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from 'Rust', (2019), perimeter of local scrap metal yard

Richard Learoyd's ballpoint pen focussing system

Loring K recently reviewed a Richard Learoyd show at Pace here , reminding me of an extraordinary photographer. There is a short video on the process tab of Learoyd's website showing how he manages to achieve focus with his huge camera lucida when the depth of field is measured in just millimetres: basically with the corner of the subject's eye resting against a ballpoint pen fixed to a stand which is pulled away at the last second.

triptych, without the bit in the middle

Having watched rather a lot of Francis Bacon videos recently I've been pondering attempting a triptych this weekend. I wanted to revisit a set up I had tried a few years ago with the camera centred upon the kitchen from just inside the adjoining room. Previously the two side images were the open white door on the left and a closed white cupboard on the right, relatively flat planes, with the middle having depth... but back then I decided everything would be out of focus, for reasons I forget. The downside of this plan was waking up, being unwell, and finding myself 93% unprepared to tidy up the kitchen in readiness to make it so there would be some semblence of a balanced messiness of life but not any actual distractingness of objects that might snag the eye. This would have required re-arranging shelves, clearing work surfaces, and possibly even washing up etc.  Then I noticed a fortunate alternative with no tidy up required, and the messiness of duvets at the end of my bed were p...

Coalition of the villains

- Justin Tallis/PA

Francis Bacon: Three Studies for a Portrait of Muriel Belcher, (1966)

On Youtube there is an Estate of Francis Bacon channel where everyone and anyone who knew Bacon was interviewed about their association, presumably in anticipation that before too long they would be shrugging off this mortal coil. Looking at the numbers, hardly anyone watches them and subscribers are below the 2.5k after three years, but over the last week I've been finding them quietly addictive. This enraptured triptych of Colony Club hostess Muriel Belcher came up during a conversation with Michael Clark. 

Grayson Perry as Shirley Smith, rightful heir to the Wallace Collection's treasures

NATO enlargement caused the Ukraine war

Tirzah Garwood (1908 - 1951): 'Long Live Great Bardfield & Love to You All'

Just scanning the opening of the auto-biography by artist Tirzah Garwood, 'Long Live Great Bardfield & Love to You All' , there is a you-must-buy-me-immediately winning line; 'In 1904, my sister Margaret, a very ugly baby with a large nose, was born'. A memoir penned while dying of cancer of the spine, and yet which she described as, 'the happiest year of my life', and written for her family's entertainment. I am sure the progeny of said sister would have heartily enjoyed such avenging wit.