Gays and Guns and Roses...

And the story goes on...
Yesterday we had a good and funny lunch in Benidorm with my parents and other members of my family.
The same day as the Mayor was shot, I had dinner with my parents and I had spoken with my mother about the case. She was not as shocked as me, perhaps because she is older and wiser. She hadn´t even given the thing such an importance.

In the middle of the lunch the case came to mind again.
"By the way... do you know that the Mayor finally died?"
I asked her.
"Yes... and do you know why?"
"Well... There were some suspects at the beginning, a French couple and an English couple, all because of some property disputes around a new road...
"Nooooooo!.", corrected my mother, "the suspect French and English couples were not even there when it happened... no.... the Mayor´s wife, 5 years ago, after finding her husband in bed with a man, tried to commit suicide by throwing herself out of the window. She survived, but in a wheelchair, and they divorced. Now they say that it is only a story of jealous gays..."
I couldn´t believe my ears and almost choked on my food!
"How do YOU know that? from the TV?
"No... from Isabel..."
Isabel is my mother´s cleaning lady, an enormous 50 year old, local Spanish woman who always knows everything about everything.

As soon as I was home I made some research on the Internet and couldn´t find anything concerning Isabel´s theory. It seems that The Guardia Civil still hasnt´a clue what happened. But I wonder: if they had, would they say?

Now I don´t feel comfortable with my exhibition in memory of the Mayor, Not that i despise gays -I don´t care-, but a murder between jealous gays is surely not worth an exhibition of my work!

Anyway I don´t take any responsibility for the theory postulated in this entry!

Solo un recuerdo... Just a memory!

Just a memory... the title of a song written and composed by Kev Moore!
Solo un recuerdo, my first contribution to Kevin´s Music Career as we met: I translated "Just a memory" into Spanish... but this is another story, and he might tell it to you one day, and even sing the song to you then... in Spanish of course.

In honour to the dead mayor and its beautiful town Polop, I have totally changed the theme of the exhibition which I will mount on Friday in a local German Eye Clinic. (It´s not just for German eyes, it´s an eye clinic run by Germans)

I decided to exhibit landscapes from the region, of course some views of Polop itself, some of Altea, another beautiful town by the sea, a tourist centre but still with its own charm. A town of artists too... And some views of others villages in the mountains.
All painted in pastel and ink, the basic drawing in ink made in situ, and the colours -my colours, nothing real- having been added at home later.

I hope the doctors from the eye clinic do their job well and their clients will be able to see, that they feel compelled to take them home... at least as a souvenir from their wonderful time in the clinic...

Don´t´believe this exhibition is a commercial trick, it is not. i just feel the need "to exhibit my feelings" about the tragedy in my own way. All these paintings have neither been exhibited nor shown to anybody before. Just to you, 2 days ago, with the first sketch of Polop, and now today, this view of Altea Harbour.
This is not about selling paintings, it´s solo un recuerdo...

A Baby in a Rose

www.goodaboom.com


Planet Goodaboom, Tuesday 6th March 2007


I told you it was a successful day 2 days ago in the Street Gallery...but how successful, I didn´t even know myself at that moment! One of the clients who already bought a painting from me came today to my Gallery and bought a further three and a CD from Kevin (see his entry in his diary). It was wonderful to see how they hardly could decide which one they should buy, they loved so many... what a nice compliment for me! Above all because these people were the same who bought my miniature painting 2 weeks ago, saying that they have no place on their walls. They haven´t indeed, but they have children who still have space... I hope they will like the paintings their parents bought for them today!

I wanted above all to tell you about the old Spanish lady who bought a painting from me on Sunday. She is one of these women living in the countryside, and who normally never leave their villages in their lifetime. But some travel companies here organise cheap week-end trips to the coast for these old Spanish people and for most it is their first trip away. They accomodate them in some of the nice hotels by the beach –one of them, Kactus Hotel, is right at the corner of the Street Gallery- and organise there on the Sunday afternoon big sales of things like oriental carpets or modern kitchen appliances. These poor people get the trip cheap, but they then spend such a fortune buying all these extras! Anyway.. my old lady looked at the paintings and came to me, asking:
„Are these paintings signed by any well-known painter?“
I didn´t really understand what she meant. So I said:
„well, yes, they are all signed... the paintings are from me!“
„Yes, I can see they are signed! But I know exactly what I want!“
She sounded a little bit stressed... but whatever she wanted, and however she expressed it, I kept smiling and told her, that I am famous in the area. She was quite happy with that answer and asked me for the price.
„Which one?“
I asked.
She didn´t know. She just wanted a painting from a famous painter, I guess. As I told her the price of various ones, she looked very sad.
„Look, I have already spent too much money on the carpets... I have almost nothing left... and my husband loves paintings so much! It is for him...“
Finally she found a painting which she really loved. It was inspired by a photo from Anne Geddes, featuring a baby in a rose. In fact it was not for sale, it was just to give people ideas for personalised paintings.
But my old lady insisted so much that I gave her a price. Of course it was much too expensive, and normally I don´t let people negociate with me. But I felt some kind of sympathy for this woman. I never had that before but, after 4 rounds, and her leaving and returning each time, finally even showing me the bill for the carpets she had just bought, she succeeded in getting the painting from me for less than half of the price I had first said!
I wonder if her husband will really appreciate it, when she comes back home after having spent so much money. But she was very happy, and wanted me to make a photo of her, me and the baby in the Rose!

