According to my dear departed Mother, Friday 13th is my lucky day.
I must admit to not subscribing to the ‘black cat across the path’ type of superstition, although I still throw salt over my left shoulder if I spill some.
Whilst talking to a friend yesterday the subject of a higher being or force arose.
Max Meldrum apparently confessed to being a 4th generation free thinker so I suppose he would dismiss such thoughts of a higher being as nonsense.
At a retrospective exhibition of Alan Martin’s work his son John told of asking his father what happened after you die. Alan supposedly replied that when you die that’s it, you are finished, nothing more, so I guess that Alan’s beliefs mirrored those of his master.

I have been re-watching the video of a portrait demonstration of Alan painting his old friend Roy Griffiths.
As always I was transfixed not only by Alan’s commentary which I clearly remembered from his classes but by his use of the brush. He used to say that to watch Meldrum use a brush was like watching a great violinist wield the bow, and watching Alan brings similar thoughts to my mind.

Many years ago I used to look at the work of Alan and Max Meldrum and the painters in that circle and dream of being able to see in my paintings such confident brush work. Alan’s demonstrations of which I saw many helped me enormously in that area and I commend the video to any aspiring realist painter.
It is obvious that he was very nervous at the beginning of the video but once he has a brush in his hand, the nervousness subsides and he shows what the craft of painting is about.
In an hour of video one can see the basis of a good realist portrait appear with just the use of tone, form and colour, those three basic elements of any picture.
It is a wonderful thing to have such a video of this master painter to view and show students as through it his skills can be passed on even if he is finished and gone as he told his son.
Watching it for the umpteenth time confirms my belief in the afterlife as being the memories of subsequent generations.

Don James Friday 13th June 2008