2009-09-27

https://youtu.be/H_1DP62_TGA?si=-Oy8YyuTfJhk-TbQ Sent from my iPhone

Water tower

2009-09-27 https://youtu.be/H_1DP62_TGA Sent from my iPhone

2009-09-27 https://youtu.be/H_1DP62_TGA Me and Lipton on top of moortown water tower in Leeds on Sent from my iPhone

Lipton returns

I don’t know how many people read the two books that I posted on my blog a few years ago. I kept the ending of the second one to myself with a view to having it published. In a sense you have to read the first one to understand the second though it stands up on its own. It requires serious rewriting and editing and is very much a first draft but I have never read anything like it. My character is Skree but also Peter. Lipton is the costar and is based on a freind. His name came when the predictive texting wanted to put Lipton instead of his real nickname despite me spelling it correctly. I also didn’t want him to know that I’d used his character in a story. Maybe I’ll tell him one day. A lot of the scenes were real and actually happened but we aren’t really shamen or archangels. We did sneak past security and climb the last gas silo frame in Bath. We did drive up to Leeds and climb moortown water tower. We did psychedelics on cley hill and watched a partial eclipse. We did a lot of things that are in the first book but there’s a layer of fantasy on top. We never met up with Jesse Presley in the underground tunnels we explored and there was no subterranean rock and roll empire of which he was king.

Anyway last week the character I based Lipton on who I hadn’t seen for years turned up and he stayed and we talked and drank. His son is in the village next to ours, less than two miles away. Lipton wants to be in his life and has pulled himself out of addiction and is doing all the right things to be a part of his life and watch him grow. This means he’ll be here a lot. It was me who got the daft ideas like breaking into sealed tunnel networks and climbing industrial buildings. But without him I don’t have the bravery. We egg each other on and he’s always up for an adventure, say a drive deep into wales to explore slate mine tunnels. He doesn’t get why I am drawn to doing these things but he always has the bottle. There’s so much work we need to do now he’s back. We did used to buy action man figures for our missions. Two were hung from the water tower and were still there last time I passed it. We also buried an action man each, two feet beneath the soil at the stone circle Michael Evis had built. It was our signature. On all serious adventures we would choose an action man each and hang them, bury them, burn them; use them up to mark our work in appropriate ways. The figures represent us and we sacrifice them to seal the hoodoo of our exploits. The last two were put to sea at a beach near us and we watched the small figures in the boat we had made for them slowly grow smaller until our eyes saw two dots before they disappeared completely. There are some great water towers ear here and we will be getting our action men ready for our mission. Because now he is back in my life our competitive nature will no doubt have us up to our ritual exploration again and testing each other as to how committed to ridiculous endeavours the other is. It’s something that we can’t not do. Lipton is now in his mid fifties and I am sixty so we won’t be able to do what we used to. We are older men now but both still have a yearning for ridiculous missions. Readers may have read the first chapters of book three that picks up in the aftermath of our destruction of Rupert Bunsens Noah project and the Witchfynder general is hunting us down. We are separated having been flung off in different directions. Both of us know that not everyone has survived. Lipton has so far left the mental hospital following his sectioning, Jesus has reanimated having been smashed in to many pieces. Of course he can’t be killed and has been reborn many times since his heyday covered in the New Testament gospels and is back living on traveller site in Somerset. I am not yet written about but spoiler alert I survived the carnage of the conger eel demon hybrids. Only one of the Clun Druids survived and there’s no sign of the coven of witches who summoned up the sea goddess who is the group mind of the conger demon hybrid shoal. My friend Jason Feddy has just had his book published and you can put in a preorder on Amazon now. So I think it’s time that I sorted out my book and get it out there. It’s a lot of work but there is nothing like it and I believe it would be a popular cult book. There’s so much to do. I’m already following the characters in the aftermath but I need to go through all of the first two books and tidy them up. Welcome back into our lives Lipton.

