An unexpected visit to an unusual venue set off a few ripples on the surface of the Eternal Stream last week. I’d never explored the Coventry Museum of Transport before, and when I was dragged there by an enthusiastic friend from the Coventry Arts Collective, I wasn’t expecting anything more than a brisk nose around and a grateful return to the daylight. But not only was it fascinating, it planted some sort of seed in me that was to transform a painting that had been dozing quietly in my archive for well over a year. That piece was then called Solea, a response to a track on Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain album recorded in March, 1960. Solea is the Andalucian patois adjustment of Soledad which means Solitude, and the painting suited the mood of the music. I was quietly satisfied with it.
But I had taking several photos during our visit to the museum, one in particular of a dusty looking Second World War motor bike, and I played around with it in various ways and for several days. What I ended up with had a beautiful combination of the precise record I wanted of the structure, with a dose of distortion that eliminated its photographic qualities. And so, gibbering gently with excitement, I levered the doctored addition onto the unsuspecting Solea, almost literally putting wheels on it, and after a little more adjustment, some rotation and additional lightening effects, Solea found a deeper, darker groove, and became Solea Otra Vez ( Solitude once more ). Cue one happy bunny!