January photographs.

 All artwork and photos copyright ian g craig.

Bridges over the River Trent, Nottingham.

 Top to bottom: Wilford Toll Bridge, Wilford Suspension Bridge, Trent Bridge, and Lady Bay Bridge.

All artwork copyright ian gordon craig.

More lockdown sketches.

 Above: Forest Fields, Nottingham, where I was tested for Covid and received my 1st vaccination.

All text, pros, poetry & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

 

Photography during the Covid epidemic.

 Above: Lockdown car park, Carrington, Nottingham.

 Above: Photographs from my early morning walks around the neighbourhood. 

All photography copyright ian gordon craig.

Sunrise, sunset.

 

As viewed from my bedroom window. Same view at sunrise and sunset.

All text, pros, poetry, photos & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Christmas is coming!

 

See the video made on this night of carol singing on THIS LINK.

Alternative Nottingham 2.

 

Above: Both Nottingham Arboretum and the pubs along Mansfield Road seem far less inviting to me than they did a few years ago.

Above: On the day I collected resources for these works the Market Square was filled with people staring fixedly at their smart phones, as profuse in number as the pigeons.

Above: The coal mines, Robin Hoods Tree, Nottingham Forest, Crusaders, Raleigh bicycles, the factories. All make reference to Nottingham's past history.

All artworks copyright Ian G Craig.

Alternative Nottingham. Left Lion, Right Lion.

 

For people who actually live in Nottingham the two lions situated either side of the Council House steps are perhaps the most well know landmarks in the city. “Meet me by the left lion” was a popular phrase when arranging dates. Maybe it still is.

The old market square is now a barren, ugly site most days. Depending on your point of view.

All text, pros, poetry, photos & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Drawing & Deer, Victoria Embankment, Nottingham.

 

Warm enough today to go sit beside the River Trent for some sketching. It proved eventful. I had no idea there are actual deer living in the City of Nottingham. Couldn’t believe my eyes until I got home and checked with the internet. Got in touch with Nottingham Wildlife, via Twitter. Then at their request filled out the following report:

Species:
Small deer. Looked like a Muntjac.

Date:
19th April, 2018. c.11.30a.m.

OS grid reference:

SK570381
Latitude: 52.937889 / Longitude: -1.1529979

Location name:
Victoria Embankment, NG2 2JS

How identified:
I was sat sketching on Victoria Embankment, about 80m east of Wilford Toll Bridge. The animal suddenly sprang from (or dashed through) a cluster of Daffodils behind me and ran at great speed, heading west, down to the riverside steps, dashing under the bridge and, keeping to the steps parallel to Riverside Way, didn't drop the pace until it was soon out of sight beyond the bend. I identified it as a small deer from the way it ran. (I grew up in Thoresby Park). The short legs looked very much like the pictures of a Muntjac. It was certainly not a dog or a cat.

How many did you see?
One.

All text & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Something for nothing.

 

I got a request today which had a familiar tone. They are not uncommon:

“I found a picture of your painting on the internet and wondered how much you charge for one of your paintings? I think it would look nice framed on one of the walls in the pub”. (The Bell Inn Nottingham).

I know the establishment well, it being a one time favoured haunt of mine. I asked which painting it was they were enquiring about, there being several studies of that building in my portfolio. The one they wanted (above) is a sketchbook piece, probably destined to obscurity in my studio drawer. So, I tell them they can have the painting itself for free, but I will get it framed (not wanting it just pinned on the wall). To this end I got a reasonable quote from a framer of just £28, and inform the Inn that if they are willing to pay that, I will personally deliver the finished item it to them.

That is, of course, the point where silence always descends.


 All text & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Nottingham.

 
Nottingham.

Nottingham,
Did your undiagnosed industrial tumour
Cause the cancerous death of the Sherwood?
The ghost shells of your factories are still beautiful
As the hollow husks of ancient oaks to me.

Nottingham,
Did you pave old market square for the price of a hospital?
The overfed footless pigeons now have no place to laze.
The flowers have no beds on which to rest homeless heads.
Council step cool kids are expelled and moved away.

