Three paintings ‘Sol – Teg Hager Awel’oil on canvas……. No.1, No.2 and No.3

‘Sol – Teg Hager Awel’- The title is partially in latin at least the first word ‘Sol’ is derived from the latin name Solis for the sun and ‘Teg Hager Awel’ is Kernewek – Cornish which roughly translates to Beautiful Winter Storm. And so these three paintings being inspired from my stay on the Isles of Scilly are titled accordingly and in respect for the hard won survival of the Cornish language.

All three are inspired from several most intense experiences of  winter storms on Tresco, Bryher and St. Mary’s

‘Sol – Teg Hager Awel 2’ Oil on canvas 90 x 170cm  is more directly a point of view, from below tregarthen moor and is as close to the sea as I could get. I sat and watched this winter storm as the sun was setting just beyond the edge of Bryher. The waves were huge and it was an absolutely overwhelming experience. I had just a sketchbook with me and spent several hours scrambling and changing my viewpoint to experience the storm. This painting is titled partially in Kernewek (Cornish) Teg Heger Awel translates to Beautiful Winter Storm, and Sol comes from latin Solis. In many celtic cultures Sol was the name for a sun god. the name Scilly is itself derived from Sulis who was the ancient celtic goddess of the sun. On the isles of Scilly she was known as Sulis she who watches and there is a Roman mosaic in Bath that depicts this goddess. So the painting is about nature but it also references many things at the same time including my fascination for understanding nature and how that knowledge evolves and changes over time, and on the back of the painting are the co ordinates of the sun and some brief info about the sun.

Sol – Teg Hager Awel 2. Oil on canvas 90×170 cm

‘Sol – Teg Hager Awel 1’ oil on canvas 90×180 cm and ‘Sol – Teg Hager Awel 3’ oil on canvas 90x170cm are much the same experiences

Sol – Teg Hager Awel 1. Oil on canvas 90x180cm

Sol – Teg Hager Awel 3. Oil on canvas 90x170cm

Four paintings in one……

This painting grew in the making, and became more than just a single work of art. My interest in astronomy and mythology continues to inform the work I do to an ever increasing level, and one evening in mid summer 2021, after several long and difficult weeks working on the Garrison campsite, my son and I and other staff members were relaxing over a few beers and some food. It was a glorious summer evening. That lovely king’s Blue of the sky, long wispy sirus clouds streaking across the sky and there framed in the sky by these clouds – the waxing gibbous Moon. The atmosphere was clear and it was easy to pick out several large features on the surface of the Moon including mare serenitatis, mare tranquillitatis, Mare Crisum, mare fecuditatis, Plato crator was just about discernable as was Tycho crater, Mare Firgoris, mare imbrium, and mare nubium.

The Moon as always is captivating and the conversation faded for me at this point as I just stared at the Moon. It always fascinates me as it seems to be there in complete calm and absolutely beautiful. It reminds me of The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy in which Arthur Dent asks the wise old bird in exaspiration what is keeping the cup in the sky from falling, and the wise old bird replies ‘art’ that it is artistically correct.

The Moon always seems to have in a far more serious way that feeling of being in absolute harmony, perfectly placed, artistically correct. Call it a feeling of awe and beauty and connection with nature.

As always when I observe I draw upon a wealth of knowledge gained over many years and I start to rumage through what I can remeber of the names of the surface features, the history of the Apollo missions, humans landing on the Moon, and the theories of how the Moon formed, that as moons of the solar system go, in comparison to other moons and there parent bodies the Moon is exceptional in it’s size compared to the Earth……

Here is the first of the paintings inspired by my own observations of the Moon.

 

Four paintings in one, as the painting is rotated through 90 degrees a new painting with a different title is revealed. The titles are as follows…..Daughter of Theia. One Light Second. In contemplation of the infinite. From within….that…Pale Blue Dot. Oil on canvas 80×90 cm 2021

During my contemplation of the Moon that evening I considered once again the origin of the Moon, oddly I had been reading a new article on this subject involving a collision between the proto Earth and a Mars sized proto plant named Theia 4.4 billion of years ago.  and that evidence for Theia or whats left of Theia are buried deep inside our planet. So there I was sitting contemplating that deep beneath me were the remnants of Theia and above was the Moon both consequences of that immense collision, and that those remnants deep in the Earth may also be cause the Atlantic magnetic anomaly…….. And at the same time the reasons for the title of this painting are also intimately linked to the naming of ‘Theia’ and the mythological stories behind Theia, which are fascinating.

The four orientations…..

