Bacon and beans...

Somewhere between The Archers and growing runner beans I seem to have lost my way. Whatever happened to that angry young man who was going to set the world on fire with his big ideas. Now it seems that rather than angry, I’m just slightly grumpy and a little tired of being even that. Turns out those big ideas of mine weren’t so very big after all.

Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis as I slip towards old age, but I can’t help feeling a little peeved that I didn’t achieve a lot more. Oh, I’ve done some things; had a more interesting life than many I suppose, but I always imagined that I might do something, even one thing, that was truly great.

Twenty two years ago today Francis Bacon died. As a teenager I discovered his work and, whilst at first it repulsed me in lots of ways, I soon understood what a master of the paint he was. I remember feeling very sad when he died. He didn’t really start painting until his mid-30’s, not knowing if he could paint well enough he made a living out of interior decoration. It wasn’t until he found a theme, which in my mind is simply meat, that his real work began, and just look at what he achieved.

Now, I’m no Francis Bacon but I can paint a little and if I could find my theme who knows what I might come up with. Maybe if I tried I might find whatever it is that seems to be missing for me at the moment.

Maybe instead of meat, vegetables, with just a hint of bacon, could be my theme.