Nice.

An update...

I'm in Nice under strict instruction to rest my feet. I went across the border into Italy (San Remo) and then retreated back to France. Taking an enforced break from hiking and using trains to get to Strasbourg on Monday.

I'm also struggling to get ebay to work for auctioning paintings. I've been carrying this one around for some time now.

I've been posting more on web forums rather than here simply for a bit more interaction and feedback.

Siren Nº1

First painting up for auction for charity/good cause/NPO...whatever...

Ebay seems the obvious way to go, so I'll post a link here as soon as I remember my passwords and stuff, or something.

Painting comes with photo files of the 'wrok in progress'.

My alternative ID :D

OK. For the not so faint hearted... you can follow my progress a bit more regularly on many web forums. My favourite is U75.

There is swearing and ugly stuff :D

I'm trying to keep my blog clean this time. U75 is where I vent my bile!!! They're good people who tolerate me on the whole.



Here

Just to remind myself...

Self confidence building needed! I am quite good actually. Aren't I???

Arles. Sunday evening street life.

Just One reason why I am enjoying Arles very much - because everyone else enjoys the place!

Painting commeths!

All of these gifts were left anonymously. I like them :)

Arles is still being extremely good. Beautiful days and beautiful nights.

Montpellier. A gift from a fellow permanent marker touting artist.

Beautiful Gifts.

This was Pau. I'm still in Arles getting very wrapped in the place.

Avignon - Arles.

Montpellier. Place de Comedie.

I'm in Arles being Vincent. I'm painting and picking up good work. Here for a few days at least. It's proving to be a bit special so far.

Avignon - meh!

Montpellier was fabulous. I will return.

Plan to stay here to finish commissioned work and save money to get to Nice whilst putting a painting (or, sketch) up here for auction. It's not been easy finding the time, space and ability to carry anymore than I am already carrying.

Pau - Carcassonne - Narbonne - Bezier - Montpellier.

No painting! Tomorrow.

Briefly, Pau was excellent. I really, really liked the place. Carcassonne; erm... met some nice people. Met some interesting people. Visisted a medeval city built circa 1870.

Narbonne. Pretty.

Bezier. Very interesting place. I liked it very much.

Montpellier. Well, I'm pretty sure I can make enough money here to get a painting online for auction to charity. But, beds are expensive. This has caught me out a bit in Southern France. Almost any city in Spain I could find a bed for €20, or less. Here it is double that.

Boring post. I've had minor complications I wouldn't want to talk too much about here :D But, finally I have time to paint.

Biarritz - Bayonne - Capbreton - Bayonne.

Sore feet. Very sore.

I've just done a brief tour of this corner of France. Biarritz - not really my sort of town, but well worth the visit.

Bayonne - I loved every minute there. Very friendly people. Relaxed, safe, chilled vibe about the place. Very much a single persons city. Single people approaching middle age. Not sure how to describe this without offending someone :D It still has a young feel and young fashion vibe, but it's a bit more mellow than other single people city type places.

A huge thank you for the invitation to dinner party and room for the night. Food was delicious, company was good conversation. Really enjoyed it and hope to meet you all again sometime.

Capbreton - again, very, very friendly people and relaxed, safe feel with miles and miles of golden beaches. A relatively contemporary place. Spread out with lots of space (never mind the beaches). Bicycle paths everywhere. Seems everyone who lives here has a bike. You need one.

How friendly is this place? Today started with a coffee invitation from a complete stranger. Then came a free beer from the bar I was working close to. Then came a free pack of tobacco with papers because some exceptionally kind person knew I had no cigarettes. Then came a shout from across the street as I walked past. Someone wanting to know if I had managed to sell sketches and an offer of more free cigarettes. Just kindness and empathy in abundance.

I'm having fun. Meeting great people. Seeing beautiful places. Next post will definitely be painting number One (Siren Nº1) up for auction for charity.

I'm heading back to Bayonne briefly, then onto Pao.

I have been getting the weather luck big time :)

Reflecta 230x USB DigiMicroscope.

I'm in Pamplona - a city a always enjoy very much. I like it here as much as I like Leon and Granada. I'm about to start walking. I am carrying far too much! Amongst the non-essentials I am taking with me is a Reflecta 230x USB DigiMicroscope. My favourite new toy. Here is a Pamplona Pansy at around 200x

Travel photography from a very different perspective.

