Phacoemulsification of cataract with intraocular lens implantation #2

I've been posting on an irregular basis recently due to the need to keep giving my eyes a lengthy rest because I'm at the "inbetween stage" with respect to my surgery for cataracts.

My new lens in my left eye

My left eye was operated on three weeks ago and at present I've not got any glasses which work properly for both eyes - hence the need to remove them for long periods and NOT stare at a screen - even with enlarged text!

My second "phacoemulsification of cataract with intraocular lens implantation" - this time on my right eye - takes place at Moorfields Eye Hospital this afternoon (fingers crossed and touching wood!).  Happily I will be 'asleep' at the time.

This means blogging will continue to be patchy until I'm back to 'normal vision'.

I have to wait six weeks for both new lenses to "bed in" before I can get new prescription glasses for reading and computer work in early July.  Until then I'm hoping my existing glasses will work better once both eyes have the same sort of lens - but I may find I still can't stare at the screen for long.

The huge plus point so far is it has been absolutely brilliant to be able to see artwork properly again with my left eye. I'm really looking forward to going to exhibitions and having two new bionic eyes which see proper colour and tone!

PS The good news is I'm getting much better at the eye drops routine - so long as I can lie down!

PPS I'm off to hospital in less than an hour so the review of the Rory McEwen exhibition will have to wait until I get back.

PPPS  Don't look up phacoemulsification of cataract unless you have a strong stomach!  I try not think about it.....
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UPDATE:  See Day surgery sketching at Moorfields Eye Hospital

A day in the life of botanical artist Rory McEwen

Rory McEwan The Colours of Reality
cover of the exhibition catalogue

Today I found out why people rave about the botanical art of Rory McEwen.  I went to the The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens to visit two new exhibitions:

• Rory McEwen The Colours Of Reality (11 May to 22 September 2013)
• Rory McEwen’s legacy - Artists influenced by him in the Shirley Sherwood Collection (13 April 2013 - January 2014)

and also to hear a talk by Dr Shirley Sherwood about the two exhibitions.

More of this tomorrow after I've sorted through my notes - including those of an interview with Dr Sherwood

Today I'm going to post the details of a say in the painting life of Rory McEwen.  After his death in 1982, his family found a log of his the days spent painting botanical art.  It's in the exhibition and it's a real education to review.

Here's his timeline for Friday 6th February 1981

• 9.45 - 12.30 Central Park Leaf
• 12.30 - 1.20 Started F Melagris 12" x 9.5" (this is a fritallary)
• 2 - 4 Central Park Leaf
• 4 - 5.30 F. Meleagris
• 5.30 - 6.30 Started William Lobb Rose
• 6.30 - 8 Grayling Butterfly

A little further along in his journal he records the total time taken to complete Central Park Leaf as being 47 hours 30 minutes.

His work is absolutely amazing.  He has also been a very influential artist in terms of his impact on contemporary botanical artists.

Here's a video about his work



I highly recommend this exhibition to all botanical art lovers and all professional botanical artists through to students of botanical art. This is a really important retrospective - of which more tomorrow

Note:  the image at the top is the cover of the exhibition catalogue - also highly recommended.  the colour reproduction is superb.  You can buy it via Amazon
USA - Rory McEwen Colour of Reality
UK - Rory McEwen: Colours of Reality

My copy is now signed by Shirley Sherwood!

Who painted this? #28

I was merrily starting this blog post when I noticed that the bottom right hand corner of the picture contained the artist's signature.  Whoops!  It doesn't any more!  Isn't Photoshop wonderful?

Who painted this? #28

How many times have artists painted peppers?  Is there a new way of painting peppers?  I'll be very interested to know how you get to this one.......

The answers will be posted in next week's Who painted this? #29

How to participate in "Who painted this? #27"

PLEASE make sure you read the rules before posting a comment - and ONLY POST ON THIS BLOG what you think is the answer.

POLL: Artists - Have you made provision for a pension?

The topic most people seem least keen to talk about apart from death is pensions.  Artists are no exception.

