Or Life & Lines
I think I have it figured out.
I should imagine those people with vocations occasionally sit down and say to themselves just why did I embark at that particualr port for a lifelong trip. (Usually like pondering comes in heavy seas, when you just can’t remember where that life vest is stored.)
Naturally, at my age, there is nothing else I know how to do, so any to-be-or-not-to-being is a conceit and little more.
Nonetheless, it seems we are doomed to try to make sense of things.
Given that the only glimmer of sensitivity I posses is in the point of my pencil or brush, drawing or painting the world is simply a way of giving it meaning.
My life lines are not on my hands, they are in my sketchbooks
A QUESTION OF CULTURE
Like all nations, Switzerland is continually asking itself how it can profitably export culture abroad. Being rather an island in the midst of the European Union, stormy seas await these attempts. Within the European Union, artwork can travel freely.
With a little culture of my own – the artwork from La Ville Abandonnée – about to turn up at the Swiss border, it seemed wise to contact the authorities to make sure all would go smoothly.
After a lenghty preamble, where I explained that a batch of my originals were returning to Switzerland after being shown in France and Belgium, here is one of the conversations I had with one of the customs offices…
“What is it exactly you do for a living sir?”
Illustrator. I illustrate books.”
Comics, then?”
“No, books, children’s books, that sort of thing.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“?”
Your profession, sir.”
“But I just told you, you deaf person you, ILL-US-TRA-TOR!!!!! People are actually crazy enough to pay me to sit at home and doodle, as unbelievable as that may sound.” No, I only thought that and embarked on a lengthy explanation of the history of illustration from neolithic times to today.
Once that was resolved, we got back to the heart of the matter.
“Are these paintings signed?”
“No, I only sign one image per book, otherwise the signature is annoying to the reader. They aren’t really paintings, they’re book illustrations”
“But these paintings are your work.”
“Yes sir, mine indeed.”
“But if you don’t sign them, how can you prove they are yours?”
Another lengthy explanation of why I rarely have to prove my pictures are mine, and skirting the temptation to say more than I should.
“These paintings were done in Switzerland.”
“Yes sir, I live and work here in your fine country.” (Okay, I didn’t say “your fine country”.)
“Can you prove they were done in Switzerland, do they have a “Swiss Made” stamp or identifying mark?”
“Well I’m not going to paint a poya in the corner of every picture, if that’s what you mean.” (All my most scathing retorts remain unspoken. And probably wisely so.)
“These picures, they have a market value?”
“I’d like to think so, though I don’t sell them.”
“Well, how do you make your living then?”
Anyway, after being scolded for letting my artwork leave the country without a declaration, it turns out that any artist (in this case, me!) can import his or her own work regardless of value, exempt of all tax and duties.
So Switzerland is an accessible island after all. Shame there aren’t more beaches.
WIZARDOLOGY
I have a few pencil sketches in the upcoming book “Wizardology” from Templar Publishing.
Here’s a page from the catalogue; the book will be out this autumn.
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EFF
I have my program for the Elf Fantasy Fair on Sunday the 24th.
11.30 Lecture with Alan Lee (45 minutes)
16.30 Lecture with Alan Lee (45 minutes)
17.00 End of all lectures/ signing sessions.
Very much looking forward to Holland (last time I was there, the airport was on fire).
STUDIO SHOT
Never at a loss for doing something of no particular purpose, I thought I would take a snapshot a week of some detail in the studio, whether it’s a mess or tidy, stacked to the ceiling with books and documents or empty awaiting the next picture… or a trip to the attic.