In greek mythology Theia was the Titan goddess of sight, (thea) and the shining aithre (ether) of the bright blue sky and right there we have the first visual connections as Selene one of the three children of Theia is the orginal name for the Moon, hence the title Daughter of Theia and the observers gaze is directed towards the Moon in this painting. The bright blue of the sky is representative of Theia – goddess of the deep blue of the sky. Theia also in mythology endowed silver and gold with their brilliance and lustre and so the bright silver luster of the Moon is also a direct reference to the goddess Theia. It is the focal point as it was mine on that evening – Theia bore the titan Hyperion three children Helios – the Sun, Eos – the dawn, and of course Selene the Moon.

The three children of Theia are also implicitly though indirectly in this painting. The painting has no particular refernce to being a dawn or a sunset there are no references to any particular time of day except for that time of day when I once again was caught up in contemplating our understanding of nature, but only for the purpose of the beginings of this description and so Helios the sun is part of this painting for without the sun how is one to see anything, also the painting could be after dawn and so Eos is implied and of course Selene – the Moon is the focal point.

The painting then conspires to present to the viewer all these aspects in one view. The mythology, my fascination, and our contemporary understanding for the origin of the Moon……and contiguously even through the four orientations of the painting, this remains the same …. and hence the title –  ‘Daughter of Theia’ 

 

A painting with no title…..

This painting has no title and this is why…..

I have decided to leave this painting without any title at all……even labelling it untitled is in effect a title. There is something odd about giving titles to paintings. For the most part I do it, but with more care than perhaps most will realise after all a title like so many things is, obvious…a given… taken for granted, a simple thing on the surface. Go a little deeper and it becomes phenomenologically interesting.
In some cases it is a simple description in others it can enhance, obfuscate or even harm the artists intent in all cases a title for me is a question. For instance when I title something in Welsh or Irish it grounds the painting to a very specific experience and in my ancestry, but also it is a question…why would I do this….Well I am not going to give everything away.
Titles set boundaries, or parameters which are sometimes restrictive, limiting the scope…the intent of an artwork. It is for me to much like a fullstop an ending but like nature and in respect of nature the paintings I do are ever so slightly unfinished. So there is a paradox in this, a dichotemy in that at some point I made the decision to put down my brushes and stop painting, but nature never stops, change is the very core of existence and yet for me to bring particular attention to this is meaniful it sets up a dynamic….a creative mindful intereaction between the artwork, myself in that I give the artwork direction, form and intent and the viewer that can now no loger view the painting without knowing my intent, my thoughts and something about my philosophical background and in this way the painting continues to evolve, if not physically through a continuing process of painting then intellectually through contemplation. The more I look at this painting the more I realise it’s title is the whole thing. It is it’s own title. It is what it is and does not need words. Words in this case would only restrict and worse ill define it.
If this makes you feel unsure, unsettled bemused, uncomfortable…..or possibly curious then I would say that is a very good place to be…..

The bike

Super green……Super clean…..My very splendid cycling machine

 

Painting renovation. Painting by Arthur Wilson Gay 1901 – 1956. Title ‘Autumn Painting’

Over the years I have picked up a lot of knowledge and some ability to restore paintings. I am however very careful in considering what renovation projects I take on and I will not take on anything that is beyond my abilities as an artist who specializes in painting landscapes and seascapes. So anything outside of this area I consider to be beyond the knowledge I have and will limit what I do to advice only.

With that said here is a small painting renovation project that was entrusted to me recently. I had not come across the artist before and as such did a little reseach on his work trying to view as many paintings as I could and obviously making note on when he was alive.

So the artist is not a big name in the art world but is respected as an artist who painted tranquil scenes of St Mary’s Isles of Scilly and did some accomplished portraiture too. The artist is Arthur Wilson Gay 1901 – 1958. So for a start I knew he would be using modern materials…..a big help. The painting is called simply ‘Autumn Painting’

I won’t go into an indepth analysis on how I went about this, simply because it is my knowledge…..and you cannot have it….put it down to intellectual property rights. Instead I will show you images of some of the stages with a simple description under each image…..

The painting had suffered from smoke damage and water damage but this was it’s first professional cleaning, which was good because it meant that I did not have to take into account any other attempts to restore the art work….It is clear that it needs considerable and careful cleaning. The painting is covered in dirt and grime and the original frame is in similar condition with damage to the corners, chips in the paint through to the wood in many places….

Corner damage…..I have started to clean the white border which revealed cracks and chips in the paint of the frame

Detail of damage to the frame after some cleaning work, which allowed me to see the extent of the damage.

