Of course I was joking about Sandro Botticelli

#Letter365 No321 goes in the post box
No321 gets posted

Anyone who knows me would know that I would never put a work by Sandro Botticelli in one of my envelopes. There are many reasons for this:

  1. This is a project where I create a new artwork each day and put it in an envelope. If there was a work by Botticelli in there it would either just be as packing or I would have had to alter it in someway to make it my work.
  2. It is unlikely that any extant work by Botticelli would fit into an envelope this size without damaging it or cutting a piece out.
  3. I do not own any works by Botticelli
  4. If I did own any works by Botticelli you would already know about it, be able to find out if it were true and verify that it was a genuine piece. That assumes, of course, I am not in possession of a stolen work: if I were I would hardly draw attention to the fact by publicly announcing it.
  5. If I had a Botticelli I would not part with it except for large sums of money.
  6. I would never subject a Botticelli to the risk that it could end up on the bonfire with all the other unsold pieces – though if a Velazquez or a Rubens…..

So now you know, there is no Botticelli in today’s envelope and the odds on it being a Velazquez are not much better!

What art does a rainy day engender?

#Letter365 No320 goes in the post box
No320 gets posted in the rain

We have had quite a bit of rain this afternoon and evening and what is engendered in me is a worry about the possibility of leaks at the studio. All was fine when I left but the wind has got up a bit.

As to what art might be engendered by a fair splashing of precipitation the obvious might be a watercolour of umbrellas. If you know anything about me you would have to say the subject is an unlikely one but then this is a funny old project and anything can happen. I can tell you for certain that there is not a genuine Botticelli painting inside. I might make a collage from images of old masters and pop it in an envelope with a message like today’s.

It’s cold at my studio but I am told that is good!

#Letter365 No318 goes in the box
No318 gets posted

I had a doubt if I would be able to stick it out at the studio for long enough to do today’s piece and, as I noted on the envelope, I was prepared to bring my materials home and do it here. As it turned out I was inspired to create a piece to send to an artist creating a collaborative installation at the Thelma Hulbert Gallery which I was alerted to today by Paula Youens. The deadline is Tuesday so I needed to get it in the post. So I donned my thermal merino wool base layer and thermal sweater and went to the studio where I drew the infrared heater closer and kept on my coat and merino wool hat and was delighted that I didn’t need my fingerless gloves on! i was also delighted with the two pieces I created, especially the one for #Letter365. It went exactly to plan and worked out exceedingly well though it bears no resemblance to Mr Kipling cakes.

In a conversation I had last Friday with two artists it was suggested that having a studio that is not too warm and comfortable can help to keep you from getting to comfortable about your work. It was suggested that it can be a spur to creativity and keeping the flow of new ideas. I’m not dismissing the notion but as I am never short of ideas I’ll happily sacrifice some for an equable ambient temperature in the studio!

News just in: snail mail snail seen on the cycle way

The snail mail snail
This snail mail snail was seen on the cycle way between Bradpole and Bridport

A report has come in that a giant banded snail mail snail, Helix preposterous, was seen yesterday on the cycleway near the Coop heading towards Bridport. Just such a snail was last seen on the 12th October 2014 collecting #Letter365 No220 for delivery. Has the snail still got the piece? Has it eaten it? Will it get to Bridport Arts Centre in time? Is it indeed the same creature? Only time will tell!

It all worked out well in the end apart from the stamp!

#Letter365 No316 goes in the box
No316 gets posted near to time!

I have been busy all day, much of it on #Letter365 business and I hadn’t the chance to do my piece earlier. This evening we went to the private view of the new show “Theatre of the Soul” at the Bridport Arts Centre and then off for a meal with some new friends. I never really had a major concern that it would come good but I admit to a minor concern especially as it took longer than anticipated to create the envelope. In the end it worked out better than I ever could have hoped. I had to drop the idea I originally had  as I knew I could never complete it on time. A chance find (I am always open to serendipity) added a structural element and a reference to modern art and my response to that particular subject.

Sadly, in my haste to make sure it got posted before midnight I forgot the stamp. I forgot the stamp partly because I had forgotten/had no time to buy any first class stamps today. i had intended to use a second class stamp and annotate it with something like “second class post but still first class art”. I forgot that too. So something had to give in my haste but I trust the artwork didn’t suffer.

Art on the move

The envelope of #Letter365 No315
The envelope of No315

As it turned out I didn’t begin to make my piece today until I got on the train at Waterloo and although I was settled in well before the train set off, it was inevitable I couldn’t complete the task before we got going. So its creation spanned distance as well as time. That was actually important to the idea which related both to childhood train travel (most memorably in Scotland) and to the history of abstract art.

However I had forgotten to buy any stamps this morning so ended up delivering it by hand when i popped into Bridport to get a takeaway. This proved more complicated than I thought. First because the Thai restaurant I had chosen was closed for a couple of weeks! Then when I got to the Arts Centre there was a film in progress so I couldn’t get in and had to put it through the letterbox, quietly untaping it first where it had been secured to stop it flapping in the strong winds.

No315 at the Arts Centre letterbox
No315 at the Arts Centre letterbox

I’ve told you what is inside!

#Letter365 No313 gets posted
No313 goes in the box

Well you or I never expected that, but there again I could be lying! This is what I have written on the envelope:

Message about the contents of No313
Message about the contents of No313

I had hoped to expand on last night’s mullings on conceptual art but I have wasted much of my day in preventing hackers from getting into some websites I look after and I need to get ready for bed as I’m going to London for a couple of days.

The thing is, assuming I have done what I have said on the outside, nobody will be able to know what is what. If I have done what I claim I have actually complicated it further as the pieces of paper, if that is what there is inside, are not identical but have been marked so that it would be possible to make an assessment as to which is actually the artwork – only I have already forgotten which is which!

A have also forgotten the last bit of this post which I had written but got lost when I got logged out when the session expired. Oh well.