Comments on: Postcard from Provence: Paintings by Julian Merrow-Smith

By: Riya aggarwal

Riya aggarwal — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:34:47 +0000

Very nice paintings

By: Ben Hatke

Ben Hatke — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 03:08:53 +0000

what a beautiful book! What a dream to be able to paint like that in such beautiful surroundings.

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:11:26 +0000

Thanks, Julian.

The post was my pleasure. The book is a delight.

I was evidently wrong in assuming that most of the paintings were recent just by looking at them, thrown perhaps by how wonderful they look in print. Thanks for the description of the mixture of years for your selections.

I neglected to mention in the post that you did most of the work on the book yourself, while for the large part still maintaining your painting regimen.

By: Julian Merrow-Smith

Julian Merrow-Smith — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:37:03 +0000

Hi Charley,

Thanks for the lovely write up. It was all a lot more work than I imagined but I’m really pleased with the result and the reaction of the public has been overwhelming.

Of course the selection of images was very difficult and, disappointingly, I didn’t always have good enough reproductions of paintings I might otherwise have included — I lost most of 2005 in a computer crash (learning about back-up the hard way)! Having said that, 48 (32%) of the selected paintings are from 2009, 46 from 2008, 30 from 2007, 12 from 2006 and and I was very pleased to be able to include 9 paintings from 2005 – one for each month – from the very first year of the project (I did sneak in two from 2010 too). I’ve got through three digital cameras in that time (I’ve lost count of computers) and the quality of the recorded image (and my ability to take photographs) has improved markedly with each change.

Again, thanks for your support and enthusiasm, I do appreciate it enormously.

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:25:42 +0000

Thanks, Raining Acorns. There are other exceptions, of course, a number of painters who have taken on the practice as a discipline. Thanks for the suggestion about Megan Barron and her found objects series.

By: Raining Acorns

Raining Acorns — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:55:48 +0000

Charley, this is a particularly eloquent post, among many to choose from, with you! I discovered Merrow-Smith myself not long ago, and agree completely with your point: “Before “painting a day” acquired its current connotations of artists latching on to the term as a way to drive eyeballs, and hopefully purchasers, to their web based storefronts and auctions, the regimen of painting one small painting a day had a different purpose. It was (and still is for those who practice it in the right spirit) a form of artistic discipline, a way to focus and hone one’s painting skills and artistic vision.” I am most pleased to learn Merrow-Smith has made of some of his paintings a book, though also suspect I may agree with your view that it would have been nice to have the book as witness to his “artistic growth and struggle.” When I explored the PAD movement, I found, as you have, too much attempt to capitalize on an idea, rather than use the concept to grow artistically. Merrow-Smith, as well as Jos van Riswick, were welcome exceptions to that. And I would like to praise one more artist whom I believe used the method to grow and grow: Megan Barron, whose art may be found, among other places, at http://wrack-line.blogspot.com/. She started her painting a day project long before it was fashionable and used the method as it should be used, to marvelous effect.