Done with errors

Daddy [Hears noise outside and opens the window to see what’s going on]: “Hey, come in and change you two. You can’t rollerskate in your pajamas.”

Child #1: “It’s the weekend, dude.”

Child #2 [looking at her sister and then at me]: “We don’t like boys. They do a farty at us.”

Saw this exhibition yesterday. http://www.victoriagal.org.uk/exhibitions/future_exhibitions/andrew_hardwick.aspx

The wife had pointed me towards the gallery but had meant for me to like the main exhibition (which I found good, but a bit twee) whereas I thought she had picked out Andrew Hardwick’s work for me to see.  It’s rare that I use the chairs in a gallery but I sat down for a good 15 minutes to look at these paintings.

They are textural, mixed media paintings of very bleak landscapes and are completely mesmerising. At first they look to be in that instantly familiar style of people who do streaky, expressive landscapes but Mr Hardwick’s paintings have a lot more to them. He seems to have done parts of them on paper in rich detail and stuck them on the canvas along with rocks, netting and rubbish before painting with broad strokes around them.

The result is a feeling of great depth as your eyes focus on different parts of the painting. Focusing on the detail and then unfocusing to take in the overall feel of the larger areas of sky, land and sea. Completely mesmerising.

Child #1: “An elephant eats 2000 metergram of food each day.”

Child #2 [is talking to a cat. The cat meows. Then, excitedly points and says]: “He’s saying ‘hello’ in Cat French!”

[Daddy is reading a stiker book with Child #1 and trying to get them to read the easy words]

Child #1: “Can you read all of the words, please? It’s just I want to chop on with the stickers.”

Child #2 [pointing]: “Look! That car’s got its lid off!”