Mason

This portrait was painted using acrylic (a medium I am not comfortable in). The subject, too, proved uncomfortable to portray on canvas. The Mason is calculating, secretive, and, like the Mekon (click on the above image to view), capable of exceptional wickedness, ie peas out of the same pod.

Mekon

This is the earliest of three portraits of Kevin Richard Chesham. A version preceded it (below) that is almost identical, but substantially of an altered hue, and found in photographs of gallery exhibits. I ceased exhibiting the subject in 2007. Alternate versions are titled Fool and Judas. The latter can be viewed by clicking on the above image which is titled Mekon. Chesham is universally known as The Mekon. The Mekon first appeared in issue #30 of the Eagle comic on 2 November 1950. Chesham was born three years later. The Mekon is a villain who is capable of any wicked action.

     

Self Portrait

When I completed this self-portrait in oils on 13 February 2019, I felt I had finally managed to accomplish something. Previous self-portraits were certainly expressions, but they left me wanting to paint another, even though the last three were declared to be final. The latest portrait (oil on canvas) has been universally met with stunned silence. Absolutely no response. I am more than content with that. The trend everywhere to clap and applaud literally everything, including what should be a solemn occasion, eg a funeral, quite honestly appals me. It is so undignified and frequently sick-making. Art is sufficient unto itself if it has any merit. I have experienced concerts where there is no applause whatsoever at the performance's conclusion. This is the ultimate accolade. The self-portrait is shown in natural sunlight (above) and artificial light where it hangs.

The Other Keith

I was introduced to Keith Maclean by Elżbieta Wojdyla (mentioned in a 1975 contribution I made to an anthology, and a book published ten years later outlining supernatural disturbances at Highgate Cemetery). This was a time when the ethos of the Sixties was still evident at the turn of the Seventies. In my book, probably owing to his surname, he is referred to as "a young man of Scottish descent," despite his proclaimed Welsh connections and quintessential Englishness. The last time he appeared at my house (December last year), the tartan trousers he wore indicated my original deduction was on target. However, despite my urging him to don a midi-kilt, he has not done so.

This picture appears in the 1985 edition of the aforementioned book and is the first I took of him. 

The image below is the last photograph taken of Keith Maclean as he departed in December 2018.

Cousin Marianne — † Requiescat In Pace †

Cousin Keith — † Requiescat In Pace †

My first real pal whom I stayed in touch with even after relocating to London. The photograph of him on his Triumph motorbike in 1961 is the last I have of him before he died of a blood disorder.

The Saxophone Years