Detail – Back of the painting – The old frame sealing tape was extremely worn torn and peeling off

Removing the old tape

Removing the backing board and the painting

Cleaning the frame – removing glue residue

Continuing to clean the frame….looking much better now…still some ways to go….

Water damage to the backing board is clear there was also water damage to the painting both backing board and painting had been warped by the water damage. Fortunately this was something I have much experience with and was able to de warp the backing board and the painting.

Continuing to clean the frame….still a long way to go….

Continuing to clean the frame and repairs to the damaged paint work

Now for the scary part…..

Starting to clean the painting. I first chose a small area to test clean taking it really slowly and over the next week gradually extended from bottom to top on the right hand side of the boats mast….

….Slowly slowly slowly…..

……And again slow slow slower…

Frame and painting are almost done and I just needed to pause for a few days to see if everything was ok…..

….And relief…..done

….And finished…..the the owners were amazed…….and I was relieved…..

…..more cycological engineering……the headset bearings and other new components arrive

……Some fun is a foot, with some new components arrived I can finish converting the bike into a 1×11 drive and install a brand new set of headset bearings. With this in mind I decided to take the bike apart and give everything a good check over clean and re greese everything that needs it. In the end I noticed my internal gear cable was showing some wear so I replaced that too….luckily I had a spare steel cable. I won’t go through everything, but here are a few highlights…..

 

Tools of the trade with some new components – sram pg 1130, 11 – 42 tooth cassette, new 11 speed bar end shifter, new 11 speed KMC ept 11 speed chain, and new Pro headset bearings – a nice upgrade…..Yummy…..

Partially dismantled….

Old and busted….

There is wear left in this but the rivets holding the sprockets together have come loose. I have never experienced such a thing before, It makes me wonder if it was a manufacturing defect or if I inadvertently bought a copy rather than a genuine cassette. So glad I spotted the fault, It woukld have but dreadful if the cassette had deconstructed while cycling.

New hotness

The gear change ‘Oh but though…..the gear change’…….Great stuff

One of the two new PRO headset bearings…..they are super smooth….

….Ready to ride….

Cycological engineering – an unscheduled headset bearing cage disintegration…..

The bike

T

….Yes indeed, I like bike maintenance, I like it because it is simple technology that can be done anywhere provided you have the necassary tools. Of course this is a compromise as there are componenents that will wear out quicker and some that will last for as long as you keep the bike – the frame for instance, and there are some things that could happen that I might not be able to repair even with a bike, like a break in the frame for instance. That has only happened to me once and on a steel frame…….I have never had an aluminium frame fail on me and I have been riding aluminium framed bikes since  1992 when I bought my first cannondale a T600. But on the whole most maintenance problems can be solved even in the middle of nowhere and if it’s really bad then usually something can be done to keep you cycling at least until you find a bike shop.

So I was out cycling as usual an almost everyday occurance and I noticed that I really needed to have a look at my headset bearings the realisation had been building for the last few rides. Nothing bad, no horrible grinding, no sudden metallic pings just a slight tightness in turning the bars. I also got a puncture, but with only 2.5 miles from base…. with plenty of wind…..and rain…. I decided to walk back to fix the puncture, and thought well ok lets do the headset bearings too…..

What a mess…..

Now I tend to go with if – it’s not broken – don’t fix it philosophy……that does not mean I don’t look after my bike I clean it and check it regularly but the headset bearings have never given me any indication that they were in need of checking, partly I guess it is that they are integrated, sealed and internal to the frame so nothing obvious to see that is wrong. It was as I wrote just the feel of the handlebars that made me want to check them, so the state of them is really my fault for not checking them sooner.

What a mess…

Here are some images and a brief outline of what I did to keep cycling while I wait for new headset bearings to arrive. I shoiuld say as well that the headset bearings have not been changed or looked at since I bought the bike in February 2016.

So the puncture happened on 18 Jan 2021 I began dismantling on the 19th and no issues I was expecting the bearings to be seized but no they came out ok…..forks and bearing race cleaned up well…..

Forks and bearings removed – Lower bearing frame support cleaned

Upper bearing frame support cleaned and greased The lower frame bearing support also had plenty of grease applied. But for the upper race it was particularly neccasary.

