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The Art Aak

The Art Aak Vertrouwen is the studio and gallery of the artist and sculptor Andrew Broughton-Tompkins. Visitors welcome....if you can find me...!!

12/02/2022

So... yesterday Fred oversaw the removal, finally, of the wreck of dreams that had been gathered together by forces unknown....the Benz that was consumed by arson. It was a moment of sadness and of relief, to see it go. It's companion in the flames, the trailer, may yet live again, though vultures were picking at its bones and stealing away with parts. The loss of the beautiful tipi will always be a heartfelt grief.
To clear up the mess was a struggle but a pleasure....and now Fred and I can move on in to new dreams. Spring is here with the snowdrops...the land is warming again under the breath of the sun and we are grateful for the blessings of life, however that comes.

18/05/2020

Moving swiftly on... More recent paintings... I'm busy working primarily with images of photos from my past work and charcoal drawings done some while ago... Its become very satisfying and a path is emerging.

06/05/2020

I'm sort of on a roll just now... As are a lot of arty folk... I'm working with a technique that is sort of wet in to wet... But is more a mindful slap it on and see what happens technique ...
There seems to be a correlation between the energy of the images and whats happening round about now... Generally I'm painting something to do with women and how fabulous they are despite the sh*te they have to put up with... And it seems possible also these images which are disrupted and actually deconstructed are to do with the news we are getting... The news we are allowed... And the consequent anger, frustration and despair that results... Who knows? Anyway, they are trials, working perhaps towards a large series...

22/04/2020

Oooo! Sorry everyone... It's been ages since I've posted anything, let alone anything to do with art! It was all shippy work and then i was travelling. This last winter has been a retreat period for me however, just a little journeying north from Paris during February to where I am now.... Geraadsbergen in Belgium.
I've done quite a bit of picture painting. Mainly concentrating on portraits as they are difficult and achieving a lifefull likeness is really a skill i want to have.
So... This isn't all of them... Posting a few later...

08/06/2019

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10217522147099708&id=1057671949

24/08/2018

Just some images i saw today...

19/08/2018

Sooo! Finally, after three and a half years... Ive started to paint in oil again...
I was feeling desperate... Totally lost my confidence... Forgotten what I once knew...
A horrid state to be in.
So i decided to copy one of my own pictures... The last i made before coming away... And here she is once again...
Its only a quick sketch.. Might do more... But much happier..

15/08/2018

So.... What's the Art Aak been up to this last month? Well, we were in Verdun, where the first world war happened big time for France... 800,000French lost their lives in an extraordinary landscape. The second world war also left its mark on the buildngs within the town... Bullet holes remain where brave resistance fighters were defending the bridge.
I stayed a month to build a small wheel house and complete the installation of a new wheel steering system. It was hot and got hotter, but i tried airbnb on board and ten people came.. Unlikely it'll happen again!
I was there during the Bastille day celebrations and of course the world cup on the very next day. France won... Fabulous.!!
Actually, it was of course 100 years since the war ended.... Really a pleasure to see France celebrating its victory!
Unfortunately, the news of the river water level was that very soon they would shut the passage south, so off i shot!
I found that even beyond the Meuse, the infrastructure is in a very poor way... Canals are clogged with weeds and the sides are collapsing. No sign at all of even basic maintenance...
I stopped a week or so near Nancy, starting to wonder what i was doing here and where i was going to be for winter...
Eventually an idea shimmied in to mind...
Go back to Harlingen!! A long way away in the very North West of the Netherlands...
So, ive come all this way, tried it, but am disappointed. Its just not interesting or exciting enough... I find all the shops are shut in the villages and all the buildings are rendered with cement... Which makes these once charming places so grim... Its expensive to live here and i find that I feel trapped in the river valleys... So, I've decided to go back and intend fitting mast and sails and maybe an electric motor, as I'm still having trouble from diesel smoke... It'll be a big change for the ship.... But one day Vertrouwen will be a sailing ship again..!

As soon as i made that decision, another two canals shut down due low water.... So i now have to make a round trip diversion of about 500km...at least three weeks, probably more....
So it'll be a trick to get all the way back north before it gets cold...!

01/06/2018

You know those perfectly formed knots and eye ropes you see on ships....and you think "how on earth do they do that?" Well, here is my first proper one after quite a lot of practice...and it's insanely easy.... Once you get the hang of it....

19/05/2018

So.... I was coming around a corner in the narrowest canal I've been on for a couple of years....and this came in to view.....! The not unexpected 600 meter first ever tunnel for me and my very large ship...
Very, very slowly we crept in to the shade....and just right then i discovered that the searchlight didnt work..! Crept along at minimal speed... Bumping in to one side or another...and eventually coming out in to the brilliant day again. Quite an ordeal creeping about under raw dripping rock.
Just a bit later, manoeuvring through a narrow bridge i tore off a brand new fender that as a set has cost me very dear... So i stop to try and capture it. Not easy at all as its windy and theres a current flowing...
Just then a pair of small Dutch boats appear and i point at my floaty fender trusting they will pick it up for me and bring it back as its obviously a difficult task for me... Well the lady picks it up out of the water... And then throws it back in again behind her...! I could not believe it.!! Anyway, the other boat comes along and picks it up.....and then disappears off down the canal with it..!!! 60 euros!!
Well i swore and swore and swore...and poor little Sam crept off up to the front as he doesn't like that sort of language...
Apparently i can pick it up at the next lock when i return in a couple of days. Unbelievable..!
The day has ended well tho...
Artichoke with garlic butter and chilled brut cava.... with watermelon and chocolate for afters... I'm loving it.... But there's a lot to learn in this narrow gauge canal network.... Got to get my headlamps and searchlight working. Theres a lot more tunnels from here....

18/05/2018

So.....! The Art Aak....!!!
Its been ages since i posted here...
Ive been busy. Its my excuse and it's true.
The Art Aak and Sam and i just crossed the border in to France and we're now moored up in Givet...
This journey in to france has been a long held dream of living and travelling on the French waterway system which is vast and very beautiful.
So...now my ship is ready, what's going to be happening on board.?
Well, in a couple of days my very good friend Erica will come with one of her friends for a short painting or drawing expedition. I'm rather hoping this will inspire me, as its now three full years i have made no artwork at all. All my efforts have been directed in to rebuilding the ship..
Ive very little idea what kind of art i will make, other than a general plan for oil glaze painting and maybe small sculpture.... Though there was a chance for a life size bronze commission a while back.
So we'll see. I'll be starting the art soon... So i invite you to watch this space.!!
If you fancy an art trip, or just a break away on the good ship Vertrouwen... Get in touch.

28/03/2018

Samdog and i need to get back to france on the ferry... After the 30th. Anyone got a spare seat please... Just for the crossing....

Adres

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