hi Robert, afraid things have been hectic here, I'm currently running courses in Norfolk at Thornham and Dilham, then off for a week in Somerset..hey ho..the life of a journeyman artist!! I'll restart at the beginning of October. Ps Lovely view of windmills out to sea from Thornham!!

You have been silent lately.... Trust all is well. Your comments on wind farms in this blog appealed to me!

Tim, just thought I would let you know how impressed I was with your Fisher 400 paper. I bought some through Jacksons on line and used it yesterday for the first time. I cut off a strip and did three studies of shells which I was very pleased with. The pastel really grips to the surface, but it isn't too rough to draw on. I am looking forward to having a go at a larger picture especially as it was my birthday the other day and I have ordered some Unison pastels and so I have what I hope will be an interesting marriage. regards

Haven't had time to watch TV lately but I have to agree with everything you have written here. It's time that the powers that be stopped to think about what they are spending our money on. Just a tiny fraction of some of these huge amounts would help keep lots of artists, though they be but hobbyists, extremely happy. We struggle to pay the small fees of kind hearted local lecturers who encourage and inform us. Grants are very hard to come by these days. The land these things take up could, no doubt be used for far more useful things like retirement homes and dentist's surgerys, schools and playgrounds for the children not to mention COMMUNITY CENTRES which my town does not have even though I have been badgering the powers that be locally for some years. All they can do is attempt to close down our heritage centre / museum / gallery. Evil devils aren't they?

Oh I thought it was just me losing the plot with this first programme...as for land-mark art installations some leave me cold, some enthuse, some grow on me..we have a 30metre pile of folded rectangular sheets stainless steel some 2 metres square...said to be inspired by the gas flow in a diesel engine...financed by the major engineering employer in Diesel City [CB Radio talk] for this modern City with a Classic Cathedral...yes they make diesel engines...but I do like it...situated just off and almost out-of-sight of a very busy roundabout...just within the City limit...It would stand out just like a sore thumb [just across the road] or even sink in the Fen...

I also started to watch Big Art thinking it would be interesting, but I quickly became bored and the trend towards the shock tactics of large scale installations being intrisically interesting or impressive passed me by. However, I do think that such public art can be moving. If you have visited the West of Ireland you may have seen the "famine memorial" which stands at the base of Croagh Patrick? It is of course a gruesome subject but the setting is stunning and I feel really acts as a fitting tribute to the history of the place. If you are interested you can google National Famine Memorial Westport. The County Mayo council seem to have commissioned a number of art works around the county and I enjoyed coming across them in unexpected situations. For instance in the town of Castlebar they have a super piece which is semi abstract and shows a flight of geese . The geese being the symbol for migration of the Irish people as well as the fact that they do have vast numbers of geese visiting the region. I sound like part of the tourist board for the area, It was just as I thought about public art these instantly came to mind. The scale of these pieces is relatively modest but must have impact for me, because I have instant recall on them.