Nottingham,
Your chemistry Boots Were Made for Walking,
And that’s just what they did,
But lose no sleep over deceased Players, Please.
It kept the job figures up, and the population down.

Nottingham,
Was Mansfield Bitter during our four year separation?
After-hours’ puddles of forty percent proof piss
Now converge where intoxicated pigeons dance the Bolero,
And Home Ales are never home when I knock.

Nottingham,
Your pub house musicians are made to play for free.
Strumming mostly 4 x 4 time, they know nothing of picket lines.
Alan-A-Dale hangs his head in shame.
Jake escaped.

Nottingham,
Are you still Lonely as a Long Distance Runner?
Meet me tonight by the Left Lion.
Wear something red. But don’t mention Liverpool.
I did, but I think I got away with it.

Nottingham,
I missed you, I doubt you missed me.
I came back to teach your children, but can’t reach them anymore.
Their student accommodation skyline blocks the view
Of their life in the clouds.

Nottingham,
Did no one Raleigh ‘round when your bicycles were taken?
I went to the factory but found only supermart specials.
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, they all taste the same,
And two for one lunch time deals won’t carry me as far.

Nottingham,
I have traced the footsteps of your patron saint outlaw,
Placed an armistice poppy on an ancient Scarlet grave,
Once persuaded Chatterley’s daughters
To disrobe of your Lace.

Nottingham,
I now hear the skeletal hooves of abandoned pit ponies
Still roaming the haunted mine shafts below
Retro-brick alleys and sandstone made caves,
Looking for a way out.

Nottingham
I am here for life.

All text copyright ian g craig.

 An updated version of this poem would be published in my book "46 Contemporary Poems".

Inside and out.

Still on my observational drawing kick, both inside the house and outdoors. Never much cared for charcoal in the past, but these hard grade charcoal pencils are impressive.

All text, pros, poetry & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Drawing August 2.

Twitter's art theme / challenge comes round again. Last year I think I was into coloured pencils. This year I'm into pound shop gel pens. In a big way.

 

All text, pros, poetry & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Nottingham Musicians.

 During recent years depicting musicians performing live in various Nottingham venues was a recurring theme in my work. Suffice to say I didn’t paint any subject whose performance I didn’t enjoy. 

Spending the early 70’s in Liverpool it was commonplace for me to see rock bands and beat poets sharing the same billing, as the preceding decade’s Mersey Beat morphed into the Liverpool Scene. It was a city where the Arts informed everyone’s way of thinking, assisted in no small measure by its Irish and West Indian links. Simultaneous to this, the steel works of Birmingham were forging sixties beat music into Heavy Metal whilst, before decade’s end, disillusioned youth in London gave vent to Punk.

By stark contrast, whenever I came home to Nottingham during the 70s, one’s social life was very much about Night Clubs. No wonder then that our city’s greatest claim to musical fame became Paper Lace of “Billy, Don’t be a Hero”. Such show bands thrived and made a good living on the chicken-in-a-basket circuit of Tiffany’s and Working Men’s Clubs across the Midlands. Punk and post-Punk bands were all happening elsewhere. We got the ones still in flared trousers with feather-cut hair.

Happily, today one can see any number of fine musicians in Nottingham, often in pubs utilizing their (usually unpaid) talents as a prop against the recession’s diminishing customer count. Listening to Nottingham bands today one is more conscious of the content of their individual record collections than any communally shared musical agenda, but that is more a comment on the city than the artist themselves. “Madchester” was never going to happen here.

Johnny Johnston Quartet at the Bell Inn:

Trad Jazz was never a favourite of mine, but the Johnny Johnston Quartet at the Bell Inn were always superb entertainment. The first band I ever thought of painting, it established at the outset how I would proceed with future similar subjects. Sketchbooks in the dark were almost impractical, but I could watch closely to memorize typical poses and expressions, and take small cell phone type snapshots, without flash, to cut up, arrange, and work from back in the studio. The background here is an impression of sound rather than an imitation of the interior.

