Someone wrote in my Facebook group (Russell dorey’s studio):

“I’ve seen somewhere a piece of your work including a pair of spectacles. Would you ever use the same ‘prop’ twice?”

( Only a heap of broken images. 32″ x 38″ cay 569 )

Yes. I would and I do. I’m like a dog with a bone when I find a new object. Nearly ten years ago I started to need glasses and I liked these because the wire frames already look as though they are a line drawing, and they only cost 99p from ESK in Hastings. I bought a handful at a time and had a drawer full of glasses. Then I used them in at least half a dozen paintings where they often appeared with the blue cup (although rumors of a relationship, of anything beyond a strictly professional coupling were denied)

(detail)

I’ve always kept a cast of objects to use as characters in Still Lives but I’ve tried not to allow myself to repeat the same idea so that it becomes a gimmick.

( The cry of the Commuter. 12″ x 16″  cat 635 )

However, just a couple of years ago someone wanted a painting that I had already sold and I suggested that I make her, not a copy, but another version. It took me weeks, was difficult but I found that in attempting another version of a painting I was not repeating myself. I discovered that it was a new discipline.

( Sassoferrato’s Virgin.  14″ x 14″  cat 579 )

After that I allowed myself to make versions of The Blue Cup and The Tape Measure painting.

( Screaming Woman. 10″ x 12″  cat 657 )