Friday 17th July

On Tuesday I turned 67. Although I can’t believe it myself I am happy to share my birthday with one of my favourite artists

Gustav Klimt. 

Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) was one of the most influential painters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the leading figure of the Vienna Secession, a movement that sought to break away from traditional academic art in Austria. His richly decorative paintings, often embellished with gold leaf, helped define the Art Nouveau style and continue to captivate audiences worldwide.  

Born on 14 July 1862 in Baumgarten, near Vienna, Klimt came from a modest family. His father was a gold engraver, a craft that later influenced the artist’s famous use of gold in his paintings. Klimt studied at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, where he initially excelled as a painter of architectural decorations and public murals.  

In 1897, Klimt became the founding president of the Vienna Secession. Rejecting conservative artistic traditions, the group embraced modern ideas and sought to unite fine and decorative arts. During this period, Klimt developed his distinctive style, characterised by flattened perspectives, elaborate ornamentation, symbolism, and sensual portrayals of women. His work often explored themes of love, beauty, life, death, and human sexuality.  

Around 1900, Klimt entered his celebrated “Golden Phase,” during which he incorporated gold leaf into many of his paintings. His masterpieces from this period include The Kiss (1907–08), Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), Judith I (1901), and the Beethoven Frieze. These works combine Byzantine-inspired decoration with highly expressive figures, creating images that are both luxurious and emotionally powerful.  

Although best known for his portraits and allegorical paintings, Klimt also produced numerous landscapes. Unlike his figurative works, these landscapes are peaceful and almost abstract in their intricate patterns of colour and texture. Throughout his career, he made thousands of preparatory drawings, demonstrating exceptional skill as a draughtsman.  

Klimt’s work was often controversial during his lifetime. His paintings commissioned for the University of Vienna were criticised for their erotic imagery and were rejected by the authorities. Despite this, his innovative vision profoundly influenced younger artists, particularly Egon Schiele and other pioneers of modern art.  

Gustav Klimt died in Vienna on 6 February 1918 after suffering a stroke and contracting pneumonia. Today he is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the modern era. His paintings are among the most recognisable and valuable in the world, admired for their extraordinary beauty, symbolism, and celebration of the human spirit. His legacy continues to shape the study of Symbolism, Art Nouveau, and twentieth-century art.  

Back in the Studio…..

After we pulled out of the house move, there was no reason why I couldn’t go back to my studio on a full time basis (for now).

I spent my birthday working and with Luna in Doggy daycare I was happy to have a day unencumbered painting a large canvas (100cmx100cm) for Beckstones. They had requested some large farmhouse paintings in my more colourful contemporary style. This involved palette knife work and lots of oil paint a far cry from the small 20cmx20cm potboilers of Embleton Bay I had been doing on Monday and last week. A large white canvas is intimidating and so I got some paint on the sky to get me going.

The painting is of Forneside Farm near Keswick and I sketched in the buildings carefully. The fells behind were painted with juicy slabs of paint in yellows, ochres, oranges, reds, siennas and greens mixed on the canvas with a knife.  My series of “Lake” paintings I did for Beckstones previously had little texture and were done with a brush and involved a lot of blending giving a much softer finish. This painting was a completely different technique and far more abstract. Despite this the buildings were carefully painted but then “roughed up” with a palette knife adding texture. The details like windows were roughly painted in as impressions with not too much detail. The trees behind were quickly painted thickly with a knife. For the foreground I roughly covered the canvas with a thinned down, multicoloured layer of paint and then overpainted with thicker paint using an old bristly house painters brush and adding some bees wax to give some texture. 

Whilst painting, especially with oils I now wear nitrile gloves. Opening tubes of paint and working with paint covered brushes, white spirit and drying medium especially on large wet canvases is a messy business. I ended up with multicoloured hands which I had to clean with white spirit which dried them out and was starting to irritate them. However, I can’t wear them on my head and after I had returned to the house on Tuesday, Dylan FaceTimed me from Lanzarote to wish me happy birthday and was disconcerted to see a large red and orange patch on my cheek. It wasn’t a facial injury as he suspected but a smear of oil paint!

I finally received my 20cmx20cm deep-edged canvases I ordered on the 16th June. They have been with Evri for the last 3 weeks!! I’ve been contacting them continuously but they claimed to have misplaced them in their warehouse? I ordered these as they went like hotcakes at Art in the Garden. They are a good size and don’t need framing. Selling lots of small stuff soon adds up. It gives encouragement for people who might walk away with nothing. I paint “classic” images that people like. Embleton Bay, Bamburgh, Lindisfarne Castle etc. I started these on Wednesday and continued for the rest of the week. 

Natasha was down in Manchester so I suffered Englands loss on Wednesday alone. I feel at 67 I’m starting to run out of world cups. It’s a very, very long time since I watched England win as a 7 year old. At that time I believed we would win it every time?? Sadly after 60years of hurt and some close calls , the wait goes on…

As the World Cup finishes on Sunday, I’ll be back in my studio regularly. I’m happy to be painting again and not sorting and packing. I have managed to keep up with my obligations so it’s a matter of building reserve stock now especially with the rapidly approaching Art in the Garden.

The painting is my “Forneside Farm, near Keswick.” 100cmx100cm oil on canvas.