Great?

I thought quite a lot yesterday about the meaning of great. What is great? There are the obvious ones Alexander the Great, Peter the Great, Great Britain and probably many more but who decided that these were great. My 6 year old granddaughter thinks that I am the "greatest artister" in the whole world so maybe I have already attained the greatness that I set out to achieve. I think she is great and probably one day so will everybody else.

At the moment I am getting ready for my first real solo exhibition in May. It is both exciting and daunting it seemed so far away when it was first discussed but now it is only a few months away I am starting to get those nagging self doubts that always seem to creep in. Will everything be ready, will it be good enough, will people like it the list is endless. I know that if you listen to artists like Damian Hirst and Tracey Emin they say that they don’t really care if people like it or not all they want is a reaction. I am not entirely sure that I believe them. Still at the end of the day if anybody wants to give me a million quid for one of my paintings I will not give a monkeys if they like it or not! While we are on the subject I have only just got up so my “unmade bed” is available along with “Unhoovered front room” and “dishwasher which needs emptying”. Also having spent quite a long time in the Army there are probably photos of me in private collections all over the world that would make Grason Perry look quite normal.

This is I think why people like me struggle in their endeavours to achieve greatness. In my opinion and it is only my opinion when a pair of dirty pants, a light going on and off or a cow cut in half and pickled in a glass case becomes great art you sometimes wonder why the hell you bother. Anyway enough ranting I have just noticed some sheep in a field which I think would look brilliant in a bed in a glass case turning the lights on and off dressed as women... great.

Me with my greatest fan!

28th January - Welcome to my Blog

Well here it is my first blog ever. 2011 I have decided is going to be a big year for me. I reached the age of 50 this month so it seemed like a good time to make some changes in my life. Recently I attended our social gathering of the Artists Network Bedfordshire during which the subject of blogging and its advantages were discussed. It seemed like a good way of increasing interest in my web site so I have decided to give it a go. I have read some blogs to give me an idea of what goes on, however if you want to know what I had for breakfast or many times I have visited the loo then this is probably not the blog for you.

I paint and have done for most of my life off and on. I have always had a burning ambition to become a great painter I know deep down that this is probably never going to happen and that If I am lucky enough to attain it, it will probably be like a lot of the great artists after I am dead and know nothing about it so why do I bother? The answer is simple I don’t know. I just have to paint. At the moment my greatest influences I would say are the Glasgow Boys. I worked in Scotland a few years ago and visited the Kelvingrove on quite a few occasions although at the time I was more interested in Rennie Mckintosh, but once inside the gallery it was hard not to notice the pure genius of the group and since then I have been a fan. I had hoped to go to the Royal Academy in London and see the exhibition that is running at the moment however work and life gets in the way so maybe next time.

I don’t know what else to add at the moment but I am sure that I will soon anybody who knows me will tell you that I never shut up so be warned!

James Guthrie - Pastures New