Katsushika Hokusai, in an 1839 self-portrait
age 79

In fact if anything they seem less likely to talk about it because, unless they are prompted to do something, they get few reminders.  At least when in employment you see a deduction going into a pension pot each month!

The vast majority of artists have no private pension plans

I suspect that reasons why artists don't get to grips with pensions are various:

• the gobblydygook which masquerades as advice about pensions is a big reason for a lot of people
• Another reason is affordability - when artists don't make a lot of money from their art and hence have few resources with which to create a pension.  
• a belief, erroneous or otherwise, that artists never retire and can continue to make good art into their old age - hence no need for a pencion (Hokusai created his great works and became famous after the age of 60)
• a total disinclination to even think about pensions!

I'm guessing that one of the reasons that a lot of UK artists teach within state funded education is so that they can earn themselves a pension pot as most other people in employment do.

Artists Interaction and Representation (AIR) provided an update on their work re artists' pensions in December 2012.  They concluded thus

Key findings so far include:

• The Pensions for Artists research commissioned by Arts Council England in 2007 showed that 70% of artists (across all artforms) didn’t have a private pension.

• In the UK working population as a whole, 44% don’t have a private pension. It also showed that affordability is the key factor in whether artists save for their pensions, and that artists are twice as likely as the working population as a whole to earn under £10,000 a year.

• It is common within performing arts unions to offer pension schemes. The combination of the employer contribution and tax relief are powerful incentives for these members to opt in.

• However, given that 50% of artists nowadays are self-employed they would be the sole contributor to their own savings. This presents a significant challenge in creating an affordable, well-adopted scheme for visual and applied artists.

Making A Mark Poll - Pension provision for Artists

The Making A Mark Poll for May is about pension provision for artists.

It aims to provide a guideline as to what proportion of artists make provision for a pension.  The question and options are as below.

Artists - Have you made provision for a pension?

• Yes - I make regular payments into an artists pension plan
• Yes - I make contributions when "in funds"
• Yes - I'm an art teacher with a pension
• Yes - I have a regular job with a pension (use this one if already retired with a pension)
• Yes - I'm relying on a state pension 
• No - no spare cash for pension contributions
• No - I shall keep selling paintings until I drop
• No - I've no idea where to start or what to do
• No - I'd rather not think about it

You can find the poll in the right hand column.  The deadline for voting is 00:10 on 31st May and I'll try and report the poll results as soon as possible after that.

Pensions for Artists

Here's one useful link - the UK Government's State Pension Calculator for those who are paying National Insurance in the UK.  This tells you how much pension you can get from the State when you become eligible.  The full State Pension is £110.15 a week (£5,727 p.a.)

One of the things I'm also going to do this month is research what information is available online in connection with pensions and will produce a website so I can share that with you (a bit like my Art after death - Resources for Artists & Art Collectors website)

Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters - Annual Exhibition 2013

This is a belated posting of the rest of my review of the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.  It's essentially going to be a picture post as I'm having a few problems with vision and writing long posts right now. (I think I maybe overdid it a bit last week. I'm also beginning to wonder what it's going to be like after the second eye is done next Thursday!  Hopefully fewer headaches when using my eyes for close work!)

The key points I made a note of were:

• there seemed to be more of a mix this year between where the work by the RP members was located and where the work by artists from the open entry were hung

Private View of the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Main (West) Gallery

• I really liked the North Gallery.  It seemed to me to be very contemporary and where some of the more exciting and unusual portraits were hung.  It seemed to be very popular and very crowded - at least at the PV!  (I should add the exhibition in the Threadneedle Space was also decidedly very contemporary - you can see images of this in Jan Mikulka wins £20,000 SELF Portrait Prize) 

Portraits in the North Gallery

South Wall, Main Gallery

• By way of contrast, there were a few too many dull corporate portraits by RP members in the main West Gallery .  Maybe it was just that the subjects were a bit more of the grey suit brigade compared to some of the subjects in the North Galley.  (By its nature a lot of work done by portrait artists relates to commissions - find out more)