Christmas Tunes

A general day of working on the Electric Sprout album project.

Well overdue singing practice, then started work on the 'Heaven's Day' song, but I don't think this will be my final track, perhaps a B-Side for a single release. The 'Winter's Heart' song is a quiet ballad in the style of an early Kate Bush song, but I've looked back at some of the other songs I wrote for the 2023 album, and thought about working on one of those. Two were not used. My first thought was 'Will You be My Snowflake', a fun song like The Beatles at their most jovial, but instead remembered 'You're My Candy Cane', a catchy pop song, which (in my head) has the production and energy of a cross between 'She's On The Phone' by Saint Etienne, and 'I Think We're Alone Now' by Tiffany. It's a light and silly song, erring dangerously towards Abba, yet, perhaps this is is an acceptable mood for a Christmas song or party classic, a type which I rarely try to pen. The best writer of music in the world will compose for and master every genre.

Tonight is Deb's poetry book launch. I've prepared for that, liaised a little with the charity, Stapeley Grange, and other small jobs about this and Morecambe. Not much can or will be done until I return from there. After that, my priorities will be scanning paintings and entering the Castle Park Open, then creating a music video for 'All Controlled By Someone'.

Chester, Event Preparations, Heaven's Day

A day in Chester on Saturday, collecting the 'She Was Always Asleep' painting from the museum exhibition, plus an always happy, stimulating, and energetic meeting with the sublime miniaturist David Lawton.

Lots of smaller jobs over the past couple of days. We've had confirmation of the times and arrangements for our Morecambe performance, so created a poster and sent out messages about that, Deb's two poetry book launch events, and an update on the Christmas album. I wrote another simple Christmas song for it on Saturday night. It's a slow, dream-like piece that nobody would choose for a Christmas playlist, yet, it has lots of atmosphere and beauty. I've recorded some backing already, it requires a live, very emotion-centred performance. Here are the words so far:

Heaven's Day

I saw you standing
Among the traffic
Like a bird
On the swell of sea

Snow was floating
Your red bags full
With gifts
For someone like me

But not me
For I was flying
Through wet clouds high
And the sun's rake of heaven's day
As from you I flew away
From you I flew away

Yesterday and today we've rehearsed our Morecambe set. I've also done some test cuts with the router, how I love this tool! I'm almost ready to make mine and Deb's shelves, but B & Q are out of stock of the required stripwood. Painting is now over the for the season, I'll be too busy until the end of the year with music, music videos and these events to fit any painting in, I imagine.

Prayer For Order

Prayer for Order

Life is about order, organisation, neatness, cleanliness
Order makes us resilient
More organised forms are more resilient to crises
Stability should proliferate its stability

Information should be preserved
Archives should be maintained
To preserve accuracy and efficiency of storage
Efficiency of recall

Life seeks to organise chaotic elements
Life stores information in stable structures
Life endures attack so that ordered elements survive and proliferate
Life endures attack so that choatic elements are destroyed

Truth is more stable than lies
Truth is that which is proven to be true
By trial, by enduring
By surviving a challenge

Small Jobs

A million small jobs today.

Created a new poster for Deborah's second poetry book launch:

Fitted the new strip light; it was a dream to do, the connectors were push-in. Photographed the 1M Corn Dolly and added it to my website. Finalised the risk assessment for the Electric Sprout album cover creation day, this will be on October 29th in Crewe Market Hall. I checked the leads for the MODX for the Morecambe Poetry Festival event. We now know it will be at The King's Arms at 9pm on Sep 11th. We were advised to being long enough leads. I have one 3M lead, on 6M and connectors to join the two; so we have a 10M limit!

I researched routing, for my shelves. This might be useful, though difficult, as at least 8 very precise grooves would need to be cut. I made a foot pedal holder for my custom piano bench, so now the new M-Audio pedal is held still in the correct place. I copied over the new waves for the new performance, and packed for Chester tomorrow, and checked train times, lest we travel that way.

I typed up lyrics for Christmas song number 5, but won't be recording this one (Three Two One, Bounce My Sprouts) any time soon.

And more, including research on Okapi, Nostoc Communes and cellular fission...

Refuge Day 3

Final underpainting day of 'Can There Be A Refuge From Terror?'. Lots of detail here, so glazing should be limited. A painting of this complexity would have taken me 6 or 7 days a few years ago. Alas, my busy schedule for the next 12 months will limit my time to paint (as well as the lack of any actual incentive bar the glory of art; though that was good enough for dear old Vermeer, though he did have one patron).

Two other jobs done this evening, more to charge into.

Can There Be A Refuge Day 2, Electric Spouts, Plate Spinning

A full day. First, painting the angel figure and hands, bone hands, small teeth, red mouth, butterfly, and heaven insert of the Refuge painting. In the evening, some quick work on the Electric Spout project with another artist coming on board, and contacting the amazing Carol at Creative Crewe with regard to a public cover creation day. Our small part in the Morecambe Poetry Festival opening is confirmed, so we need to work on some publicity for that, and Deborah now has two dates for her poetry book launch and readings (which need posters). So, a day of spinning four plates.

Of course, I am spinning more at the moment. 'All Controlled By Someone' is released on the 26th, and the album on Oct 31st, so I need to make 13 music videos in 6 weeks, and I have three songs to rehearse for John Lindley's charity performance event too. I must list this! I also have a painting to collect from Chester Museum soon, and three to enter into Castle Park; plus 3 wall cabinets to build (design work complete), a ceiling light to fit in the storage room, and new camera pedestals to design and build for my art photography rig. These are not urgent.

It will take at least one more day of work to complete my current underpainting. Onwards we charge.

Can There Be A Refuge Day 1

First day of underpainting 'Can There Be A Refuge From The Terror?'. Why do I paint these complex mixes of objects? They can be tedious and awkward to paint or paint around. I have a butterfly which defies perspective, so it must be symbolic. Also, more work on Sprout 2. If I include myself and Deb, we have 5 confirmed/interested artists.

Backups, DIY Plans, Sprouts Assemble

A productive day. Monthly backups completed, then designed some CD and box shelves for me room, and some for Deborah. All would use two large sheets of MDF, so it's optimal to design and build all three structures at once. Much was planned here, and I realised I needed a new, 80mm long, 2mm drill bit for precision drilling pilot holes for the 6mm shelves, so I ordered these.

In the afternoon I made soem initial enquiries about a new charity Christmas album, a sequel to the 2023 Electric Sprout Foundation project. No replies as yet.

Then, collected a second M-Audio expression pedal. The keyboard has two pedal inputs, one for volume, one for super-knob, so I thought two wouldn't hurt, and it would give me the chance to see if a second pedal would also range 0 to 125 rather than 0 to 127 as it should. Alas, it does also range 0 to 125, and requires, ideally that it remains at maximum at all time, so if connected I'd really have to keep it at the annoying 98.5% of maximum at most. Well, at a mere £11.50, I don't regret the experiment, and it's good to have a backup, so I'll disconnect it, and keep it as a backup.

New new album requires a new song and time spent organising, and I have paintings to complete, Morecambe to attend and perform at, and a music video to make this month alone. I must work and rest efficiently to manage this. I've decided to enter the, as yet unseen, Descartes painting into the Castle Park Open, so I'll need to frame this month, as well as frame and photograph the other two entries. Ideally I would upgrade my photography stands too... I must observe and note wood and bracket options when I visit B & Q.