July 2024 - Dec 2024

 Drawing someone is a very intimate and contemplative process, both for the sitter and for the artist. Quiet conversation during the drawing process can illuminate so much more about the sitter than just a drawing ever can. 

As the project goes on, the portraits and conversations from the early stages will already be part of the past.  How will the realities of the future present have changed? My sitters are ordinary people who have a view or an experience to contribute. Some known to me, many are not.

I want this to document the realities of individuals, their joys and their concerns, big and small.  The documentation will evolve with time.  Each person’s testimonies will be forever tied to their painted portraits, to be fully shared as a body of work in 2030.  Woven into the fabric of the project are little notes recording the events at that particular time, for context.

During Covid lockdown, I learned to draw people via Zoom!  Portraits created via a screen have a different feel, but that is all part of this evolving story.  More recently, I am back to doing portraits in person, but also have Zoom as a way of reaching sitters who are further away.

Please enjoy the journey back through these posts.

15/8/24  Gaza death toll reaches 40,000.  Extremist Jewish settlers torch & terrorise a Palestinian village in West Bank.

"M.M."  13 August 2024.  Living in Virginia, USA, he tells me about life in the US as he sees it. As a practicing Jew and a family man, he considers the forthcoming presidential election and the state of the world, and his fears for the future.

"M.M."  13/8/24

13/8/24  Ukraine launches drone attack on Russian airfileds.  4 day-old twins + mother & grandmother killed in Gaza strike.

12/8/24  703 Crossed Channel yesterday.  18.300 so far in 2024.

9/8/24  Ukrainian troops lead surprise attack on Russian territory in Kursk region. Kremlin declares Federal emergency.                         121,000 residents evacuated.

7/8/24  Anti-hate protests grow - peaceful, mixed-community, supportive.

5/8/24  Elon Musk gets involved because "X" implicated in misinformation. He says "Civil war is inevitable".  400+ arrested.

4/8/24  Rotherham - an asylum seeker hotel is breached & fire started.

3/8/24  Terrible rioting all over UK - Liverpool, Hull, Bristol, Belfast, Portsmouth.  Targeting mosques & Asian traders.

2/8/24  Further rioting from Southport stabbings, now in Sunderland.  EDF present. 

1/8/24  Biggest exchange of E-W prisoners in decades.  15 Western journalists & detainees in exchange for Russian prisoners.

30/7/24  Social media has whipped up Islamic motive for stabbings leading to violent rioting & looting by far-right extremists              in Southport, especially around the mosque. Locals come out to clear up the mess.

29/7/24  Knife attack on children at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport. 3 dead, six critical. 17yr old arrested.

27/7/24  Rocket hits sports field in Golan Heights in Israel, and kills teenagers playing football.  Hezbollah?

26/7/24  Olympic opening ceremony in Paris affected by sabotage of 4 main train lines into Paris.

21/7/24  Biden finally pulls out, and endorses Kamala Harris to run.

19/7/24  Global IT chaos.  A cybersecurity update on Microsoft system failed.  Airlines, health care, banking etc. affected 

"M.B." 18 July 2024.  M.B. uses social media to do good. By combining his medical training and experience, his easy communications skills and his natural empathy, he is reaching a wide audience who need support with their mental health struggles.

"M.B."  18/7/24

18/7/24  Zalenskii addresses UK cabinet meeting, requesting to use long-range weapons deepr into Russia.

17/7/24  Biden tests +ve for Covid.  Trump says that, if elected, he will stop protecting Taiwan from China.

14/7/24  Assassination attempt on Trump, but clips his ear.  He now becomes almost deified.

              Massive attack on Gaza school, 90+ killed.  Justified by IDF saying they were trying to killtop Hamas man - did they?

12/7/24   Biden gives a speech where he introduces Zalenskii as "President Putin" & Kamala Harris as "Vice-President Trump"

11/7/24  New government say jail overcrowding is 98% capacity (planning early releases) and the NHS in "broken".

9/7/24  Biden deterined not to step down even though now 6 Congressmen have suggested he should.

8/7/24  Russian missile hits Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv - 141 injured and 17 dead.

4/7/24  GENERAL ELECTION DAY. Labour landslide victory  174 seats. Worst Tory defeat in history. Nigel Farage wins                         Clacton, & Reform UK came second in many constituencies - 5 seats in total.  Lib Dems also gain - up to 71 seats. 

              Kier Starmer is the 4th PM in 2 years.  Says it is "not about performance, but public service" from now on. 

 "Politics can be a force for good, and we can show that".  Rachel Reeves - first female Chancellor, Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary.