new pictures

If you are looking at this post you still have to visit the Bankside Gallery between 25th and 29th November, as these images are just a taste of what is on show.

postcards

here are some postcards I bought in Beijing with added sporting heroes

Dates and Details

University teaching is complete for this year. Graduation ceremony done and a brief summer window opens up. The first thing I do every day is cover up my calendar. The last thing I do is tick off another day. (Don't know why 09 didn't get done.)

A quick review of progress shows the success of any exhibition is in the detail

Royal Watercolour Society

It has been a big day today. I have acquired letters after my name with a successful election to the Royal Watercolour Society. The RWS have a great list of alumni, which includes Samuel Palmer, Peter De Wint and William Hunt as well as current members Peter Blake, Quentin Blake and Elizabeth Blackadder. Here are a couple of pictures I put in for selection and one which the society keeps for their archive. It feels good to contribute to such a prestigious heritage of artists and designers who love mixing water and colour pigment to make their mark.

Birds Nest Sketchbook

Here's a sketchbook made inside the birds nest stadium in Beijing looking out over the skyline of an ever increasing city. I showed the original book in a lecture I gave at Bath Spa University couple of weeks ago. It is bigger than I thought. The book opened up across the entire width of the room

World Team

Every so often I am reminded what a great job I have. I received a package this week from Class 5HR, Overmonnow Primary school in Monmouth. They have made a fantastic copy of one of my books 'World Team'. Here are some brilliant pages made by individuals in the class.

Thanks to everyone who made a page in the book:

Look at the view out of the window in hawaii. I want to live there.

What a lively game in Madagascar with beautifully drawn figures.

I'd like a house near the beach in Jamaica with a palm tree to play football near.

That's a great wall to kick a ball against.

Look at the weather in Ireland. (Great goal!)

Someone has taken great care to draw all the trees in New Zealand!

That is a great building to play a game of football in front of.

What a lively street scene in Greece. I could play football there.

I love the idea that right now three people are playing football under three clouds in the Cook Islands.

Here are some spreads from my book:

In The Dark Of The Night

Here is my new book, published by Frances Lincoln called In The Dark of the Night. It is a 'rights of passage' for a young wolf who sets out in the dark of the night, frightened but keen to discover what is at the top of the singing rock. When he has been there he is no longer frightened. Paul, the author told me it is about the first time your Dad takes you for a drink in a pub when you are 18.

Beijing 2000

I've made a decision on my exhibition next year. It will be at the Bankside Gallery next to Tate Modern in November 2009, a year from now. While Beijing will be a distant memory by then, London 2012 will be getting closer and it will be a great chance to both look back and forwards at the same time. I would like to call the show 'Citius Altius Fortius', after the Olympic motto 'Faster Higher Stronger' but not sure I will be allowed to. I think it speaks about sporting endeavor but also for the transformation of a country like China. There will be lots of news and events to tell you about between now and then, but I am likely to keep any images from the show under wraps until they go on public display. Here's a photo I took in Beijing in 1993 when they were bidding for the 2000 Olympic Games.

Aquarelle Arches 300gm/hp

I am spending a great deal of time staring at a sheet of aquarelle arches 300gm/hp thanks to John Purcell Papers and not a powerbook screen. And I keep finding distractions, like World Cup qualifiers and Theo Walcott's hat-trick last night. It's an exciting, scary, difficult and rewarding time. I am also getting close to deciding on a venue for my show next year. Watch this space...

I went to the opening of the Sunday Times/Royal Watercolour Society exhibition at the Bankside gallery on Tuesday night. There are some fantastic artist's working on paper right now, none better than 72 yr old Michael Williams, who showed a hypnotic image of a water hole in Paros and 84 year old June Berry who exhibited two magical pictures of dream gardens. Just got to stick at it. Right, back to that blank sheet of paper...

Golden Nose

I am back home now, tired but excited at the prospect of developing a bunch of drawings and ideas into finished pictures. At the risk of sounding like a Team GB prospect for 2012 the hard work starts now. I have had an amazing experience in Beijing and after watching the whole team leave the airport in their gold-nose Boeing for their press conference at Heathrow it struck me how accessible the whole games have been in contrast to a World Cup tournament.

It has been a hugely successful team performance for UK sport. Just as I am going to lock myself away in my studio, many of the athletes will begin the process of training and working to build on their individual successes here. While all the focus and attention shifts to London 2012, I will be concentrating on building a retrospective story of these unique games in Beijing.












my moment of fame - an interview on 5live 'Drive' with Peter Allen, Darren Campbell and Dom Joly outside the birds nest stadium after Usain Bolts' third world record.