Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A British painter best known for bold, colourful abstract works with shapes like circles, stripes, and wedges.
On the island
Eight records
Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries
The Mills Brothers, The Boswell Sisters and Bing Crosby
I've never been allowed to sing, so I can't sing Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries, but I think it's terrific'cause life is like that, and they're nearly always good ones.
Well, my sons were at the Comprehensive in Bambury ... they did Oh, what a lovely war. Well, why they liked it, they could actually swear in one part, officially. And I remember them being so thrilled when they used that word bloody, you know.
I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
That's my dear wife, who's put up with me for over fifty years.
This is a sort of I'm doing this for dear old Alan Lowndes who was supposed to be a naive painter. Naive, wonderful painter.
When my Merit some of my American friends come over and stay with me ... In the morning for breakfast, I just put that record on. I don't want anything else, I just have that. And I know that it makes everybody feel better.
Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, K. 537, 'Coronation' (1st Movement)
Rafael Orozco, English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit
I was asked to do by Harvey's wine people ... to do The covers for their c records. And I listened to quite a few, and I like this one the best.
Tea for TwoFavourite
Max Bygraves with Victor Silvester and his Orchestra
Now that's a very special one for me because my old friend Roger Hilton ... Before he died, when he'd had a stroke, I went in to see him and he knew that I knew that he was going to die. and he tried to sing that for me, which I thought was fantastic.
In conversation
Presenter asks
7:34How did you come across art in the [prisoner of war] camp?
Uh well, um we had a uh an oboe. You know, tramp. ... And he used was a wonderful story teller ... And he could also draw caricatures. And so I tried to do caricatures,'cause I knew I could draw at school. ... But I couldn't do caricatures, I could get a likeness. So immediately I got a likeness. Everybody wanted one. And so I then did my bartering.
Presenter asks
13:40How did you react when you got true freedom [after the war]?
Well, the May Blossom was out, you can tell what that's like. That was the most tremendous tummy feeling from the scent and the look was marvellous, the May Blossom. But you see, you didn't get any counseling or anything like that. All you got was egg, bacon, fried bread, sausage, the lot. Great.
Presenter asks
19:53What did you do for Barbara Hepworth?
Oh well, we were doing contrapuntal form for the Fifty One Festival. ... And I worked on the stone. ... I could carve, you see. But she taught me real carving. If you couldn't ease up for a second with Barbara, she was a tartar, ruthless tartar.
The keepsakes
The book
I would like to take lots of sheets, a blank book. Because I've always had a problem with imagination and memory.
The luxury
I thought I'd take a mirror, so that I could have somebody to talk to and have a curse at now and again.
Presenter asks
24:02What kinds of places inspired you and why?
Cyprus is the place that I think that uh inspired me the most because I think it was the attitude of the people and the feeling of the space And the fact of uh the sun and the moon. I mean, I've I've done lots of things between two gods because I walked out one morning early for a pee and the sun was just coming up and the moon was up. So for a moment I knew that I was between two gods.
Presenter asks
31:40How much did that knighthood mean to you?
Well, it was a bit of a knockout, actually. I never expected anything at all. I mean, after all, if you've got to eighty two and nothing's happened, you know nothing is going to happen.
“If when I fan ed I could do 365 [yellows]. I then could do that with reds and blacks. And blacks indeed, a lot of blacks indeed. And that was the most important thing I found out. But you find that out by trying and practicing.”
“When you say that's right, that's good. I mean that's where most of the crap comes from, is by instant recognition. So you're not even looking at the painting, you're just saying it's a bunch of flowers or three apples on a plate or what have you. But you're not really looking.”
“I think if you don't make a contribution to art Then you should pack it up, you know. Just carry on painting your roses and dried oranges.”
“If I didn't know that to do, I'd be ill. I'm never ill if I'm working. I'm only ill when I'm not working. Then I then you think about all your aches and pains. If you're working, there's nothing wrong.”