Gasometers

I love Gasometers or gas holders. I love their obelisk/monolithic look. They're a throwback to a bygone age. You only have to look at the iron work on the surrounding structure of some of them to realise that they weren't built within the last 100 years. The first ones appeared in the U.K 180 years ago and most of them, except for those that are listed buildings are due for demolition at some point soon. They are another symbol of my childhood. My dad worked in London so whenever we took the train from Brighton to meet him I remember seeing them as we passed through the industrial outskirts of the capital. There were also two (I think) in Brighton, right next to the Gas Board club where we would gather with friends on Christmas Eve for a festive drink. They're like huge sentinels watching over the landscape with their peculiar slow piston-like action literally breathing life into the surrounding area. Another link with childhood is that I seem to remember them always being in the background of certain Children's Film Foundation films I used to see at the Cinema when I was young. There was usually a 'short' on before the main movie and the CFF films were often the pick. At one point the Saturday morning films programmes were revived and again it was the CFF films that were the staple diet. Black and white tales of 1950s and 60s street urchins getting up to mischief in the shadow of these huge structures are a particular memory of my younger years. As I'm trying desperately with my work to throw a lifeline back to my past on which to anchor the advancing years to, it's quite poignant that another symbol I equate with being young is about to disappear from the landscape. Cooling towers are another similar thing. I love the idea of them painted in camouflage during WW2 to fool the Luftwaffe.

I really like Idris Khan's work. His photographic overlays of structures like these are amazing. They seem to shimmer and vibrate in their stillness. It was interesting for me to see Pink Floyd flying the inflatable pig over Battersea Power Station again recently as I consider them a quintessentially English group with whom I associate strong and happy memories of the more recent past.

A few things that inspire

Certainly drawn towards metallic structures at the moment. Have been gathering images like these quite separately for a while without really thinking about any particular link between them as I was collecting them with different ideas in mind for each theme. It's interesting to see them together. To everyone else the link is probably obvious but it didn't register consciously until now.

German Stormtrooper, Verdun 1916

Watercolour and gouache on paper

WW1 Zouave

Still enjoying being inspired by Giacometti and Henry Moore. A recently finished painting of a WW1 French Zouave. I really liked building up the textural surface of this figure. I was surprised how tight I was able to make some areas with this technique. They're a nice contrast to the looser areas of the study.