Finland - Suomi. 7th December 2017.

Finland is a hundred years old this week and it astonished me that I didn't know how recently it has existed as an independent country. Of course I knew some of the history but so much of what I remember now of our life there at the end of the 60's makes a lot of sense. When people expressed resentment towards Sweden and Russia I put it down to cultural differences developed over generations not realising how raw emotions were and how recent were the events that caused these emotions. The wife of one of our Finnish friends was part of the 1% Swedish/Finnish population. I found it hard to understand why other Finnish friends spoke negatively about her when to me she seemed very friendly and nice.  One friend remarked that people outside Scandinavia believed that all the beautiful designs in glassware, pottery, furniture and fabrics came from Sweden when in fact most were produced in Finland. I came to learn that for myself. Another friend told me that her grandfather had never stopped mourning the loss of Karelia to Russia.      
Now 50 years on I'm reading about people in Jyvaskyla, where we lived, celebrating the diversity of of it's population whilst in Helsinki there were multi-cultural Independence celebrations led by the President. Finland is a country to be admired, and I do.

Happy Birthday!

'Round Midnight.

This was painted in France when the sun was high in the sky, the day was hot and jazz was playing in the background as I worked. It didn't evoke thoughts of summer, blue skies and fields of sunflowers but of a small bar, good company and no-where to be but here, listening to Miles Davis and John Coltrane playing into the early hours of the morning.
Soon after bringing the painting back from France it was sold by the gallery to a buyer in North Wales. Later the image was used as the front cover of a British literary magazine, New Walk.

'Round Midnight. Oil on canvas.

Albany Gallery Summer Show

Two paintings for the exhibition next Thursday.




If I Can Dream. Oil on canvas. 76 x 51Cm.





Riding Along On The Crest Of A Wave. Oil on canvas. 30 x 36cm.

From Penarth News, 21st June.

In Penarth today an on-shore easterly breeze (despite what the BBC weather chart says) is keeping it slightly cooler than in baking Cardiff – or London where temperatures are expected to reach 34C.

Today is the summer solstice – the longest day of the year – when Penarth is set to enjoy 16 hours and 38 minutes of daylight. The sun  rose at 04:43 and sets at 21:31 .

The heatwave is expected to end tomorrow – as the nights start drawing in.

Welsh fans in Belgrade.

On a day of sad events in the news, this brightened my day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40247254/serbians-thank-wales-fans-for-donating-blood-for-shot-supporter

The title that escaped.

The title of a painting is significant. It reminds me of what was in my mind, or on my mind, when I worked on a canvas. What prompted me to choose that size canvas, why those particular colours and what was I trying to recall that seemed worth preserving?

Sometimes the title is the starting point. It may have been in my mind for a while and I can't settle until I've dealt with it. Then there is the finished painting, still without a title, which mocks me and demands I search for a few words which will make sense of the image I've produced.

Last night as I slept I thought of the perfect title for my current piece of work. By morning it had gone. The harder I try to remember the more it escapes me.

In defiance of a cold, very wet day.

Riding Along on the Crest of a Wave (and the sun is in the sky).