Sunday 30 November 2008


Hispano Suiza

In the 50s this vintage Hispano was bought by a fellow student for the princely sum of £400. Yes, only two noughts ! It had once been owned by Count Zabrowski the racing driver. It had two cockpits with two windscreens and duplicated instruments. Supposedly it was to take four persons but we were able to stuff in many more to pay for the petrol,it would take about a gallon just to clear the garage forecourt. I think it was later sold for about the same amount. Another student friend bought an old Rolls-Royce for £40 and took it right round Spain and back then sold it for £45........ Sigh.

Saturday 29 November 2008

Essex marshes

A drawing by my brother Colin Grimes of one of our boats pulled up onto the grass island on the Pyefleet marshes near West Mersea in the late 40s. The boat was called Sudden Death due to us fitting a sail on what was supposed to be a rowing boat. Happy to say it didnt live up to its name but did result in a lot of involuntary swimming. Strood Villa can be seen in the background.

Wednesday 26 November 2008

JITTERBUG


Am green with envy for some of this stuff

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Bella and the dog


While we have been on the subject of Mersea Island here is a rerun of that brilliant little film "Bella and the dog"from the stable of Musing on a muddy island " This will strike a chord for anyone who has walked the Essex marshes or owned a water loving and sometimes smelly black Labrador dog. See it to the end for the sting in the tail.


Saturday 22 November 2008

Strood Villa Mersea Island 1945

This is a Birdseye picture of Strood Villa bought by my family around 1945. it was on the edge of the marshes and was used as fortifications to guard the Strood causeway leading to Mersea Island during WW2. We had to de-fortify it which meant moving many hundreds of sandbags and several gun emplacements. It became a brilliant family home,a real life Swallows and Amazons to us children................drawn from memory by Colin Grimes.

Thursday 20 November 2008

boats


Oil on canvas painted 1949 at art school

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Charlie G

Making his mark

Tuesday 18 November 2008

Bhudda with thousand hands


Amazingly these Chinese dancers are all deaf

Monday 17 November 2008

Sunday 16 November 2008

Hull

Oil on board...painted around 1963 36x27 inches

Strictly come dancing meets Top of the pops


love it.

Saturday 15 November 2008

Studio photograph

Taken with an Olympus OM4 35mm film camera and further imaged on a Wacom tablet using Corel classic paint.

A new "Vincent"motorcycle

I would say the best looking motorcycle on the road,£35.000 and its yours, Psst
can anybody lend me some money ? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motorbikes/3458370/Quality-and-nostalgia.html

Crunch time


Friday 14 November 2008

woods

Oil on canvas painted sometime early sixties

Thursday 13 November 2008

My friend Mei

Trys her first Kimono for visit to shrine for Shichigosan

London

Early pen and ink

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Charleston


Who said the youngsters cant dance these days ?

Sunday 9 November 2008

oils

2008 oil on board
2001 oil on board

Saturday 8 November 2008

art



Grandson up for the Turner Prize

Friday 7 November 2008

early bikers

Douglas Motorcycles...................British Gels

Thursday 6 November 2008

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Saturday 1 November 2008

Bikers Moll ?

Not quite todays image