Wednesday 20 March 2013

BUDGET WIND UP


An icon of Britain and probably the most famous timepiece in the world, Big Ben towers over that infinitely less reliable institution and seat of British Government, the Houses of Parliament. Famously regulated by the adding or taking away of pennies to its mechanism Big Ben is used all over the world as a symbol for marking the new year.


The British economy is likewise watched the world over and regulated by the adding and taking away of pennies. Once a year the press gets into a lather of speculation and the public into a stupor of indifference whilst those MPs not too inebriated to leave the duty free commons bar trundle into the chamber with all the exuberance of a gang of stockbrokers visiting a strip club.

The Budget is presented by the Chancellor of the day live on national television with all the gimmicks and showmanship he can muster. The MPs harrumph and guffaw appropriately, the heavyweights of the government squeeze in around him cosily and a jolly old time is had by all.

It is of course a total sham. The Chancellor is picked for his maleabilty capabilities and has as little knowledge of how the economy actually works as a sea cucumber does of quantum physics. The average MP doesn't know his GDP from his RPI and the whole thing is cobbled together from stolen school maths exam papers and whatever can be retrieved from the hard drives of rusty old Civil Service computers after the vice squad have finished with them.

The penny slapped on a pint of beer and the penny "slashed!" from the litre of petrol will make the next day's tabloid headlines and the obscure, barely mumbled "reform" of XYZ duty that will actually crap all over the average person's disposable income will not be discovered or unscrambled until the weekend Budget Special pull-outs. By which time England will have been thrashed at a sports event and some celebrity will have climbed out of a car with no knickers on, commending the budget to the dustbin.

The whole event is really just a chance for those who can be bothered, to watch their local MPs reacting in the glow of publicity radiating around the Chancellor; raising a querulous eyebrow, frowning speculatively, looking outraged and generally hamming it up whenever a camera comes in range. This is in stark contrast to everyday parliament "live" on television which consists usually of some obscure geriatric backbencher droning away interminably surrounded by a "doughnut" of wannabes, the remaining half a dozen MPs sleeping off last nights excesses on the plush green benches.

The Budget is like a cut-away window to the intricate inner workings of a stately grandfather clock - the glitter of wheels whirring away conveniently disguising the fact that the rest of the case is just a pretty empty box filled with a old rope and swinging lead.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Monet, Monet, Monet - its a rich man's world...

As the winter drags on and the coins freeze together in people's pockets, Ryepress is having to make some radical financial decisions! High street shops are having a pretty tough time of it and, galleries, being bottom of the food chain get the spiky end of the stick. Sitting huddled over the halogen heater in the studio it has been like a Kamikazi pilot's reunion supper - very few turn up!
So, not to be left behind in the dust and chip wrappers by John Lewis and all those big chains who enjoyed bumper christmas profits flogging sparkly touchscreen gizmos I have laid my paints, pencils and prints aside for a while and have been instead punching the pad and pushing pixels. The Ryepress website has been given a thorough going over and I have been exploring new ways to eke a living out of the ether. 

An interesting article on affiliate marketing from the Guardian caught my attention and I have joined several programmes namely Amazon Associates and Affiliate Window and have been experimenting with adding links etc to my various sites. The idea is you incorporate ads or links from your site to stuff they do or sell and if anyone buys anything you get a commission.

It may not make me rich quick but it might make me poor slow!

Thursday 21 February 2013

B*** me! its now nearly five years since I posted anything on this site! Well... dust off the cobwebs and the pigeon crap. I'm back! Since that last post I have done buckets load of new work including a load of Nudes  - (that'll wake a few of you up!) Starting with this one,,,,


Fallen Angel ....(Red)

It has been a while since I wrote anything but my partner has just started up a blog  and I thought it was about time I re-surected this one! My Information site about Printmaking is going great guns and the new gallery is ... hanging on so its about time I filed you all in!