Pictured are Johnny Johnston (left), sadly now deceased, and Brian Bocel. The band were amused and excited to see the final piece, and I enjoyed sharing it with them. The manager of the Bell Inn asked if he might put a copy on display. Fine. But I had not envisaged it would be reduced to sepia tones and pinned next to the gent’s toilet. The painting was more successfully exhibited in the Thoresby Open Exhibition of 2012.

Stuck in 2nd at the Jam Café:

The Jam Café Nottingham, functions as both licenced coffee bar, and live music venue. Pictured here are reggae band Stuck In 2nd. I remember the lighting on that occasion was particularly dark, so more than ever I relied on a liberal use of shadows to disguise my lack of information, and think some of the final painting a little too static. But I was happy with the way I captured the movement of the conga player on the left, his entire body swaying and playing the instrument. If you can play an instrument yourself (I can manage about four chords), it helps when trying to convey rhythm pictorially, or having to make up small details in the final piece.

Will Jeffery at the Malt Cross Inn:

As readers will know from previous posts, the Malt Cross Inn was a music hall in eras gone by, and the small stage is still used today to present live entertainers. What obviously caught my attention in this scene was the very dramatic lighting from the spotlights, making pools of light on the stage and casting large shadows on the wall behind. An opportunity to paint an upright bass in such a setting was not to be missed. Never successfully exhibited publicly, this one remains my personal favourite.

Jonathan Beckett at the Guitar Bar, Hotel Deux:
 

 When Jonathan Becket performed a retrospective of his songs at the Guitar Bar I was especially taken by one called “The Midlands”, a recurring theme in my own work. Once again I returned to my studio with some very hazy snapshots from which I could produce a “likeness” of the two musicians involved, working from blow ups on the computer screen as if they were seated before me. But this time I created a background based on images associated with the Midlands. One can see references to miners, Sherwood Forest, and factory building skylines. The painting was successfully exhibited in the Patchings Open Exhibition of 2012.

Rosie Abbott, singer songwriter:

 Between 2006 and 2010 I made a series of music promos for Rosie Abbott. This portrait came from an image made during one of those video shoots. Rather than depict a public performance, I wanted to convey more of the creative spirit of the songwriter. The painting was successfully exhibited in the Patchings Open Exhibition of 2011.

Thee Eviltones at The Maze:

 My last musician painting to date. The Maze is an especially dark venue, and certainly one of Nottingham’s most popular. Once again it was a matter of crawling about below audience eye level, not distracting from their entertainment with an intrusive flash, taking small snapshots. Back in the studio I chose and arranged what seemed like a typical “pose” for each band member. I knew I wanted a dynamic setting for such a high energy band. The solution was inspired quite simply by the band’s striped t-shirts. If it was such an important motif to them that they each wore one, then it was important enough to incorporate in the painting.

All text, pros, poetry & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

The Malt Cross Inn, Nottingham.

 

It was more by chance than design that I started making so many sketches of the Malt Cross Inn, Nottingham. This was where my ever-present sketchbook met with other creative spirits as a good place to meet and chat.

The daylight as it streams through that antique arched glass roof, to then sweep steadily across the room as the hours go by, creates a visual effect akin to being inside a huge sun dial. Or, if you’re on your third pint, maybe a kaleidoscope. The atmosphere is an interesting juxtaposition of contemporary events, against a respectfully tended backdrop of red and green 19th century music hall ironwork. The harmonious result offers sanctuary to those of us not particularly enamoured with the garish multimedia lights and fast fry delights of menus elsewhere in town. If I want to look at a TV screen I’ll stay home.

It’s impossible to do justice to the Malt Cross in a photograph. There’s too much visual information for the lens to digest. One needs to edit. Are my sketches any more successful? A little.

Some of my sketches come from the times I sat here engaged in half sober conversations imagining we were perhaps the Ginsbergs at the San Remo, the Dylans at the Café Wha?, or even the Lennons and the Henris at Ye Cracke. Until we sobered up and had to accept we were not.

Malt Cross Inn has much in common with other favoured subjects in my portfolio: A dramatically lit scenario where history still lingers in the shadows.


All text, pros, & artwork, copyright Ian Gordon Craig.

Above: A later piece from 2018.