Braving 'Black Friday' to head in to Glasgow to deliver a couple of prints. If you're in town, head in to Cafe Wander, relax with a coffee and have a wee keek at my sketches. Thank you to the buyers from Home and Abroad who have already purchased some! See if you can spot this little sleepy rabbit whilst you're in!
Hope you're having a creative day and i'll see ye tomorra! Davy It's been a very busy day painting, but i still managed to squeeze in a couple of minutes for sketching. I'm trying to come up with a little cat character hence the flurry of felines. I'll probably end up drawing couple of hundred different versions before i find the one who speaks (or miaows) to me! Hope yer having a creative day and i'll see ye tomorra!
Davy Today was the day of the chancellor's 'Autumn Statement' and by god the thumbs were out in force. You know what I mean - that gesture that so many politicians do that's supposed to make them look like they are really impressing an important point to the interviewer or audience, but in reality makes them look like they have all been trained by the same media guy. Today the thumb gesture has been matched with the new mantra "match ready for brexit" - i've heard at least four different politicians say that today.
It's just the latest soundbite in a long list over the past few years. Honestly, you know those dolls that you used to pull the string out at the back and it would say three or four phrases - well that's what it's like watching some of these politicians. I feel a series of art pieces coming up to explore this. Hope you're having a creative day and i'll see ye tomorra! Davy Ah, I remember my first time hearing 'Les Micerables'. An absolute triumph of a mousical, telling an enthralling story of tasty cheese, mousetraps, and the triumph of the mice spirit against overwhelming odds. Of the relentless chase through the decades of the kindly Jean Camembert by Inspector Gruyere. Today we celebrate 31 years of Cameron Mousekintosh's legendary production! Hope you're having a creative day and i'll see ye tomorra!
Davy No one really knows who the Meowna Lisa was. Meowonardo da Vinci never gave her secret away, but there she sits smiling enigmatically. Some scholars have thought she was perhaps the young wife of the Duke of Purrbino, some that she was Meowonardo's scullery maid. One day maybe her secret identity may be discovered, but i must admit i prefer the mystery.
Hope you're having a creative day! Davy Dancing With The Apple Stars!On Friday morning I was in no mood for any more frustration with Apple. I mean, it was only one wee charger I needed replaced, plus it was only 6 months old, if that, and i'd already spent a day with online support trying to make things happen - Like I say, they were fantastic and polite...but we were stuck in cement as far as getting things resolved quickly - read about my experience here.
I had woken up to the news that Leonard Cohen had died so it kinda took the wind out my sails - check here for my wee tribute to him. I had said in Part 1 that I was just going to head in to the Apple store at Braehead to see if I could get the charger replaced. The reasoning was that last time a charger blew, I had gone into the Glasgow Apple Store and received outstanding service - I was in and out within 5 minutes, with a shiny new charger in hand. I had asked how much it would cost, only to be waved away with, "Ach it's no trouble, at all, it's free!". If I had bought that charger it would have been £60! That really is how to encourage brand loyalty - since then i've bought the iPad Pro, the apple pencil, and the mac mini, and Final Cut Pro X and Motion for video editing, and also encouraged my flatmate to buy a mac mini. I'm honestly not one of those dedicated apple fanboys, I just like the fact that their products work! My macbook pro was a mid 2009 model and was still working to late 2015 until I sneezed a whole cup of coffee over it - even then, after pouring the coffee out, it still worked, though I needed to use a plug in keyboard. It's still in a bag..just in case...but I digress. So anyway, back to Friday, and it's probably around midday I head in to the apple store.I looked for the till points...but couldn't see any - i'm not sure if they even have till points. I also couldn't see an info point. To be honest the adrenalin was running a bit high thinking i'd have to 'argue