England is a green and soggy land… and the north west is England’s soggiest region. To understand the English you must understand our relationship with the weather.. this is the real reason America happened because Brits were trying to find a less wet climate. The Spanish could always return to sunny Spain and the French could always go back to Paris.. but the English knew if they didn’t fight hard for the New World they would be back to weather proofs and damp. Its not co-incidence George Washington was from the north of England.. and his name involves water !
(Picture available for purchase here or direct from the artist as a signed limited edition print.)
The biggest crime in England is bad drainage and plumbing. You can commit murder and most people will just “tut tut” and forget it, but if your guttering drips onto your neighbours property prepare for war.
Living in England is a bit like living under a slightly damp and musty blanket.. you know its not very good for you but its still vaguely reassuring. The damp gets in your bones.
So for an artist it seems right to create soggy landscapes where the sun has been washed out of the sky and the predominant colours are “mossy” greens and the city looks like a sponge.
This is what makes England different we may get clear blue Californian skies occassionally but most of the time the sun god plays second fiddle.. to the great God Sogi ! We also get wind but that’s probably to do with our diet.
A simple solution to our economic problems would be to sell our abundance of water to Arabs in return for oil ! But then again in summer when we get three sunny days.. the whole country runs dry.
You’ve read the blog now buy the T Shirt !
Tags: andy mercer, damp, england, english winter, george washington, lancashire, land of the free, manchester, north of england art, northern england art, northern monkey, rain, wet, winter
You are obviously from the other side of the hills duck. Lincolnshire calling!
I love your pic, is it paint, pen and ink, what?
Did you do it with your fingers or other tools?
It reminds me of a sophisticated version of the maler board; somat I used to do as a kid on the ferry to Hull. There was an underlying colour palette with a pad of blackish squishy iny on top and you had to make marks on it. If you are under 40 you probably won’t know it.
Your pic should sell well if you promote it in the right places; I don’t know where they are though, sorry!
Thanks Sal !
Its digital I start with a drawing and then scan it.. and then using my own “top secret and highly sophisticated ” computer processes and swearing a lot I develop pictures that look quite different !
I suppose it would help to sell it if I included a link ! http://www.imagekind.com/Showartwork.aspx?IMID=9789b491-dc31-4b0b-aa03-32da3b9b6136
I am over forty but never got a Maler board.. sounds like fun !