This image shows the spacers and the split ring along with the top cap and bolt that’s the top row. The upper bearing – what a mess. On lots of youtube video’s they will say you cannot take these apart to clean them…..well you can… I have done so in the past and I have no choice but to do so now. I do not have any spare headset bearings and I am not going to miss my daily bike rides so here we have the upper bearing it actually was really awful I could see bits of the bearing cage in bits as I removed it from the  frame…OOOOPS… surprisingly it still rotated…after a fashion. To take the bearing apart I used a small scew driver to prize open the bearing careful not to loose any of the bearings and was then able to separate the individual bearings from the wreckage of the bearing cage. On the second row we have the lower bearing race – left, the seal – middle, and on the right the upper bearing race. They actually cleaned up well and were still usable. The third row – somewhat messy – are the bearings …..and what remains of the bearing cage…. a completely disintegrated set of chewed up bits of metal….so that was totally done and I would have to place the bearings back in the bearing race without the cage.

Bearings cleaned…..sort of….well as good as they can be….

Bearing race cleaned…

re greased…

Bearings put back as evenly as poss with lot’s of grease….

Upper bearing race located onto the bearings….carefully so as not to displace or loose any bearings….

Packed with more grease…

seal replaced

The lower bearing was much less damaged as you can see from the following images…..

from left to right lower bearing race, bearings in their cage still intacked, upper bearing race and seal….

Upper bearing race re greased…

Bearings in their cage cleaned re greased and placed into the lower bearing race…

Upper bearing race cleaned and put back…

Seal put back….

….And then it was simply a case of putting everything back together and while doing so re greased all the other spacer and split ring components to keep as much of the weather out…

Lower head set bearing back in the frame….

Upper headset bearing back in the frame…

Fork put back without the split ring…..

Split ring located….

Split ring and bearing cover/spacer…

Second spacer….

Third spacer…

Stem located…. after this it was simple to lock the stem/drop bars in place in the right orientation and in alignment with the front wheel with the cap and bolt, and all is well.

That was all two days ago….Yesterday I did a short 22 miles after this and all is fabaroo. I have a new set of headset bearings on the way but they are not expected to arrive until first week of February and with the weather and being on the Isles of Scilly it could be longer so I will report back to let you know how many miles I cycled with the what is left of the old headset bearings back in the frame. Yesterday’s ride felt great no stiffness in the handle bars. It all felt smooth No metallic pings or any problems at all….

as of the 20th Jan I have completed two rides with these bearings reinstalled – 53 miles and no problems. Still waiting for the new headset bearings to arrive. The only noticable thing is if I hold the forks of the ground and rotate the handlebars you can tell that the bearings are worn, but no metallic pings, no grinding, no sticking, no stiffness….

Another 30 bike on the 21st Jan 2021 ride brings the total mileage up to 83 miles with no problems, still using the old damaged headset bearings and still awaiting deliver of new headset bearings…

Another bike ride today 22nd Jan 2021……somewhat shorter due to the previous evenings enjoyment of much wine a little whiskey and two fab MCU films – Infinity War and End Game…… so a 15 mile bike ride same situation. No deteriation which brings me up to 98 miles on dodgy headset bearings……

Well as of the 24th Jan 2021 my headset bearings are done, that’s it the last short ride yesterday left no doubt in my mind as they was lot’s of play in the headset. So the experiment is over but it shows that with care even with some knackered components it is possible to squeeze out a few extra miles, in this case 141 miles. It’s a uaeful thing to know how to push things sometimes beyond the limits. In Europe I doubt very much I would have to cycle anywhere near that distance to get to a bike shop. But further a field knowing this could be a life saver……

In the past I have also managed this feet with the bottom bracket of my first Cannondale in the far North West of Scotland and the repair I did which was basically the same allowed me to finish that tour, get back home and have the bottom bracket replaced….

Etsy shop sale

Until the 16th January I am running a new year sale on all items listed on my etsy shop from small to large scale artworks, all artworks have 20% off. Like this one…..

 

Sol and Precipitation – The condensation of atmospheric water vapour falling under gravity Oil on canvas 30×60 inches 2020. £2500

 

Pop over and have a look…..

Amharclann An Tsolais Ciarraighe. Eireann. Oil on canvas 86×104 cm 2020

I am still relatively new to learning Gaeilge. Still I cannot resist trying to title the paintings about Eire in Gaeilge. During our cycle tour of Eire we visited the far West of….and to use it’s more ancient name… Ciarraighe – Whilst there we stood transfixed watching a terrific Atlantic storm, as I had done so many years ago when involved in a student exchange. It was during that visit when painting really started to become something….more…the experience has stayed with me over the years and there are no words to give it it’s proper import. It always has been a deep connection with nature…..and my roots……
For quite a while I thought this painting was finished…..well I had another chat with it over the last few weeks and brought it more into for want of a better word……focus. This is the second painting about our cycle tour of Eire.
Can’t wait to go back……
Amharclann An Tsolais. Ciarraighe . Eireann. Oil on canvas 86×104 cm 2020