Preview

I should never be surprised by the comments that my work elicits but every now and then I am struck dumb.
This book, published through Blurb, is one in a series I have been compiling to collect together photo-essays/records of life in this small area of Gloucestershire. Being as it is a quiet backwater.
I obtained permission to photograph the whole operation from start to finish and was/am very pleased with the result. Feeling I had not only caught the atmosphere of such events but told a story of how extraordinary this one is.
Flush with my self praise I present a copy to the organisers to show my work and appreciation and wait for a response. Non is forthcoming after four weeks so I chase up the contact at the estate office and ask for the book to be returned. Whilst in conversation I enquire of any opinion voiced about the finished product to be told that the squire and his wife were 'disappointed'.
I ask you what is there to be disappointed about. Not only did they not pay or contribute other than permission. The project was not for them but me.
Perhaps I expect to much but from well educated landed gentry politeness would be the minimum.
Thanks all the same.
Do have a look and post your own thoughts. I am anxious that I have not missed a vital point of communication here.

Artist Social Networks
Anyone who has ever joined one of these will know that they seldom achieve the level of informed contact they expect. Those of the community who follow close enough and dare to offer comment on posted work do so with such single sentence thinking and mono sylibal elequence as to make 99% worthless. I know the established thinking is 'its the work dummy, the work' but when you have given up your treasures for peer reveiw and all you receive is 'I really like/love/adore or think (this) is cool' there are an enormous number of wasted hours wasted infront of a screen that should be used creating.

Six weeks and eighteen paintings later

2009-12-11T07:08:00.000-08:00

What life looks like this morning

The months of November and December have been unprecedentedly wet, sometimes cold and wet but pretty dam miserable. This has meant no gardening but a great deal of time in the studio.
Six weeks in fact. A great luxury.
Whilst my mental state has not been its best I have at least had the joy of pushing some of my ideas and compositions further than before. Sketches and ideas from Crete have taken some time to evolve, with some turning sour and having to be abandoned but the beginnings of Erik 2 has started to unfold.
It looks as if it will be a lot darker in telling than the first story with a good deal more drama. But that's for the writing to unfold which will come later.

New painting

2009-12-01T02:42:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has ever tried painting for a living can connect with the fear of the creative block.
It happens to us all. Knowing this is the secret to preparing for the inevitable.
When ever I go on a trip for any length of time I carry a highly developed mini studio of tricks in my bag, nothing unusual about that you may say, but the use and force these sketches, observations, make to continued working, even through these tough patches when the creative muse is vacant, is irreplaceable.
It is a long held belief that mistakes are not productive, I would argue the opposite.
It is understanding the mistakes and turning them to your creative direction that marks the difference between many an artist and the person sitting next to you on the bus.
My sketch books are far more than idol jottings filling in time between the next great canvas and sleep. They are where I allow myself to make mistakes and discoveries. They are often my best work. Representing as they do that interaction at the coalface of inspiration and execution.
And in those dry fallow times the are the key that sets the imagination flowing again.
If you want to know more about an artist, look for the sketchbooks. Here you find the raw edgy stuff that makes them tick.

Hirst has just blown it

2009-11-16T04:33:00.000-08:00

If I am not mistaken this has just blown the top of the contemporary art world and put DH at the bottom. Not before time.
The whole point of exhibiting paintings is surely they are up to to it. If not don't show them.

You may need to lay down after watching this

2009-11-11T01:53:00.000-08:00

My thanks to Josh Freeman, a freind and collector of my work in Los Angeles
president | creative director, FreeAssociates.
He said:
Hearing Annie Leonard and Jonah Sachs discuss their renowned video The Story of Stuff, and thinking about how their approach to story-telling relates so deeply to all the work we do.

Eric the performance

2009-11-05T09:41:00.001-08:00

I am planing to exhibit 'Eric the lost god of Crete' in the spring in the small but perfect gallery 'The Space' in Stroud and propose having several readings of the book.
This has prompted me to wonder if there is any mileage in say performance - dance theatre, even video.
I have a memory of Peter Ustinov's reading of Peter and the wolf and found the latest animation from Poland that won the animated short Oscar last year. These are all wonder adaptations and with a few friends saying they could see it on stage I shall explore further.
I have no experience of choreography but anyone reading this who fancies collaborating please get in touch.

