This woman, in this room? Unimaginable just four years ago. She was in prison, in Iran. And - more trivially - I couldn’t have dreamed that I would be doing a solo show of my art. (Hello Reader. This is my newsletter.) You may recall that in 2021 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard went on hunger strike outside the Foreign Office in London. He was protesting at the UK government’s failure to get his wife released. I went to see him. I wasn’t on assignment or anything. It was just me,...
19 days ago • 2 min read
A weird thing happened after I booked the venue for my solo art show: blood drained from my fingers, turning them yellow. They tingled painfully. I took photos to show my wife: After an hour, the blood rushed back and the fingertips went purple. (Hello Reader. This is my newsletter.) If you don’t know already, I’m doing my first-ever solo art show, at a gallery in Hampstead. I’ve loved it, but also panicked a lot. I think that must explain the fingertip thingy. Tomorrow is the last day....
20 days ago • 2 min read
I got some terrific replies to yesterday’s email. Thank you for being so kind, and funny, and wise. I’ve done a lot of the things I need to do. Other things will simply have to remain undone. I’m taking the pictures to Burgh House shortly, where I’ll probably write a description of them all by hand and stick that on the wall too. I may make some videos, probably for my Instagram, but who can tell. Great News This morning I received a Whatsapp message from K., a reader of this newsletter who...
24 days ago • 1 min read
Sorry, I know it’s COMPLETELY unacceptable to send out a newsletter just 15 minutes after the last one - but the fact is that I’m feeling really nervous right now. I’ve got 24 hours to get all my magnolia pictures together - I keep remembering new ones. Then decide which ones to show at the gallery - private view is TOMORROW - and which ones to leave out. I need to make a list of them all, with prices, and write something about "Me, The Artist”. Then make printed copies of it all to hand out...
25 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Could I be better at planning ahead? Yes. For instance: I have a solo show of my magnolia pics in London next week, and only now am I announcing it. “Save The Date!”, he says, with two days to go. Cue hollow laughter. But there we are. (Hello Reader. This is my newsletter.) I’ve been planning this for years. Each spring - more or less before anything else comes out - the magnolias go ping! with their great prehistoric lightbulbs and I wander around the streets of Hampstead making...
26 days ago • 1 min read
Today’s date: 22 Jan 2025 Hello Reader This is the January newsletter for Special Projects members. Thank you for being one. Writers Support Group Thursday (tomorrow!): 12.30pm and 6pm. Zoom LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7115311619?pwd=wta0p6xSe094BJRc6SITM66aN8rglx.1 Meeting ID: 711 531 1619 Passcode: 349566 Behind the scenes: Portrait of Patrick Patrick M. is retiring at the end of this month. I asked if I could make a portrait of him in his office before he leaves. He was keen, he said,...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Today’s date: 17 Dec 2024 Hello Reader This is the December newsletter for Special Projects members. Thank you for being one. THIS WEEK(!) Writers Support Group Brought forward, this month only, to avoid Christmas. Thursday at the usual times: 12.30pm and 6pm. Zoom LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7115311619?pwd=wta0p6xSe094BJRc6SITM66aN8rglx.1 Meeting ID: 711 531 1619 Passcode: 349566 Behind the scenes: WRITING I went to a book launch last week - a book of photos by Don McCullin. I can’t say...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Yesterday I told you that my late father in law, Jack, could distinguish between 50 to 60 industrial grades of paper. That got me thinking. Recently, on LinkedIn, I mentioned that printed newspapers still seem wonderful to me - even accounting for stories and opinions within them that I don’t like so much. One of the people who commented on my LinkedIn post made an interesting distinction between digital media and putting something on paper. Print demonstrates a commitment, he said. There’s a...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader Yesterday I sent out a newsletter confirming that the next Writers Support Group takes place on 28 November (at 12.30 and 6pm UK). Someone gently pointed out that I have previously suggested, somewhere or other, that it would take place on 21 Nov. Aaargh. . [ Flintoff takes a breath. ] . Sorry for the muddle. . Where possible (not December, what with Christmas) I'd like to stick to the Fourth Thursday each month. So please join me on 28th November. BUT as it happens I was already...
4 months ago • 1 min read