Sent from my iPhone

The Fourth Act - Filthy Rich (Official Music Video)

https://youtu.be/K09S0887pU4?si=un-wnUxHStBdAr4a my nephews band Sent from my iPhone

Skree part 21. At home waiting for Lipton

https://youtube.com/shorts/rDuyIU1aLho?si=h27jbrZTgJkKn2yt Sent from my iPhone

Stairwell moths

Streamer

Sent from my iPhone

Restoring Calum’s ice cream rickshaw with Tom and Paul

https://youtube.com/shorts/S7vEq9vN4mI?si=1QyxQWKDp-mu8pwR Sent from my iPhone

Zinc sink

Door

Four bay dresser

Four bay dresser

Oak chest with slate panels

Lichen

Calum and Toms ice cream rickshaw

Here we see the vehicle head on. I have had no input in to Toms designing and creation and no input in to Calum's boundless energy and motivation in creating a niche for himself in a world he might otherwise not have found. Nevertheless I can't help but feel a little proud in mixing two elements that have caught fire. For over five years now Calum has been a well known and interesting spark of illumination that in straighter towns might not have had the same impact.
But like all vehicles that are on the highway, wear and tear through every day use takes its toll. Alongside the complex gearing and chassis, its motor, indicators and other lights, the suspension system pedals and brakes there is the paintwork and Perspex, a freezer box and various shelving that all can deteriorate through every day use. And being honest about it all, Calum can find himself frustrated and perhaps not being as careful as some might be. Consequently, as Spring slowly edges towards summer their incredible creation requires some TLC. A few maintenance issues and a fresh motor are required. And being a unique vehicle there really is only one place able to work on the vehicle. Were it so simple, Tom might have seen his happy customer cycle away and never see his client again. And being unique and essentially a prototype based on the successful conventional rickshaw design that is the backbone of Toms business, there has been a fair bit of extra work Tom has had to carry out. Tom must have given thousands of hours free to Calum who can be hard at times to communicate with. Lovable though he is, Calum can sometimes not be as aware of the suffering of others. That's not to say he takes Tom for granted at all, but at times it has been difficult for Tom to be able to afford to carry out repairs.

Calum’s ice cream bike

The things we are most proud of outside of our own creations can be the connections and the interweaving of people and their potential. They are often the most difficult and beautiful at the same time. Our legacy is something that happens despite ourselves and rarely comes about through pure intentions. When I moved to Somerset I knew very few people here. I arrived surfing the wave of perhaps my worst mental breakdown and I'm forever grateful to Gareth Neal and Fred Baier for putting me back together again. Gareth introduced me to Fred and I found myself making furniture for one of my heroes in the field. This introduction, this interweaving by Gareth helped me reestablish my self esteem whether it was his intention or not.
Whilst at university in High Wycombe my partner at the time was at art college in Cheltenham and we would alternate our weekends. Consequently I got to know my girlfriend's freinds and their partners. This is how I got to know Tom Nesbitt. He is a designer most well known for the rickshaws that can be seen everywhere from Soho to Scotland though the highest density of them is in Bath and Frome where Tom has made them for something like two decades now.
A chance meeting shortly after I had moved to Frome was with an old friend from my mid teens. I had lived with Ron Tree when I was about 16 having found myself homeless. I had no family to turn to but being part of the counter culture I was fortunate to be able to find a roof for me and my girlfriend of the time. After some months there we moved down to live in a communal house in Cornwall and I lost touch with Ron. Move forward nearly twenty years and I am walking through the town centre when I bumped into Ron. I recognised the tattoos on his hands. In a strange twist of fate he had become the frontman and singer for Hawkwind. Hawkwind were our band in our teens and I was blown away by how he had found himself fronting what had been probably our favourite band.
Soon I got to know him again and I got to know his partner and his son, Calum. Calum is autistic though I'm not knowledgeable enough about his condition other than to say he is a remarkable person. Back then he must have been between five and ten and somehow we connected. He'd come walk my dog with me and we have remained close as he has grown into a remarkable young man. His enthusiasm is infectious though it can run away with him and he can lose a clear sense of what other people are feeling.
Having grown through various obsessional periods where he would become engrossed in the police. He would produce drawings, repeated in great detail of police. He would dress as a policeman and collect police related clothing and items. At some point he became obsessed with becoming an ice cream man. He created a bicycle with chimes and began operating as an ice cream vendor. The thought of him driving an ice cream van was a step too far but something in my head connected and I knew he would be fascinated by Toms rickshaws. So I arranged a time for him to go down to Toms workshop which at the time was in Frome. It was only meant as a way of showing him what might be possible were he to focus and work towards it. Ron came down and he had a weary look which I didn't understand but do now. This lit a spark and I think I gave Tom a heap of work. As I said his obsession can be overwhelming but he can achieve incredible things and sees no boundaries where I might see problems. I also feel some guilt towards Tom in that he has given Calum an unbelievable amount of time and energy.
Having made the connection I lost touch with them both for a couple of years as life took me down some strange avenues. The cost of one of Toms rickshaws is in the low to mid thousands. They are a sophisticated and well designed vehicle that Tom has developed over many years. He doesn't do one offs. The cost in time and research and development is too great. Yet one day I saw Calum riding an electric, bespoke ice cream rickshaw. Tom made his dream come true and has given Calum a chance at a career no one could have predicted.

