the pleasure, passion,power and panache of painting

21
above: large studio painting of the Sea, in the process
of helping to ‘drown out politicians’, inside Partrick head...
As the Editor of Tubes I often make trips to visit artists studios, sometimes unannounced, and very occasionally I am
lucky to view some fantastic paintings, ones that are totally unexpected. This was the case in my recent visit to London
and the Make Space Studios in Lambeth. I’d gone there to catch up with Laurence Causse Parsley, a gifted artist who was
featured in issue #5 (Landscape..from Poussin to today). After we chatted for a while about her recent work, she gave me
a guided tour of the large building which housed up to twenty artists or so.
Laurence escorted me round the labyrinth of corridors, gently tapping on various doors to introduce me to those artists
that were behind them. It was one of those days wintery days in London, the kind that, if you need not venture out then it
was better to stay in and watch You Tube videos.
The skin-penetrating drizzle was driven by a biting wind, which was enough to put off most of the artists from journeying
to Lambeth. However one of the artists that made the journey daily, rain or shine, was Patrick Blower. Laurence tapped
on his door, and a voice shouted “come-in:”
As I walked into his studio his out-stretched hand was married with a broad smile, which immediately endeared me to
him. I spoke a few a words to introduce myself, he reacted to my short personal introduction with “You’re a Manc.” (sic:
someone born in the City of Manchester, North West England, ‘Manc’ being a specific term to identify place of birth and
specific culture). Patrick’s accent was soft, with a definite southern twang. His quick witted, almost caustic humour was
however totally natural and inoffensive.
It came as a surprise to me, to learn later, he was actually born in Brussels (1959) to a Belgian Mother and a British
Father. He says...
“...his head is in London, his heart is in Europe and his balls
are somewhere over the North Sea.”