The End of Clevedon Pier

The painting above was about 3ft x 3ft and never made it. It is of Clevedon Pier and after I finished it I decided it was not for me and it was part of the next cull.
Anyway I am feeling a lot better today, got up and ventured outside. Yesterday Geraint popped in to collect a painting. Nice to see him and we had a short conversation about today’s values money and society. We were both coming from the same direction. I really find it hard to understand the value of money. There is a limit to what you can actually spend without just throwing it away.


We are very lucky living in a comparatively rich country. We have a house clothes and food after that anything else is a bonus. I don’t do the lottery as far as I am concerned I have already won it. I have a wonderful wife and – family, I don’t need a fortune.

So we do contribute to charity and are happy to do so.

There again there are others who have totally the opposite philosophy! When I took posters around the shops in Carmarthen advertising the Macmillan Cancer Support Exhibition one shop refused to display it. As I may have said before I had been previously a good customer.

On the upside all the others agreed so she was the exception.

These values for me also make their way into art. How do you value a painting?

For me it is simple how long did it take me to paint? What is a reasonable sum to expect on the basis of time labour and materials and the tax to be paid? No different to any other commodity.

I have seen new artists at their first exhibition brimming with excitement and enthusiasm only to wonder why no one had bought a painting at £1000 that had clearly taken them an hour to complete. I guess if they had their boiler serviced and saw it took an hour they would conclude the plumber was taking the mickey if they were presented with a similar bill.

For most artists painting does not either pay well or at all. I am lucky too be passionate about painting and manage to make a modest living, which is fine.

Talking of which tomorrow I expect to be painting again for the last time this year!