When your legal advice says....

Because of this legal soap opera that I currently find myself in, it's been decided to change to a better solicitor than the current one. Not that there's anything wrong with the current one, its just that the new one specialises in conveyancing problems. They are used to dealing with the sort of problem that I currently have - where the Land Registry says that various parcels of land within the boundary of my garden, don't belong in my name. But it did when I bought it, twenty years ago, so why doesn't it NOWWWWW???!!!

This is what we're trying to sort out. This is what is holding up me buying the house I want. The house, where I can be an artist, properly.

So, today I went to see the new solicitor in his offices up in South Yorkshire.
They're noted for being blunt in Yorkshire.

I don't mind blunt.

But, I must admit to being greatly amused by his comments that included the phrases "cock up" "balls up" and "The Land Registry are being anal" - because that is exactly how I think of it! A fucking mess!!!!

The meeting started at 3pm and went on til almost 5. It was a good meeting, a long one, but we got a lot done. We looked at maps. aerial photos, and discussed boundaries of the land and how established they were. We all felt that we were on the same wave length and talked of how long it would take to sort it out. A few weeks, hopefully.

Then I can buy the house I want. All being well.

But, just to add to the legal soap opera ..... I was informed this evening, that all the solicitors were in place this afternoon to exchange contracts on the properties in the chain.

All of them. Except one.

He was in a meeting.

In his offices, in South Yorkshire. Between 3 and 5. And he couldn't be contacted.

So the contracts weren't exchanged.........

And guess who he was with............................................

Whoops......................

Northern lights and frozen fingers

I feel refreshed. And hopefully, refreshing! :)

The reason? The weather, in part, and the stunning sights of North Yorkshire, the other part!

Bloody hell, its been windy this past week in Yorkshire. Windy enough to blow ALL the cobwebs away, for the seabirds to be flying backwards and for a short walk along the beach to be considered a daring feat that takes you 20 minutes to walk in one direction and five minutes to walk back, with the wind pushing you! It's been what I call a lazy wind - too lazy to go around you, it goes straight through!!!! Even with many layers, thick padded jacket, scarf and gloves!!!! But.... it was sunny too, so that was a real bonus, and meant that I could get some excellent photos. Because photos don't show the cold, just the scene.

I've been to Yorkshire before, but not the North Yorkshire coast, so was enthralled with the thought of going. Because, I know sooooooo many artists who have been to a certain part of it.... and stood in a certain place.... and taken photos of what they can see.............. and produced some stunning paintings of it........... and I wanted to go too!!!! I wanted to see what they had seen. And fulfil myself as an artist, so that the next time someone showed me a painting they had done of that place, I could nod and say "Yes, I've been there too!". And I think as an artist, that's important. I don't take holidays that entail lying on a beach gaining a suntan and reading a good book, I count my "holidays" as working breaks, going to places that I can learn some more to help me expand as an artist. Whether its to see artistic sights, or going to a place of learning with lots of good art galleries. And Yorkshire was no exception..............

Achingly beautiful countryside, very pretty in the early spring light, spring lambs frolicking around their mothers, short dull green grass, dry stone walls, bright yellow daffodils nodding gently in the breeze (or wind!) watery sunlight on bare bark, the branches of winter trees silhouetted against the deep blue of a clear sky, chocolate box stone cottages with finely manicured gardens, the purple of aubretia a blaze of colour against the walls, achingly beautiful village streams shining in the bright sunshine, as they flow continuously next to the main street, the hills rolling on, the barren moors awesome in their majestic beauty, the purple clouds high above, the heather a dead dull brown at this time of year, the gorse a blaze of yellow against the far hills, the deep valleys in shadow, and in the distance the blue of the sea stretching out to the horizon, as you draw closer and follow the rise and fall of the land, from cliff to perfectly flat sandy beach, rocks and rockpools of fossilised stone, and the sea full of white caps from the wind, the white foam pouring endlessly onto the beach, as the wind catches the ripples it makes and textures it in frantic pattern, and the golden sand whips along the flat beach in ghostly patterns of swirl as it rips past on its way to the sea................

You can tell, I was very taken with it!!!

But, every scene was one I could have painted. Endlessly! So many subjects to paint, so much to take in. And that's why I took a camera. To record it all. To capture the sights, so that I can capture the image at some point in a painting..... So many paintings I could paint.........

Here are a few of the views, so you can see what I'm talking about....

And the scene that all the artists I know have stood and seen? Its here.... in Staithes...... I had to climb up high to find it, but its all there, the quaint red tiled and blue slate roofs of the fishermen's cottages, the boats, the beck as it flows to the sea, the soaring cliffs and the bright blue sea in the distance, incredibly picturesque, isn't it? And thank goodness the sun was shining on it..... even if I did have to wear my thermals to get to see it!!!!! :)

Garden party

I went to a garden party over the weekend. Well, two, technically. It was a garden in Yorkshire, and I knew very few people there, except the people holding the party. It was a beautiful setting and quite a lot of people attended. You nod and say hello and smile at people, and conversation starts, and flows (hopefully) and moves from subject to subject. And the one thing that is guaranteed a reaction is the "I'm an erotic artist" one. Guaranteed everytime...... or so I thought!

The first party in the garden was during the day, lots of nice friendly folk there, keen gardeners and creative types. I had a couple of lovely chats about erotic art with two very nice older women and their general interest in the subject delighted me.

Later on that evening, the second party, still in the same garden, was for a slightly younger set of people, but during my many conversations it was mostly the older ones in their fifties and sixties who were interested in my art. Even if they didn't know much about art, they were happy to listen to me talk about it and exchange views on the subject. And there was one chap in particular who showed a lot of interest and asked very pertinent questions. I was more than happy to explain about erotic art to him. And he asked a good question "What's the purpose of erotic art?" And I hesitated before I replied - for me, art should be appealing, it should be pleasing to the eye, and erotic art should have an air of mystery about it. It shouldn't be too explicit, and it should be sensual. So then that made me think about how men and women view erotic art - if its a picture of a woman, does the man viewing it think that he'd like to see his lover do that, and if its a woman, does she imagine herself doing what the woman in the picture is doing? And then, the chap I was talking to, said something really profound about my art and its purpose, but it was just as something else was happening, so I didn't take it in fully, and afterwards when I prompted him to repeat it, he couldn't remember what he'd said, and neither could I! Bugger! And I know it was really important, and now its lost for ever. I'll never know it. Unless he's reading this, and remembers! In which case can you email me please!! (and yes, it'll teach me to listen properly in future!).

And later on that night, very late on, in the early hours, there was a younger set of people standing around chatting, we talked of visits to Amsterdam, and Bangkok, of sex shops and sex shows, and then I thought it might be pertinent to mention that I was an erotic artist, there was complete.......................silence. And no response whatsobloomingever. What was that all about then?????!