Everyday the sky is different.

 "There are a thousand things I can see! .............These simple little things are unbelievably rich.  A lot of people have forgotten that but you can remind them".

I'd like to talk about David Hockney!  To be honest, I hadn't really paid that much attention to Hockney, although he's hard to avoid if you have any interest in art at all!  I'd been to exhibitions in London, but as usual with big named artists, it was a frustrating experience.  Always too full of people to see anything and just annoying!  It was the same with Vincent (great Sunflowers) and more recently, with Cezanne.   

Now that I am in Bradford, I can see Hockney's morning, noon and night if I want to. (Some in Bradford can be a bit snotty about Hockney "There are other artists from Bradford, you know...") I am lucky to live near Saltaire, where there is a big collection.  Last summer I had the absolute joy to see Hockney's Spring Cannot be Cancelled at Salts Mill.  I loved it so much that I went about 6 times.  I did have a lot of visitors and they were always enthusiastic.  The thing about David Hockney is that he is joyful.  Happy to be alive and it shows in this 295ft work.  

I've just read Spring Cannot be Cancelled by David Hockney and Martin Gayford.  I had it for Christmas and read it through the dark days of winter.  It gave me hope and inspiration, both for my own practice and that spring would, indeed, not be cancelled and it was coming!!  

https://saltsmillshop.co.uk/collections/vendors?q=David%20Hockney%20and%20Martin%20Gayford

(Having said that, I write on March 7th and the forecast is for heavy snow 😀)

Of course, Salts Mill itself is amazing.  Look at the length of this room and this isn't the longest.  At the time Hockney was in Normandy, and stayed there to follow the seasons and draw all of them.  It's all there.  The winter trees, the buds, the blossom, the rain, the fruit trees, the hayrolls, the autumn and round again.  

The book is a conversation between Hockney and Martin Gayford.  "An uplifting manifesto that affirms art's capacity to divert and inspire". 

Here is a quote that I particularly loved: 

"...We have lost touch with nature, rather foolishly as we are a part of it, not outside it.  This will in time be over and then what?  What have we learned? I am almost 83 years old, I will die. The cause of death is birth.  The only realy things in life are food and love, in that order, just like our little dog Ruby, I really believe this and the source of art is love.  I love life".