Off to France

I'm off to Lyon tomorrow to see Patrick and Christiane and stay at their lovely place in the Massive Central. Pictures and tales, and maybe a song or two on my return.

More Bolton pix - Deane Clough

This pencil sketch has been made from a vintage postcard.

Rivington Pike

Bolton pictures

I've decided to do a series of little pictures about Bolton. I used to go up Rivington Pike so I've started with a drawing of the Pigeon Tower from a photograph I found online.

I think the rule I'm going to set for this is going to be that these pictures must be small, like small windows with restricted views. Tiny glimpses of a world that is gone, for me anyway.

Blanaid imagined Matt in a pair of her flowery shorts

She asked me to draw him so I did

Imagine how we can get the pears down from the tree

Hewitt's Farm - Pick Yr Own

Just been to Hewitt's Farm to pick our own veggies. There's Swiss chard (red and yellow), broad beans, mangetout, little plums ... yum yum yum

The Foulkestone Gazette

From Richard Sanderson's 'Bagrec' Blog'

The Foulkestone Gazette
To commemorate our first concert as Foulkestone, Jude and I produced a 12 page magazine, "The Foulkestone Gazette". It includes lyrics, short essays, some explanations of the Foulkestone method, illustrations, a bit of "creative writing" a cartoon and other bits and pieces. The magazine is resolutely pre-digital. Jude did the pictures and writing in pencil and pen, I used a manual typewriter...

Should you want a copy you can get one in various ways- send us 50p* and an A5 Stamped Addressed Envelope to "Foulkestone Gazette" c/o 30 Pascoe Road, Hither Green, London, SE13 5JB.

*Or you can go to Richard's blog and paypal online

The Drop

This evening I have a little slot at Vis the Spoon's 'Spoonful of Poison' gig at the Drop in Stoke Newington. I'm going to do a World NEws Vision set with Microkorg XL and Minipops drum machine.

Mirror Mirror

Yesterday Foulkestone played their debut gig at Mirror Mirror, Karen Haines's new club at Ryan's Bar in Stoke Newington. It went well. First track was Skin and Bones and I droned on the wrong note. We had some very strange harmonies ... Alan Savage, an old chum of Richard's came, Richard hadn't seen him since 1983!!!! Alan has a real Middlesborough accent. He used to be in a band called the Flaming Mussolinis, apparently. He was a very nice chap.

The Foulkestone Gazette, front page

It's upside down.

A sketch by my granddad

I love this biro style of his.

Lamb & Tyger - the Commune Album

IT's here! It's here! Hurray! Hurray!

20-track album - download download! Free! Free!

http://rashrecords.co.uk/album/lamb-tyger-the-commune

Fado!

Yesterday I improvised three fado inspired songs based on today's news stories from the Reuters archive.

It was a beautiful evening, with wonderful Portuguese food, set in the atmospheric and artistic Dalston Boys Club.

Matt and I were entranced by a rather magical performance by Sofia and her theatre friends, in which the beautiful and moving tradition of Fado was worked into a charming and delightful piece of theatre. I was enchanted, and it wasn't just that she was her friends. The physical and vocal performance was really gorgeous and it reminded me of some of the New Wave French cinema, especially as Sofia and friends wrote the piece around their experiences in London so real life and real fantasies wove themselves into the traditional and contemporary artforms. I'm thinking of the films that Godard made with Anna Karina, particularly Une Femme est Une Femme - so lighthearted and about being young in the city and relationships.By the way - very impressive and magical guitar work too from the two wonderful players.

I really hope it gets made into a piece of cinema. I'm going to suggest that!

Jude Cowan - World News Vision - Rafah Crossing featuring Poly.wmv

Dorset

I coloured in one of the Dorset sketches for Joanna's parents. I'll give it to her soon.

... and bigger ...

Ducklings get bigger

More puppetry for Saturday

Sound Arts MA Show at the LCC

Going to this tonight if anyone wants to join me - 5.30pm start at the LCC - London College of Communication.

Very interested to see what this year's students have been up to.

Happy Divorce!

I'm doing some puppets for Saturday for the divorce theme. Think I'll use Mr Berlusconi and Ms Merkel as the divorcing couple - because I've made them already.

The acrylic has run

in the World News Vision eyes ... looks so sorry I'm not going to post it - what a shame. Back to the drawing board.

World News Vision ident

World News Vision logo - in wire

For dangling from the plywood TV - a live ident!

















compare it to the drawn ident below



I think I may black in the centre of the eyes ...

World News Vision - August

Just finished recording the August version of World News Vision for Sound Art Radio. Listening to it back now ... not a bad sound. For this month I used the Moog Slim Phatty which was fun, and also put the Wah pedal onto the Minipops.

Puppets for World News Vision

Guess who? Two politicians in the making ... and a weather spirit/reader

Nursery rhyme illustration

I decided to illustrate a nursery rhyme and picked this horrible little one ... why? The idea of the rotting plums, I could relate to that. I like the old lady's entrepreneurship.

There was an old woman
Who lived in Dundee,
And in her back garden
There grew a plum tree;
The plums they grew rotten
Before they grew ripe,
And she sold them for
three farthings a pint

I changed the text as it didn't scan before - my version's much neater and I like it better so there, Lady Eveline Gurdon who collected this for County Folk-Lore Suffolk, in 1893.

Fake bible story

Here's one of my imaginary bible study pictures. What on earth is going on? You tell me.

Animal watercolours

Inspired to do some more watercolours this morning before I get onto my puppet making. Not feeling very loose yet though, maybe work up to something a bit more expressive this afternoon. The idea was to draw something quite static, from archaic iconic pictures of animals.

World News Vision - our plywood TV for the show

It's raining so I couldn't get it out of the garage to take a proper pic!

Solly likes the ducklings

Commemorative cushion

I made this 'lovely' piece of embroidery to celebrate our courting days - Matt, Solly and myself on Elf on the River Lee, going to Victoria Park

Foulkestone booking

Making a little A5 book - the Foulkestone Gazette! A very limited edition for our Mirror Mirror debut on 25th July.

More oil pastels

Composing

Yesterday began composing at the piano in earnest. I'm writing for SSATB for the opening evening of my gallery exhibition in November. This is the beginning of a new artistic chapter for me, here we go ...

More oil pastels

More oil pastels

One more oil pastel

More oil pastel sketches

More oil pastel sketches

More oil pastel sketches

These were from sketches on the train that I then layered in oil pastels in my hotel room in Blackburn.

Oil pastels from the train

From my journey to Liverpool a few days ago ... nice to do some colour for a change. I love layering so the previous layer shines through ... oil paints is good for covering up but pastels etc are good for showing previous bits without changing them / completely obliterating them. I like working in layers reminds me of printmaking.

Mermaid series

I've put a little series of mermaid photos on my new website at www.judecowan.com

World News Vision - 23rd July

We're having our first extended World News Vision band gig at the Montague Arms on the 23rd July. Hurray!

Chris Cornetto is going to join us - there will be myself, Matt and Chris and there will be a special puppet TV show courtesy of Rediffusion!

Mermaids!

Doing a series of mermaid photos for Tina Bueno's next show at the Pharmacy of Stories ... here's one of the little group.

Even more sketches of Liverpool

More sketches of Liverpool - great city