The Last of the Mohicans

www.goodaboom.com

Planet Goodaboom, Monday 26th February 2007

Yesterday, after 4 or 5 weeks pause, I exhibited again in the Street Gallery. Against my expectations based on former experiences with the local authorities, one week after my request for renewal of permission I received an official letter from the town hall, saying that they agree. Hurrah! It feels as though I have won a war!

I thought I had no chance, because in the meanwhile I am the only painter left exhibiting there, you might say: the last of the Mohicans.
Did I already tell you the story of the Street Gallery?
It started 3 years ago, from a collective painting exhibition organised by the local Lions Club. I met there a Spanish painter, Concha. We were both exasperated by the lack of exhibiting possibilities in our area, and had the idea to try to make the only pedestrian street of the city OURS, at least on Sundays, organising an exhibition of paintings from international painters there. It took three months till we got the permission – a perfect example of the „mañana“ principle-, and we only triumphed because Concha & me are the kind of people who take it to the wire until we get what we want! We were sent backwards and forwards through all the departments here, the culture centre, town hall, police, traffic, economy, simply because nobody really wanted to make the decison. It even became a political matter! But finally we got what we wanted!

Well... we were 7 at the beginning... 4 Spaniards, 1 German, 1 Swedish and the French Miki. Unfortunately it is very hard to work the street, and we had to face all kind of calamities like sudden storms, electrical shorts , sewage smells from the overworked drainage system, Dogs fouling path AND paintings! etc. But the worst were the critics: many people could not understand that professional painters like ourselves could „demean“ themselves by exhibiting their paintings in the street, and most of the time under very unfavourable conditions. They thought the street was the wrong „frame“ for our paintings, that it would totally diminish their value. So one after the other my painting companions deserted the Street Gallery. Just Concha and me were still there last Summer. Unfortunately, in the autumn, she gave up, too. I then wanted to stop myself because I found it too hard to stay there alone, and anyway it didn’t correspond at all to the original idea of having an international gathering of painters working in different styles and techniques. But in the last 3 years the Street Gallery had become quite well known in the area, people really enjoyed it, and they tried to convince me to go on. But it is only thanks to Kevin, who motivated and helped me so much all the time, that I am still there... and very happy about it!
As hard as it is, it is really the best way to reach the maximum number of people with my art, people coming from many different countries and social backgrounds and occupations. It is also the best place to observe the public reaction to my work.
In the meantime people no longer think it is a shame to exhibit in the street. I like to think of it as striking a blow against the collective prejudices...

And as if the gods wanted to reward us: it was a very successful day yesterday, I´ll tell you about it next time.
And the curtain fell on the Street Gallery with an astonishing sunset...

Sport for All

www.goodaboom.com

Art Studio, Sunday 14th January 2007


Tomorrow my new sports themed exhibition starts in Vera (Almeria). For this occasion, and with the intention of sharing the real exhibition with our visitors here, Goodaboom purchased a new, wonderful toy: a 3D Gallery ! I just hope you will be patient enough to wait till the end of the initialising, but if not, the paintings are available a to view online in a flat way!

To embed the 3D Gallery into Goodaboom was quite complicated, as the existing structures were not exactly compatible. In my fight to get it just right, I guess I have sent some webmasters of this world insane! But the hardest challenge has been for me to speak the welcome and a small message into the microphone, above all in English. I had never done that before in my life! The first trials were awful, as the moment I should start to speak I was convulsed with giggles. Each take ended in a riot of laughter, not only but also from my sound master. We had to give up. The next day, I was not in such a light mood and the recording was more simple, I needed a mere 3 trials. Kevin spent then a lot of time repairing the German „ist“ which I spoke instead of the English „is“. I didn´t care, but Kevin was categoric: NO!

Anyway: you can hear the result in the 3D Gallery. Thanks to Kevin´s wonderful music especially composed for this 3D exhibition, I may not sound too silly... But it is a strange feeling to know, that my voice can be heard around the whole world now!

As I normally have a good ability to represent movement in painting, I was asked some years ago to make a series about sport. I was quite successful with them. I exhibited twice, and then I put them in a folder and forgot them again. (as it happens to many of my paintings!). We were thinking of a theme for the new exhibition In Almeria, and Kevin thought they would be ideal for that.

There is a nice anecdote to the football painting: when the paintings were exhibited earlier in a restaurant here. One day a seven year old spanish boy came into the restaurant and said, that he wanted to buy the footbal painting. He had come before with his parents and stood a long time in front of it, instead of eating, the owners told me. They asked the boy if he had money, He smiled, opened his hand and showed... a 1000 ptas note (about 6 euros). They told him it was not enough.
„But I have no more!“
he shouted, quite sure that this was the right argument. But well, the business world is hard and he had to leave with empty hands... and tears in his eyes!

As I heard the story some days later, I became very angry with the restaurant owners.
„You should have called me!“
Honestly: I would have sold the painting to the little boy at this price... just hoping that it was not a trick from his parents!