my case' from soldier level right up to 'high command'. I ended up going to the sales rack and taking a group of chargers over to a table, then did my best 'i'm looking lost' face - which looked cute when i was younger, but nowadays is more likely to get me sat down with a cup of tea and a biscuit, and an 'are you okay dearie?" There were quite a few staff waltzing around which was great, though, and to me, it reminded me of those old American Taxi Dance Halls during the depression where you could buy a ticket to dance with someone. No, i'm not that old, but I did see a 'Cold Case' episode about it. Anyway a happy looking member of staff was pirouetting by till I cha-cha'd in front of him (some moves, right!). He stopped with a ball change, then followed up with a 'closed change' to check out my charger, which i had unfurled in front of his widening eyes with a flourish. He laid it across the table and measured it. I had asked about a replacement - I mean, the charger looked to be in working order, but the passage of time had worn out the inside cable. "It'll be no problem" he said. In my head I was thinking "what..no argument..no, oh I don't know..how rough have you been with your charger" But no, it was 'No problem, I'll just get my colleague to have a look at it for you". What a waste of adrenalin I had built up. I said thanks to him as he bossa-nova'd away (I didn't get his name, just that he was from the Canaries, so if he ever reads this - thank you). My dance card was then stamped by Paul, A tall fellow Scot, and again just as friendly. "It's really no problem", he explained, "Aye if ye bring it in and it looks like yer dogs chewed it tae bits then it might be different, but there's no probs with this one". I did a little 'sailor's hornpipe' in celebration. Tall Paul then ripped out his charger, unwound it and then agreed to let me plug it in so I could give my iPad some juice. After sooking up some energy, Tall Paul salsa-d back over for a final wee chat. I explained to him about the online suggestion of 'mailing in' the charger, and obviously I can see why someone who can't physically see the condition of the charger needs to ask for this to happen. "Just come in here whenever ye need to. We're aye ways happy to help" he says. We shook hands, bowed to each other, Tall Paul breakdanced away (doing the robot, i think) , and I left, tap dancing out the shop with a spring in my step, like Sammy Davis Junior. So the moral of the story - when something goes wrong, go see the guys face to face, especially if you're in a hurry. That's twice i've needed them and they've been outstanding. Remove the middleman, as polite and well-meaning as they are. Oh and the robotic automated woman on the telephone line, that sounded like Mrs Doubtfire but couldn't understand my own Scottish accent...well, give the job to a real live person - it'll mean another wage coming in to someone's house! Davy Leonard CohenSuch sad news to hear of Leonard Cohen's passing today.
I first came across Leonard's music when I was a young teenager and found one of my brothers mix tapes. I had managed to get a 'hand me down' personal stereo and audio cassettes being thin on the ground you would listen to each others collections as well as taping songs from the radio. Well, towards the end of the tape came this voice singing 'So Long Marianne' and i was entranced. I think it was the 'gypsy boy' reference that got me. To me, at that time, I thought I was some kind of 'gypsy boy' slowly realising I was that wee bit 'different' in the gay sense. Obviously Leonard Cohen's music speaks to all of us, in many different ways. Like all art we bring our own experiences, our own part of the story to intertwine with the lyrics that he has already laid out for us. About three years ago I painted the image above as a tribute to him, from a suggestion by my flatmate - a huge Leonard Cohen fan. To me, it sums up Leonard Cohen, a simple hat signifying so much more - the crown of the 'Lord of Song', the 'King of the Gypsy Boys', and laid down wherever he called home. Leonard Cohen's hat surrounded by words from 'Famous Blue Raincoat' - "And Thanks For The Trouble You Took', which today, is my way of thanking Leonard for letting all us gypsy boys, and girls, share in his wonderful story. Davy On A White Charger...*Update - Part 2 of this odyssey "Apple Juiced!" can be found here.