Panto

2009-11-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

I have been helping/designing the scenery for the Village Players panto 'Cinderella' co written by Susannah.
Its an interesting world the am-dram. It lives up to its portrayal in situation comedy with a fair bet of bitching and complaining about the effectiveness of certain members etc etc.
It was along time ago that I was designing sets played a hand a scene painting but overall its been a lot of fun. I could of done without the gastric attack which significantly reduced my staminar.

My son had his presious bike stolen.

2009-11-01T03:54:00.000-08:00

My son, Laurie, had spent the entire summer working at Tesco with great purpose. He had to find the money to replace the fractured frame to his down hill mountain bike. The day came when he had saved the money and ordered the frame, a Specialized Demo 8, and took delivery of it.
The following day having spent many hours transferring all the other parts that he had built up over the previous year to the new frame he was ready to ride. He met up with his biking buddies at Leckhampton and showed off with great pride his achievement. I dare say with a certain amount of youthful bragging.
He then cycled home to Cheltenham. Locked his bike to the railings just outside his kitchen, sat down with cold drink, and a few minutes later decided to bring his bike in only to find it stolen. Bolt cutters had sheared through the cable and it had gone.
What toad like creature had prayed on his joy.
It seems those praying on such objects of desire, had latched on to him and his evident enthusiasm and saw an opportunity for theft. Little realising that this was not just any old bike.
A specialized demo 8, only 4 in the country to date, is very special but more important is the emotional investment my son has in this bike. Since the death of his girl friend Victoria a year ago, this bike and biking has held his world together.
What the bastard thieves did not realise was they broke a man from the only emotional support he had.
I watch and listen to a man devastated again each morning as his reason to be cheerful in the face of Victoria's death is no longer there.
It will take years for him to save enough to replace such a bike. Whilst some cretin gets an early fix or Christmas present for a fraction of its cost.
There is a reward for any information that leads to the recovery of the bike.
so if you here of such a unique objetc being offered on the internet, small adds, or conversation in the pub. Get in touch. Please.

Help me win by voting at Blurb. Voting begins on the 23rd October

2009-10-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sisters

By Terry Cripps

Book Preview

The road to Za...

By Terry Cripps and S...

Book Preview

Back from Crete

2009-10-13T02:11:00.000-07:00

The studio in Zakros

Took Eric, in Greek, to Crete and gave it to a few friends in Zakros, Erik's home. It was greeted with customary Cretan delight. And a compliment to Elga and her friend in Athens for such a good translation.
I was asked several times how I had managed to learn such good Greek with more than a touch of irony as they all knew I did not speak a word.
Have come away with sketch books full of, hopefully, the next installment and the outline of the story. So its back to the studio and a winter of working through it all in time to publish and take with me next autumn.
As I will be showing in October in a joint exhibition some of the originals it looks as if we will be going at the height of the Olive harvest.
I hope to be able to roll up my sleeves and get stuck-in but I am told its a lot more skilled than it looks. As stripping the olives off the tree must not damage the shoots that will be growing for next years harvest.
In Zakros they have had a bad attack of the Dakis fly which reduces the yield considerably.

Sponsors luncheon

2009-09-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

Over the years of painting I have operated a small sponsorship scheme, largely of friends and relations, but also of old colleges. They have given their generous support, either in cash or in unfailing support in kind. From photography of originals to unflinching criticism. This weekend I gave a small luncheon party to say thank you and show what there support has enabled me to produce.
Such support provides for paints and travel expenses to such places as France where I undertook a residency in 2008.
The sun shone and the quests arrived, some traveling half the length of England, and a very nice time was had by all.
Thank your continued support.
Eric, the book was shown and handed around causing a lot of discussion as to the nature of such publications. I probably did more good for Blur publishing system that I did for Eric.
Friends from my days in advertising were very enthusiastic of the photography I had been taking over the past few years, most of which they were unaware I indulged in.

Mrs Blacks washing

2009-08-24T04:12:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Josh and Patrica Freeman for taking home to Los Angeles 'Mrs Blacks washing' (1020x760mm) and two other paintings.
Its always nice to see one of your favourite painting finding a good home and Patrica was so enthusiastic about Mrs Black I just had to let it go.
Josh was about to have several of the 'Modernity' series but with Mrs Black on its way, contained himself to the one. But popped 'Janet and John' into the bag as well.

