Some newspapers and magazines don't mind embarrassing
famous folk. They print photographs of people with red arrows pointing out
cellulite, overhanging fat, lack of underwear, stained clothes, smudged fake
tan and protruding bunions. I read an article in the paper showing former Home
Secretary Amber Rudd a little worse for wear after her resignation. The gist
was how drawn and weary she looked compared with the previous day when dressed
up. I cut it out and kept as I liked the blend of colours. I scrunched up my
eyes and made the colours blurry and they seemed to compliment each another.
I put the
article on my desk and one day - with surfeit creative energy to burn off - I
made use of it. I pulled out a photo frame and started daubing paint on the board
in the back of it. I had the newspaper article on my bed and kept turning
around to glimpse the colours and after some smearing here and there the thing
was complete. What can I say - I liked the colours. I wasn't sure what to call
it but Amber Rudd worked for the Home Office so I thought that will do.
You can see the boxer Joe Frazier on the screen.
Data download: Joe's first punch bag was a bag filled with clothes he found
around the house, his nickname “Smokin’” Joe Frazier
came from his coach who tells him to make his gloves smoke at the start of
every fight, he worked in a slaughterhouse before becoming a boxer (inspiration
for the “Rocky” films) , he cut his gold Olympic medal into 11 sections for his
11 children, by 30 he was blind in one eye, his left hook was responsible for
nearly all his 27 knockouts, he was so generous he was forced to sell his boxing
gym when he was diagnosed with diabetes, he found he had liver cancer when it
was too late (only made it to 67.)
Oddly this unusual
painting looks alright on the wall. I sat on the couch looking at it (while stroking
my ocelot) and thought it bearable. As everything except my hard drives, collection
of antique commodes and buttocks are for sale this can be yours for £8060.
Normally it would be £60 but I've recently bought the toilet roll Napolean Bonaparte was using when he died for £8,000 (there're
teeth marks on it) and I need to recover the outlay.