Farewell to George

It's rare that I will stray into politics on this blog, as we all have our own ideas and opinions. However I couldn't let this day go by without saying 'Farewell' to George Bush, who has for the last eight years entertained us with his malapropisms, or 'Bushisms' as they became known.

"And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

"They misunderestimated me." --Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000

"I'm not really the type to wander off and sit down and go through deep wrestling with my soul." --George W. Bush, as quoted in Vanity Fair, October 2000

So farewell George, looks like maybe Obama has been left holding the baby.

The Rover P4

Here's a painting that I did a few years back. The car shown is a British Rover model P4.
The Rover P4 was designed post war as a comfortable, and some would say luxurious family saloon. The model range was designated 75 through to 110, those figures relating to the engine size and power.

The 75 models had an economical four cylinder engine while the larger 90's had an in-line six. The car had rear opening 'suicide' doors, a plush interior of walnut and sumptuous leather, and an engine so smooth and quiet that at standstill the driver could be forgiven for thinking that the car had stalled! On my one and only drive of this model I had to keep checking the gear lever when stopped at traffic lights, feeling for the slight tingle of movement to let me know the motor was still running!

Of course this luxury came at a price and the Rover was bought in the main by Professionals, Doctors, company managers or similar status. To have a Rover P4 was to know that you had done well in life!

As the 1960's dawned and some cars were now 10 years old or so, many filtered down into the hands of those that could never afford them new, and thus continued in daily service. These cars could still be seen unrestored, and in daily use well into the 1980's which is a testament to their toughness, reliability, and build quality.

The saddest time for me personally was perhaps the late 1970's when these cars were deemed 'old fashioned' and therefore unfashionable to the hip and trendy 70's man. So many good examples were sold for next to nothing as their value plummeted, and they were eagerly bought up by the 'Banger racing' crowd who happily destroyed them in their thousands. The very qualities that made them such a quality saloon car, the toughness, 'built like a tank' build quality, and reliability, were eventually to be the reason that so many were destroyed in Banger racing.

The photograph below has nothing at all to do with Rover P4's...I was just struck by the similarity of composition between it and my painting!

Robert laDuke

This is the second in a series of posts in which I highlight some of my favourite living artists. Today I'm pleased to feature the work of Robert LaDuke.

I guess it's no surprise that anyone whose work so often features those old 'Jellymould' shaped cars would instantly appeal to me, after all I'm a sucker for the shape, style and pure nostalgia value of those old cars. But with Robert LaDukes work there is another element - the sense that 'Something's about to happen' permeates much of his output.

They also manage to convey man's spirit of adventure, something that is being increasingly stifled in today's world of 'health and safety'. In the painting below an aeroplane flies so dangerously close to the bridge...is he racing that car? Will he fly a loop under the bridge next? Will he crash?

So much of what Robert paints using his beautifully clear and bright colours has the ability to amuse, intrigue, and at the very least simply make us smile that it is hard not to like them.
The paintings also evoke a time when the world was a much simpler place, and the individual risking his all in pursuit of his goal was not something to be frowned upon as it would be today.

My interpretation of Roberts works is that they are a celebration of man's achievements, his quirks, and his folly's. Painted with never less than true affection, as seen through the eyes of an amused bystander in an idyllic past.

'Jam Handy' internet archive.

For those of us that remember the 'B' movies that were shown with the main feature at cinemas right up until the eighties might like to take a look at the Internet film archive.

Back in the heyday of those old 'Jellymould jalopies' that so often feature on these pages there was a film company known as the 'Jam handy' organisation, producing public information films, car ads, and features aimed at the modern American consumer.
The public were invited to 'See the USA in your Chevrolet', or to experience the new automatic transmission in the Oldsmobile 'New for '49' Futuramic range.







These are a few still from some of the thousands of available short features, all of which contain glimpses into a world of 1950's optimism. One thing that does hit the viewer is how beautiful these cars were in their day, and it should certainly makes one reflect on the potential of the next old jalopy that you might see parked up and forgotten someplace!

The features are free to download, and in various qualities depending on the speed of your connection. I think that downloaded and transferred to DVD (there are no copyright issues the films are public domain) they would make excellent viewing one afternoon when Mrs Nail is out shopping!

More 'Cars in Snow'

Here in the UK we have just experienced the coldest winter for ten years according to the newspapers. It certainly has been frosty, with mostly sub zero temperatures reminding me of they type of winters we used to have many years ago.

The paintings in this post show a collection of small 7" x 5" sketches that I did a while back on the subject of old cars in snow. They are mainly done from childhood memories and my intention was to work them up into fully finished paintings sometime later. The painting above shows a 'Standard Ten' model built by the Standard/Triumph factory between 1954-ish to 1959, I don't recall exactly.

In the painting the driver has had to pull over as the temperature gauge has rocketed skywards. This was a common thing in those days and happened as the bottom of the radiator froze and then prevented the proper circulation of the coolant. The cure (and something you never see today) was to blank off part of the grille using Aluminium foil thus reducing the flow of freezing air to the radiator. When walking to school on those cold foggy winter mornings in the early '60's I saw this scene many times.

The car above is the 1953 - 59 Ford Popular, seen in a typical street scene of the 1950's/60's.
I mentioned the popular in an earlier post but it's a car I'll come back to over and over again!

The car featured below is the upmarket Rover 3.5 V-8, not usually a car seen abandoned as this one was, but made for a good sketch.

Finally, here's a shot of four of the six small sketches in this series. Of them all only one was ever made into a fully worked up oil painting, the sketches themselves were sold on ebay for $20.00 each!

RUSTFEST! Do you recognise any of these?

I though it time for an over exposure to rusty metal! :-)

Night, reflections, and snow.

I am often asked as a painter "What is it that you like to paint?"

Well the answer to that question for me is easy - Light effects. Fleeting light effects, reflections on wet roads, or nocturnally lit scenes are my favourite subjects, and as my interest is primarily for old automobiles then they have to be included too!

The painting above is of the type of bus I used to catch on my way to school, the street, and the weather is typical of the area of Lancashire, England in which I grew up. When painting this one I could still remember how good it felt to climb aboard that bus and feel the warmth of the heater on a cold and rainy morning!

The bus fare in those days was 'tuppence' (two-pence) and was collected by a conductor on board, the driver sat in a separate cabin and just drove, less distractions for him that way. I recall the gearbox whine almost drowned out the conversation on board, and the engine had a familiar lazy thrum.
The bus lights, reflections on the wet cobbles, and hazy moon filtering through the drizzle are exactly as I remember the scene almost fifty years ago!


Another subject that I enjoy painting is snow. The variation of colours combined with the lights from those lovely old cars make this a genre I keep returning to. The above painting I did around three years ago as a sketch for a bigger, finished painting. It shows a 1959 Vauxhall Cresta waiting to turn right at a junction.
The '59 Cresta was chosen for this painting because it had those big oval tail lights and the indicators (turn signals) on the wing fin, very seductive to paint lit up!