Skree part 19. Research chemicals

https://youtu.be/AO-PXcgANs0

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Tree surgery

Stairwell moths

Common Plume

The Mushroom Man | A Psychedelic Documentary on Gordon Wasson & Sacred F...

https://youtu.be/EUyvWZrSagU?si=e2wKtRDcrF0EynYz

Sent from my iPhone

Stairwell moths

Shoulder stripe

Stairwell moths

Twin spotted Quaker

Stairwell moths

Shoulder stripe

Stairwell moths

Shoulder Stripe

Stairwell moths correction

Early moth

Stairwell moths

Early Thorn

Peacock

Peacock

Skree part 16. 10 economy bin bags and an oak beauty

https://youtu.be/diUYd0_KE2c?si=nqIySh8XWImvgM96

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10 economy bin bags

Remember Richard

Richard revisited
https://youtu.be/04OdxHcgrpo

Sent from my iPhone here is the block of wood mentioned in the YouTube series Skree part 16. Though no plaques or commemorative gravestones are permitted the green burial site of Lawnswood Cemetery I made this block as a marker of where Richard and his dad are buried. Following Richard's death I went through a psychotic phase of grief was drawn to make something for my friend who died way too young. If you can hear me I miss you every day. You were my closest friend and you always will be. Love to you my brother.

Stairwell moths

Oak beauty

Skree part 15. The death of Woofy and reflections on the death of Turps ...

https://youtu.be/2V8HpfPRooY?si=0XWSwiDhoUGkhnXo

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The change in pot between 82 and 2000

https://youtu.be/PC_Ayqt38dU

Sent from my iPhone

Introvert

Big block of oak with blue holes

Wired and twisted

Wall cabinet

Hyperbolic parabaloid doors with silver handles and hinges. Inside are two drawers with dovetails cut at compound angles

Brick table 1

Rejected table top

Brick table 2

Disabled table

Gimson rocking chair

Early top later rejected for a scorched oak top

First year project for Shrewsbury college

Overgrowth detail

Present I made for Philip Hussey

Table I made for Fred

Lichen cabinet

Brick table 2

Desk in maple

Overgrowth

Disabled table

Captain Hotknives RIP

https://youtu.be/bpvX6lnuf6o

Sent from my iPhone

Skree part 13. Placed in the middle of nowhere in the Clun Valley where I didn’t know anyone I helped renovate a cottage expecting my partner of the time to move there. Once the house was getting liveable in I found work in the area, well, within an hour’s drive expecting to be joined by my partner. I learned that you should never trust anyone, however much they claim to love you. You are born on your own and you leave this life on your own. I learned to never trust anyone again.

https://youtu.be/J8Rlm0OeFCg

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Disabled table

In bog oak veneer and boxwood inlay from around 1999. This is one of my personal favourites but it is one of the least popular pieces I have made. I thought I'd lost any photographic record of it. I made it while I was a technician at the university of Wolverhampton. I would look from the fourth floor and lose my sense of scale. It was about using classical cabinet making decorative techniques to show the fantastic within the mundane.

2009

I think this was taken around 2009. Rosie, Karen and Andy Lee.

Stairwell moths

Nice to see a dotted border out early. Nice looking moth . The female can't fly and presumably does all the housework while the male goes out exploring. I woke up in a miserable state hoping to improve as the day progressed and the sight of a moth on the stairwell door came as an uplifting surprise that got my move in a better place. They are fairly common and can be spotted from February to April.

Stairwell moths

Dotted border