I've been finishing off the cake quartet. Where this strange analogy of the wedding cake comes into it, I have to admit to some inspired, but ultimately mysterious, source. I like that I don't always know what's happening on my canvases. I mean sure, I follow a lot of threads, ideas, but the painting is trying to tell me something as much as anyone who follows on from me. Here is a preview of my painting in progress from In The Dead Duke's Place (from left) Kandahar Kandy; There is Nothing Like a Drone; Gaza Wedding and a close up of a sketch for an in progress painting Wiki Wedding 2.0. Dont say it. I know some of the contrasting themes appear a little stange. I've got the Nolan Sisters in the next cake. When things get as strange as they do, I need to see the absurdities, and that cheers me up.

In these images I was concerned about the general playstation-killing culture we're introducing with kids going straight from Playstation and XBox into war.  And I'm disappointed that we haven't realised the affects of a strategy which many regard as encouraging recruitment to extremist causes. Leadership is more than legislation. The positives are that the Bill of Rights makes these issues very very clear. Read about the legality of the drone attacks here.

I had a great conversation with my father the other night about the criticism against Obama's lack of doing anything. It's not that he isn't doing anything; it's that he's doing it one at a time, when in fact life is happening all at once. I imagine Obama is like Adlai Stevenson's alternative universe. Eisenhower perfected the art of 'doing nothing' as a form of power to keep the peace. But then turning war into a robotic breeding ground isn't exactly doing nothing. Julian Assange similarly complicates our understanding of power when nobody else is making progress and war is becoming a substitute for foreign policy. We say we want politicians who aren't power-mad, but demand they are power-literate. Not a lot of choice.

I did a painting of Obama with Daleks in 2008 for Chroma Journal. Well, I think the Daleks might have the upper hand. Despite the massive negativity that is fed to us daily though, I do try and find humour and pathos in the paintings I do. Not to belittle the events, but because creativity works like that, to keep the light alive. When I saw the Nolans video from the 80s I went, "that's gotta go into something".

The chansons de geste were like poems for a warring class back in the 1100s, which is why they are so relevant today. Like those poems, hopefully the new paintings have a subtext of something that defies the obvious violence of our times. So, many of those issues feed into these paintings a lot and I imagine possible futures. I know the robotic themes are going to be in my next group of canvases, but in a more philosophical (or perhaps theosophical) manner. Technology isn't the problem, its how we use it, and I want to paint that. I continue to request further collaboration from the robotics community, but so far, as you may gather, that part's going a tad slow. But we persist:)

Interview in Lady Jane's Miscellany Issue 2

An Aussie Götterdämmerung.

It’s odd. This hung parliament has done very little to inspire me to represent Australia at its worst in an image. You'd think I'd want to paint it but no. I should. It's as close as the pent up Australian psyche comes to aiming for a götterdämmerung. But I think Paul Keating was the last and only Wagner fan in public life here, so give it up. I think everyone has figured that the major parties are dying with massive collateral damage-namely our democracy. Out of this, I've been surprised to discover that the spirit of Frank Capra is returning to the world Down Under where he's most needed.

Rob Oakshott's elevation to power broker and advocate for less bloodshed in politics is a breath of fresh air. nobody’s fool to the media, what makes him interesting at this weird time is that he is seems to be channeling Frank Capra's spirited 1930s Everyman. Voters under 30 would do well to Google this director's films as well as the roles of actors James Stewart and Gary Cooper. After all, if we're going to have another 1930s Great Depression, surely there's room for another Mr. Smith to keep us from imploding further?

My thoughts are that they just won't make it with Oakshott's healthy vision/compromise. The political landscape in Australia is a mess - really toxic. I think everyone will be back at the polls by December or New Year for a second attempt but...after watching the crossbenchers (Rob Oakshott, Bob Katter and Tony Windsor) on Press Club today on the ABC, I'm quiet unsure. This is a pivital time in Australia's history. The ghost of Frank Capra is without doubt stiring things up. And not too soon. Everyone I know has been totally depressed about the state of the country. First up these 3 have given us more optimism, security and leadership (and good plain speaking) than any of the major parties. But now it's looking like, when will it end?

At this point any government is better than no government which is what we've got. So do I have any solutions?

How about a little more romance?

Even some co-dependent stuff would go down well right about now!

3rd September: OK the postscript. What a mess eh? Yes I still think these 3 Amigos have good intentions, but a country can't funtion with this frangmentation of power. At best, nothing will get done in 3 years. At worst, the Queen will again remind us we're not a republic.

Now Available

Lady Jane's Miscellany magazine features the work of critically acclaimed poets, dramatists, essayists, short story writers, artists and more!  I'm really pleased to be the featured artist for their second issue with an interview and several of my recent paintings, especially given the high quality writing of this publication which includes several poets laureate. It's published bi-annually by San Fransisco Bay Press.

The images are in greyscale and include my painting: Dog Deity (2008); Viva Las Shiva (2006); Talk Show (2006); Elsewhere 2 (2008); a detail of Apocalypse the Game (2010); and my portrait of Hillary Rhodam Clinton Chanson de geste:Song of Hillary [pictured bottom left -see Galleries]. Poetry talks to our soul and this is a very very engaging collection of thoughts by talented American poets.  I want to thank Jeff at LJM for being such an insighful interviewer. The interview deals a lot with my current work in progress, In The Dead Duke's Place. 

Buy A Copy Here

[due October] I will be the featured artist in the English-language, French poetry magazine The French Literary Review #13 in October. The FLR specialises in English poetry that connects with France, it's language, history, culture and the pleasurable things in life which don't have categories. A small magazine from the south of France with good values and, I have to say it, a really wonderful old world charm about it. I love that.

Published will be: Revolution 1-4;  and 2 close ups from this painting in greyscale. My pen and ink drawings of the ancien régime characters were drawn in 2001 and exhibited in my 2008 show We'll Always Have Paris at Kieth + Lottie (pictured with a sample of their standard cover).

  The painting, of course, is about Diana's death in a tunnel in Paris in 1997. In my history degree I did a lot of French history, albeit from a rather unusual perspective (as usual). The 2008 show had several paintings which explored the 'idea' of Paris as a location of the different worlds which quantum theory makes possible.

The Diana painting, Schrödinger's Requiem, asked what the alternative realities might be had Diana lived, where was she, what was she doing, was she still living in a car on the run? What are all our other selves doing that took a left, instead of a right, turn, before entering the tunnels which decide our fate. As I was painting, cutting, spraying and drying (it was endless this one), I was playing Gary Numan's 1979 track 'Cars'. The words, ever appropriate to Diana's life, worked their way into the painting.

The title refers to Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger's famous 1935 thought experiment Schrödinger's Cat (Google it). Long story short, a cat is put in a box without air. Before opening it, the cat could be either alive or dead. But before opening the box, the cat is, in quantum terms, BOTH alive and dead. In this spirit, and as someone who loved Diana's spirited life, I wondered if she is alive in another world where boxes remained closed - but possibilities open.