I love my wee iPad Pro, but jeezo, things are turning into a bit of an odyssey in trying to get Apple to swap over my faulty charger cable for a new working one. What is it with apple chargers - the one from my Macbook Pro blew up on me - yup, flame, flash, bang and smoulder, and now this one which is only a few months old, say 26 weeks, more or less, is doing that thing where it stops charging until you either pinch it or hold it up at a certain angle to the equator and spin round and howl at the moon. So far today i've been accompanied on the adventure by 6 different people - 1 Argos helper, then 1 Argos online chat fella and 1 Argos online chat Manager, then 1 Apple support line guy, then 1 Apple virtual reality automated robot woman, who claimed to understand full sentences, and even though she had a Scottish accent herself, she simply couldn't understand my West Coast lilt. And finally 1 online Apple twitter helper who I think was in America, Outer Mongolia, or circling the earth on the good ship 'Granny Smith'. Let me just say here and now that each of these 'live' people were fantastic, helpful and friendly, and it's not them that i'm frustrated with, rather that Apple's system itself seems to be overly complicated to get a replacement charger. Talking to 'Mrs Robot Woman', however, was like a cross between the Two Ronnies 'computer Dr' routine, and the Burnistoun 'lift' comedy sketch. I encountered 'Mrs Robot Woman' when I tried to phone the Braehead Apple store directly thinking that maybe someone in my own time zone rather than Mrs Robot Woman's twilight zone might be able to help me better. But each time I got her, and each time when I tried to speak in the space where i had to leave my 'complete' sentences, she would cut me off. I knew then that one of us would 'lose the rag', so i decided to head back to twitter. "But, Why not just go to the Apple shop?" I hear you cry'. Well, the sad fact is that I was told by the telephone support that I could go to the apple store and "if they had time they might help me". Now I use my iPad Pro every day for business and being without it interrupts my workflow, therefore the word 'might' just does not cut it with me, especially when it would take the same amount of time for an Apple assistant to sell me a new charger as it would be to swap one over. The phrase "if they have time" also rankled me - especially since i've spent, and encouraged others to spend a fair few thousand pounds on Apple products over the past few years. I've never once encountered an Apple assistant too busy to sell me something! I should add here that Apple support did give me a couple of options - 1. They would take money from my bank account and mail a charger out to me, and put the money back in my account when they received (and presumably tested) the faulty charger. (3 to 5 days completion) 2. I could mail in the faulty charger, and then they would mail out a new charger. (3 to 5 days completion) 3. I could go to a service centre 'near me', by which they meant Stirling. Now i'm in Johnstone and a Stirling round trip would be a good few hours to complete and i'd probably spend as much on train fares as I would to buy a new charger. 4. They could fix me an appointment in the Braehead store for the 16th of November. It's a charger..one simple little wire! I'm not asking for one to be constructed freshly by free-range artisans out of brambles and twigs in a tumbledown cottage in Glencoe! - just one off the shelf will do me! Since the very beginning I emphasised that I was going to be in Braehead tomorrow anyway so could be in and out the shop in five minutes flat - just put one aside! So the stage i'm at is thinking i'll go in and talk face to face tomorrow. I worked in retail for years and appreciate good customer service when it happens. When my Macbook Pro charger blew up, burnt the carpet and scared the cat, I walked into the Apple Glasgow store and within 5 minutes had a replacement charger in my hand - now that's the kind of service I want to see repeated, and exactly the goodwill that promotes customer loyalty to a brand.. However, that was about three years ago now and tomorrow i'll find out if standards have fallen or if i'll be pleasantly surprised. Tune in next time and i'll give a fair appraisal of the in store treatment I receive. The next part can be found here - "Apple Juiced!" Davy What's an artist supposed to look like? It's something i had to ask myself today as i had to set up a self timed photograph to mount on the wall next to my work in Cafe Wander. You know the kind of thing - the serene artist sitting in his studio, maybe with a brush lightly touching the canvas. Perhaps i should go the whole hog and wear a smock and to top it off a beret at a jaunty angle too - well I did see a wee cartoon bear dressed like that on a colouring book i had as a child...with a huge palette and brush too! But then this happened... Aye...the wee monkey led me astray!
Hope you're having a creative day and i'll see ye tomorra! Davy It's a busy day of framing and mounting today for the Cafe Wander exhibition, and i'm doing it using some fine pink gloves to keep my wee fingerprints off the images. I actually went out to buy the wee white cotton gloves...but the chemist only had pink ones left - i'm a picture framing dandy! I'll let you know when they are up on display and you can go in for a wee keek. Hope yer having a creative day and i'll see ye tomorra!
Davy |
Whit's he up tae noo?The blog posts of David Brodie, a Scottish artist based near Glasgow. Archives
October 2018
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