The Secret Chinese - Madrid.

Finally moving in the right direction :)

Madrid is a city I know well and enjoy always. Top tip bfor travellers on a budget who enjoy good Chinese food: Go to the top end of Plaza España and look for this entrance to an underground carpark. It's much more than just a carpark, but you would never know.




Keep following the steps until you find the Chinese cafeteria. Delicious, good value food and a rather cool place to be seen it seems.




Madrid has a huge homeless population currently. The most street people I've ever seen in a city. Almost every redundant, dry corner is taken by a rough sleeper. I'm guessing many people have just arrived looking for summer work, but I know many are also permanently on the streets. Pretty sure some foreign tourists to Western Europe would be shocked to see this. The number of people even shocks me. Shouldn't be happening even during times of crisis.

Other than that I'm enjoying as ever.

The Pigeon Catchers.

I've already told you how friendly Granada is. Today the local environmental were re-homing pigeons. It was all being filmed by national telly people. Which is a shame really, because I had questions I couldn't ask. Specifically; "how do you stop the pigeons homing back to the plaza?".

Being rather suspicious, sceptical and cynical I think the corn they feed the pigeons is 'special corn' that prevents them from returning anywhere other than pigeon heaven.

All this happened just 10 minutes ago. I bring you the news that really matters as it happens, when it happens before TVE even get to the editing suite and corrupt stuff with the PR people.

See! This is going to be good :)

1. Corden off the square before asking me to move.
2. Bait with corn.
3. Fire big net over pigeons.
4. Put them in box and take them to the rubbish dump.

The TV people interviewed those watching. They didn't interview me. If they had I would have told them straight: "Pigeons have as much right as humans to be on this planet, but we must control them, or they will take over the World and end up controlling us!".

The news is unlikley to be as exciting, and as fresh as this piece on all posts I make, but I promise to do my best if people buy my paintings to raise money for charity.

Almost ready...

Granada is a trap. A very nice trap. Still my favourite city, and friendliest city I know. Think I leave tomorrow. I am itching to get moving.

I will be typing 'on the fly' to post here much of the time. I want to record eveything as I feel at the time. It will not always make nice reading!

A very nice place to stay...

http://www.apartamentosalhambra.es/



It's the 'me' themed hotel :)

I'm in Granada until Tuesday. Lots of work. More stuff to do. Start moving again Tuesday night. First painting to auction for charity will appear here before I hit the road. I'm going to do a set of 7 Sirens and sell them on ebay with the winning bidder paying the charity of their choice. We'll see how it goes???

FFS! Unreliable WiFi!

A long post just disappeared. I'm busy. Busy, busy, busy :)

Long time since I updated. Busy. That's good, but, it's work :(

Melilla.

Before I went to Morocco I went to Melilla.

I loved it. There is the most surreal 8KM hike you can do from Melilla to Nador. Very, very difficult to accept that the world can change so much in such a short distance. From European style promenades to the apparent chaos, dust and rubbish of a Moroccan market. Across no-mans land. A very strange collection of holiday chalets, social clubs and military buildings shadowed by a border crossing perimeter fence, and onwards into a very different world. I'll come back to this another time. I spent hours taking photographs around border crossings. Fascinating places.

Africa seems to be on hold until autumn, so...

I'm doing a Euro adventure for the summer. From Granada to Estonia.

Same idea to sell paintings on the web to raise money for charity (winning bidder pays the charity of their choice) whilst accepting donations for sketches and prints to help cover my costs. I may make more than I need. This trip will be recorded as a business guide for anyone wanting to try and pay for their own art/travel holiday adventure.

I'm going to make it tough for myself just to show that it is possible with very little cash. Starting quite literally with nothing more than essential work tools: sketch book and pens, paints, camera to record stills and video, my favourite toy - A Reflecta 230x digimicroscope just for my own entertainment, notebook loaded with necessary software. About €500 in total, but the only real essential to get started is sketchbook and pens.

My only goal is to get to Estonia one way, or another covering my costs through art. Hopefully, people will buy paintings for charity also.

I'll record all that I can and, this time keep an open account on business details as well as recording all art work photographically, making videos etc. With all I learned from my Santiago de Compostela adventures I know how to make it work a bit more successfully this time. I hope!

Meanwhile, back in Granada...

Africa is on hold for a while.

Things to do etc...

Interesting short trip mind. Photos will come.