James' Thoughts

2006-04-03T08:21:00.000+01:00

Ernest Borgnine

2006-04-03T07:53:00.000+01:00

I've got a lot of time for Ernest at the moment - I guess it's this new Poseidon film that has got me thinking about it all...

The question is, will the film be any good without Ernest? True the effects will be better, and they'll have changed the script to make it up to date, but soul? Ernest brought soul to that disaster ship. Remember those arguments with Gene Hackman? Remember how he encouraged that terrible Red Buttons bloke (I bet his name will be changed in the new film...)

He was great in Airwolf too and, surprisingly, isn't dead yet. Maybe there is time for him to be inserted into Poseidon in post-production. Or maybe there should be an Airwolf remake.

I wanted to write a song about him for Cafe Create but didn't get very far - maybe next time.

Dead?

2006-02-14T13:33:00.000Z

Just to reassure you, this blog is not dead yet... (despite no signs of life for a long age)

I've got a few thoughts that I'd like to put down when I get 10 seconds (mostly wittering on about art again) but haven't managed to get them together yet. Hopefully later on...

For now I'll just leave you with a question: Is it better to poke a duck with a stick or taunt a chicken with a balloon?

Much later on

2006-01-04T07:38:00.000Z

Hmm - didn't quite get round to adding anything else to my last blog... Things still seem quite fresh in mind though so here goes:

As an artist I want to push the boundaries of the visual arts; make images that no-one has ever seen before. Images that will be valued by those viewers as being 'worth viewing'. This is one aspect.

Secondly, as a Christian, I want my work to reflect my Christianity. It doesn't necessarily have to be evangelistic art, but as my faith is core to my being, my work should reflect that.

Thirdly, as an art historian, I want my work to be informed by the art of the past, learning from the masters and building on their examples.

Fourthly, as a digital artist, I want to utilise the skills that I have in new techniques to realise some of the above.

Now, I realise that all of the above are compatible, it's just that it's a real struggle to blend them all into a coherent whole. If I lean too much towards fine art, I will be accused of pretention, too much towards the Christian and things get naff, too art historical and it becomes staid and plagiaristic, too digital and it seems to lose worth in a real world setting.

Perhaps I'm being naive (I'm certainly treading the edges of pretence...) but I'm sure this can yield some good stuff if I try and forge a middle way...

We shall see...

Artistic Direction

2005-12-22T10:01:00.000Z

Right - so what I've been thinking about recently is which direction to take my arty stuff that I do.

I'm quite a flighty person I suppose - one week I'll want to be an actor, the next a fine artist, the next a singer. I'm ok at all the above but have realised for quite some time that you have to focus on one in order to get anywhere. I decided that, since it has probably been my longest standing instinct, that I should go the artist route: focus on my traditional artwork, try and define a style that is 'me' and really try and push what I can do.

The question in my mind now is: what am I trying to say? what am I aiming towards?

I thought I'd blog these thoughts down - partly as a record for me, but also in case anyone is interested...

More later on today I think.

Sean Paul

2005-11-23T12:50:00.000Z

Now is it just me or is the following true of lounge hip hop star, Sean Paul:

1.) That no-one actually likes him - I have yet to meet any champions of his work.

and

2.) That he is actually Darius Danesh with dreadlocks.

The second point is the most gripping in my mind - when will it all be revealed? I can see the headline now "Hip hop star is Pop Idol loser" or something perhaps slightly more poetic. There really does seem little point to him though - he sings in a monotone and displays little physical prowess. If there are any defenders, please step forwards.

2005-11-22T13:14:00.000Z

In the beginning

2005-11-22T13:10:00.000Z

I haven't really got much to say today so this probably wasn't the best day to start this... Been checking out my mate Andy's blog at www.andybastable.com though - much more interesting.