Our first collective exhibition

2009-08-20T01:32:00.000-07:00

Its official.
We have our first collective exhibition booked and the Museum in the Park for October 2010.
Our chosen title is 'Crossings' taking the cross fertilization of ideas and connections that are the base of abstraction and inform an new audience of the great possibilities that lie in abstract painting.
The museum is keen that offer a outreach program to schools and the public about our thoughts and process and we intend to do workshops and talks about our work and techniques. A favourite topic of mine is the relationship between painter and viewer, it not being seen as a passive contribution, hopefully this sort of presentation will provoke response from the audiences.
Over the next couple of months there is a great deal to get settled and sorted, allocating tasks to different members of the group will be fun. The sooner this stuff is sorted the longer we have to focus on the truly important task of producing paintings to make the exhibition truly an event.

Tate with Malcolm and Roxy

2009-08-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

I had the perfect day with my oldest friend when we visited Richard Longs exhibition at Tate Britain. Before though a show that every one should go and see at The National Theatre, James Ravilious.

(James Ravilious - photographer of rural life 1939 - 1999 ...
James Ravilious was a photographer of rural and farming life in Devon and the west of England, photographs of Devon, photographs of old Devon, ...
www.jamesravilious.com/ ) This man, who was self taught, took intensely sensitive photos in his Devon village the likes are only matched by Cartier-Bresson himself.

Back to the Tate we found to rooms I had not explored before. One an installation of Ian Hamilton-Finlay,
(Ian Hamilton Finlay art, Scotland, little sparta, poetry ...
The art of Ian Hamilton Finlay is unusual for encompassing a variety of different media. Poetry, philosophy, history, gardening and landscape design are ...
www.ianhamiltonfinlay.com/)
A very moving contrast to the adjoining room of the English painters of the 50's like Roger Hilton, Ben Nicholson, Frost and Wynter. All of whom are in my top painters list. The room crackled with life and colour.
Everything though was made more intense through the sharing with Malcolm and Roxy.

Erik. The lost god of Crete

2009-07-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Erik

The lost god of Crete

By Terry Cripps

Book Preview

The final version has arrived and I am delighted.
I have been lucky enough to find collaborators in translation for Greek, German and French. All I need now is help with the Spanish. Any offers out there will be greatly received.

Vote for Me

2009-07-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

New Painting

2009-07-13T02:26:00.000-07:00

Starting a new set of paintings or beginning a fresh approach is like learning a new language. Here you understand the nods, winks, smiles and grins but they don't make a conversation that is understood.
Patience and forbearance are needed to discover new meaningful ways to express the ideas in your head.
All the time struggling with the fear of not being able to perform. This tiny miracle of transformation that becomes a painting.

Erik

2009-06-29T02:11:00.000-07:00

I'm just putting the finishing touches to my book, Erik. The lost god of Crete.
It will be published as a 10x8 inch hard back and you can find it at Blurb.com from the 6th July.
Also as a portfolio edition, half imperial size. There will only five copies made but they will be magnificent.
Have a flick through the slide show of the first dozen pages and let me know what you think.

East Mersea

2009-06-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

The weather has been very varied from monsoon rain to total sun block. Making painting outside challenging.
I'm switching from Hodgkin like marks to Turner backgrounds, all in the name of experimentation but really just to get a feel for this much paint on a painting; something I'm not known for.
The experience of just having the painting to think about, and where to have my next fish meal is very liberating and for once doesn't make me feel selfish.
Translating this work and discoveries in the studio could be a difficult process. As I have found in the past that the memory of 'where' lingers for too long to release me to real abstraction.
Gulls and their antics are a great distraction and I have taken to charactertures of one that was mobbing the guests at a restaurant on the shore. I've felt like mobbing the crows and magpies in the morning myself as they start establishing their clan and territory at 3.30. This all takes place about 20ft from my tent.
Still I get up early and pack two days into one.

West Mersea

2009-06-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well the paints have arrived , the bikes ready, the ipod is loaded and the weather looks as if it going to be fine. You never know I might just get some painting in between fish lunches and fish suppers at the Company Shack.