On Hull’s historic Hessle Road sits an old furniture shop. It drew me because it reminds me, timelessly, of my childhood when shops smelt of calor gas and mystery. The building’s architecture also interested me, with its sharp pointed roof and dated front. Hessle Road is a unique place in Hull, now sadly neglected in […]Read Post ›
There is a sadness as a journey must end. The last day is closing, a last walk, a last evening, pushing, pushing against the hour. If I keep walking this time won’t end. Chicago was a wonderful journey, a fresh city to explore and know, walks in new areas, routines established if just for a […]Read Post ›
Harsh winter night, years ago. I lived here once. In the Athens of the North, in a world scented by the warm, yeasty smell of brewing beer that hangs over Edinburgh. A pub too rough for my tastes, where loud voices echo, a bridge that drips, a tang of urine and Dettol. Memories that span […]Read Post ›
A day of great happiness ends, a day in Paris, a day in the City of Light. The streets take on a mysterious hue, darkness creeping up their plaster walls, dinge and shadow, pink sky, a wisp of purple. Here are garrets, creaking doors leading to the gloom of corridors. No-one is here. Yet their […]Read Post ›
Over a century old, burned by a hundred summers, drenched by a hundred winter rains. I often wandered in this area, this little corner of the south. It was far from the cafes and familiarity of Dizengoff, here was a place where I often felt sadness. The shutters reminded me of childhood, dusty, broken, rotting. […]Read Post ›
I lived in Israel for several years. It was my home, and still the state of my citizenship. It was not always an easy relationship, I often felt homesick and out of place. The heat was too much at times. Yet there were evenings of fragrant pink dusk, orange blossom and spice, evenings when I […]Read Post ›
Decades ago, when I was a child on the fringes of manhood, when I lived with my parents in a huge, ugly house in Luxembourg, I dreamt I would one day be free. Freedom lapped at the edges of my soul, whispered in my ear, flickers of hope, embers of desire. Like an animal caged […]Read Post ›
Just a short blog entry on the joy of staying in a home, not a hotel when travelling. The above painting I did from photographs taken on an Airbnb trip to Paris. We stayed in a Parisian garret flat, redolent of wood and coffee with views over the Marais. I screamed in delight when I […]Read Post ›
I suspect there is no word for this. I have an envy for the lives of other people. It is all pervasive, it is irrational, it pops up without warning, as unwelcome as a swimming pool erection. I can do little about it and I have had it ever since I was a child. I […]Read Post ›
This highly detailed photorealist work depicts two doorways in Amsterdam. The colour is hot, bright, intense beyond words. The shadows beckon with mystery and coolth. The bricks and colours and texture ooze Amsterdam. As a 0.4 inch canvas, the work can hang without the need for further framing.
