Quote: Will Gompertz

"The art world has become an increasingly self-sustaining economic eco-system in which the interests of all parties - museums, curators, auctioneers, collectors, dealers and artists - are best served by jointly establishing and maintaining the reputation of 'brand name' artists."

-BBC Arts Editor, Will Gompertz

Excerpt from the essay "A Modest Proposal: Exhibit 'Bad' Modern Art" by Will Gompertz

Prague: Arriving

In a spontaneous moment my sister and myself have flown to Prague to meet up with her Czech/Canadian husband and father-in-law.

The first day has been a whirl wind walking tour of the city centre with just myself and Milan (father-in-law-once-removed?). He took me on a fast pace walk to several of his hidden locals-only places to eat for cheap ("non tourist prices" he called them). I found myself eating an omelet stuffed with broccoli with mash potatoes and a tomato vinegarette salad. He told me I will struggle to be vegetarian here.

Then we all went to see the Nutcracker Ballet tonight at the National Theatre. It was amazing! I am told it is something the Czech's see regularly so we had the privilege to watch a new version.

I took a lot of great pictures in the day and then realised I would have to wait until London again to download them. So at night I pulled out my iPhone so I could upload some right away.

C.S. Lewis Quote

If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.

C.S. Lewis

Christmas in Coventry Garden, London

We Make Stuff

There is an innovative new project in Vancouver called WeMakeStuff. I was really surprised to be invited to be a part of it. My submission is based on my Saint Series that I am only just starting. It is a coffee table book featuring 100 innovators. The book launch is on October 30 which I will be in Vancouver for. Check it out below.

We Make Stuff Video

WeMakeStuff Volume 01 is a stunning book that will showcase one hundred artists and innovators from Vancouver exploring the collision of faith and creativity. It will be a historical document showcasing creative people expressing their process, intent and the tensions of their reality.

The one hundred are artists, innovators, inventors, engineers, architects, designers, film-makers, dancers, programmers, entrepreneurs, chefs and writers. For the first time, their collective voices are being recorded in one ground-breaking publication.

Late Night in the Studio and Brick Lane Bagels

It is another late night for me in my studio, but tonight while trying to keep warm in the unheated space I actually finish building my altar pieces. Thank goodness for that as the painting bit is going to take some time to complete.

The larger altar pieces are ready.

 

Above are the medium and small pieces each hand built by myself.

 

I accidentally give myself a stigmata with my screwdriver while working. Rather significant given I am painting saints, don't you think? 

I finish at 11pm. The tubes reach their last stops at about 1am so as long as I get on a tube by midnight I will make it home. I step on a double decker bus instead and head for Brick Lane.

Brick Lane is a small winding street that makes its way from Algate East Station to near Liverpool Station. A lot of artists live in this area and it is known for its curries, retro clothing shops and Indian fabric shops. It is heaving with Indian eateries that are still serving people.

 

A little further on I hit the night clubs and pub/outdoor grills. 

 

I forge on further down Brick Lane so aptly named after the brick cobbled streets. For the Olympics someone decided it should be paved despite protests from all the shop owners. And it was paved.

 

I reach what I am looking for: the famous 24 hour bagel shop. There is a winding queue inside. The bagels are made fresh in the back.

 

The place is packed. I get my £1 decadent cream cheese bagel. There is no need to think about Food Safe here because none is observed whatsoever. But whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

 

 I take a peek in the back where they are making bagels. They all invite me in to chat, take pictures and enthusiastically let me question them about their process. The weekends are their busiest times when they make about 2000 bagels a day. Whatever hour of the night or day I have come to this shop I have had to queue.

 

The process starts at the big mixer. Unfortunately there is nothing that gives reference in the photo to how big this mixer is. It is unusually wide and shallow and I could comfortably fit in it.

 

From there the dough gets cut into balls.

 

It is then fed into the rolling/donut shaping machine.

 

 You can see the dough going by in a blur. It rolled into a snake by the big metal paddle on the right which is then wrapped around the white round bit on the left to form the donut shape.

 

They then come out on the other end on a conveyer belt. These are stacked on wooden floured racks.

 

Next they are dumped into the boiling water and cooked for two minutes.  

 

In the draining sink beside the boiler the long wooden planks are laid out.

 

The boiled bagels are dumped out onto the boards and briefly hosed down to cool them off slightly or to stop them cooking perhaps.

 

The boards are then each slid length-wise into the deep oven and left there while the bagels bake on top. I am told this is a traditional Polish/Jewish method.

 

Once the top is a bit dry and crisp to the touch the boards are flipped over and removed while the bagels are left in the oven browning on the second side. To get all these bagels out a big piece of plywood is slid underneath them and pulled out.

 

There is a bit of tussle over how to pose for the photo and who is to be holding the tray. 

 

Okay, back up a little bit so I can get you both in.

 

Perfect. I am fed bagels in the back and given a bag of hot ones fresh out of the oven.

 

Then each tray is dumped into a big basket between the kitchen and the shop where the women out front cut them and fill them.

 

And finally the shop. 

At this point I look at my watch and it reads 12:15am. I say good bye and walk as fast as my expanding 3-bagel-belly will allow. As I approach the tube I notice a lot of other people walking very quickly there as well. But alas, there is an announcement that the last train has already departed from this station. It is now 12:35am. 

It is Night Bus time. London's Tube and day bus routes may shut down at night but you are never stranded. All through the night the night buses run. They run on different routes and times than the day ones. You can get places a lot faster at night on buses. From Trafalgar Square I can take Night Bus N87 all the way to my house in 30 minutes. This route just doesn't exist in the day and it actually takes longer on the tube. The buses seem to directly hook up all the outlying areas with the city centre. The roads are also quieter at this hour. 

I have two buses to catch as I am not quite in the city centre. I am standing in East London. The buses and streets are very busy despite the hour. The seats are all taken on the first bus and there are many people standing. London is a 24 hour city. 

I make it to my transfer bus depot and get on the N87. Somewhere along the line we pick up a group of inebriated friends. One vomits on the bus and we are all kicked off. All of us! The entire bus. Thankfully another bus comes shortly and I am home at 2:30am. Excellent! Another good day.

C. S. Lewis Quote

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

C. S. Lewis

Test 2

This time it will be dictated by the microphone. Not bad.

Testing

This is a test from a new device.