here in LA

worn out and knackered

tonight my art show

spent last night at gallery with thomas negovan the owner

he really believes in my art and i am so happy for that

he gave me a crash course in the art gallery scene

i was amused to find it contains many of the music biz’s contradictions

thomas digs many of my arts facets i was unaware were so interesting

he thinks being a pastellist is in itself unusual..he has never handled pastels before

when i first started painting it was watercolour

one day my beautiful sister in law amy showed me pastels and erasers

i can still remember watching her  pushing round the colour with her fingers

and then showing me how you could erase back through the colours

something in  my mind said “yes, this is for you just like bass guitar is for you”

i never looked back

holly jordan has since laid all kinds of pastels on me

huge box sets and specialty pastels like iridescent and pan pastels

pan pastels are applied with sponge applicators and are very intuitive to use

and then there are pastel pencils too

and demi pastels with no paper wrapper you can use sideways

i stumbled into everything i do

thomas told me he likes my use of colour

and the way i mix up psychedelia and classicism

the way i do in my lyrics

all of it i have naively fallen into..none of it part of a plan

he has been watching me awhile..now i am ready

yes i am ready

i met gail potocki there last night

she is one of thomas’ main artists and she is unbelievably good

i was flattered to learn she liked my stuff

google her or century guild to see her incredible work

brilliant painting and brilliant concepts

she is almost a living master

i predict in the next five years she will be huge

anyway seems i got lucky and found an original style for myself

just like in music

my childhood  obsessions fuel my art

the greeks n romans, the bible, the ancient world where i belong somehow

and chuck on top of that my experiences with drugs n dreams

and all the books and stuff i devoured

it all comes pouring out somehow

guided by intuition i have slowly developed my schtick

working in pastel on top of black gouache

fiddling with the fixes

rubbing and erasing and building up layers

just like in music i am finding my own thing in there

its exciting

i am happy to be where i am today

i hope i sell a few paintings to justify thomas’ belief in me

and a big thanks to those who have supported me along the way

those who bought my stuff etc

and especially holly who believed in what i could do all along

it is impossible for me to be here without her support in numerous ways

anyway wish me some luck

these are unknown waters for me

tomorrow i begin working with greg dulli n band

rehearsing our show for wednesday night

at least i am on familiar ground with a bass in my hands again

but the pastels are becoming comfortable to me like the bass

just a lot damn messier

if you are in LA please come

7 tonight culver city

see you maybe

sk ,hollywood (gee!)