How ya'll doing? As an artist i like to get involved in a few different art forms. one of them is music. I wrote this song at a sad time but it served to help keep me strong. I've a revised version of it now my site.Its in the guest book page. just click on the juke box

If you guys Like it maybe i should consider putting it on a download for you, let me know.

Hope you enjoy it,

Merv

Well folks, the press release is finally being released to the public. As you know the deadline for the charity raffle is 30th october 2008 so come on people please lets try to raise some good money for the Rocking Horse.

I've made it a bit easier now to enter by text! yes all you have to do is text the word,,,,'now'  to 60155 and thats it! you still get your discounts off purchases when you text and so much less hassle for you if you really wanna help and enter the draw for your autographed Kylie Minogue painting. someones gonna have it in october and why shouldn't it be you?

So tell all your pals about it too, I know it's the credit crunch but we dont want any kids suffering for it so dig deep! text cost £3 although you can still buy online with a credit/debit card for just £2

I'm proud of ya all

merv  x

Hi everyone how are ya all doing? lets face it now, the summers all but done. we'll still get thte odd snippit of sun here and there but we may have to all go abroad to get it prolonged, never mind eh.I think the festivals are all closing for the year too and us in brighton have just celebrated our first festival, beach down festival up at devils dyke, unfortunatlely weather has been pants so i dont think it was that happy up there for the inhabitants in their tents,

My friend Hamish was at the reading festival this weekend as was he last year when the carling beer people placed  wristbands on people saying that if they wore it for a year they would get a free crate of carling beer this year! some feat eh? anyway my friend decided to go for this mammoth task of wearing this band for a whole year.

I watched him get dressed up to go out and stuff and he just kept this by now sweaty,grotty old wrist on and it was festering! stank it did. he never took it off and i was always saying to him that he is their most loyal fan. i think it started off green untill it was too dirty to be seen!

This week end was approaching and i congratulated him once more on completing the task and off he went.

He rang me on the sunday and i asked him if he got his crate of beer  ''no'' he said ''they are not sponsering it this year so i didn't get it''  what a bummer, i think he's quite attatched to it now so i think he still has it on!

I therefore would like to launch a campaign to get carling to honour their offer to him and give him his crate of beer.

If you like you can show your support for hamish by signing and leaving a message in the guest book

The free beers for hamish campaign is now on!

cheers

Hello everyone, hope your all well on this blusterous day....well windy out there.

The draw date for the charity raffle to help the Rocking Horse Appeal is the 30th october 2008

so buy your ticket from the online shop and tell all ya pals to too, remember there are no losers in this draw as once you buy your ticket for just £2! you become entitled to 25% off the painting that you buy from £80 and up,thats savings of up to £100 and more.

here's a link to the charity that you are all helping http://www.rockinghorse.org.uk/

Thank you all once again.

merv

I thought it was suppose' to rain today according to the weather man,or was it a woman who told me #? i dunno now but it sure didn't rain here in sunny brighton. If you ever plan to visit brighton but when you look out your window it's glum and raining, chances are it is nice here so make that trip anyway.

Tommorow folks i'm at my kensington gardens gallery some come down and enjoy the fun,i'll be giving a painting away for just one pound in the famous one day raffle!  yes you can choose the painting of your choice and i have a nice selection for you all ,,Jimi Hendrix,Keith Richards,Keith Moon,Prince,Elvis,Madonna,Chaplin,Freddie Mercury,Jim Morrisson,Amy Winehouse,Neat Pete Doherty,Ali, even a nice little earner,,i mean nice little painting of Del Boy to name a few of what someone is going to get tomorrow for just £1.

So hopefully i'll see you all there, have a good weekend,

Merv

Happy Birthday to Sam the Man x

Hi ya'll

I love the wind so went onto the beach today to lap it up, only to get lashed by the rain that came so suddenly.

I took cover in the T4 bus that was on the beach after the party on the beach tour took place sunday gone with bands like n.e.r.d. and ''the streets'' whom i was saddened to have missed. ''dry ya eyes mate''

so to all the camera guys who took me on board to shelter and a chat, Thank you, your female presenter is even more beautiful off the telly!

Anyway i got my good deed in early today,you see i've been consious of a one good deed a day policy, you should try it, well todays good deed i saved a life, not like the entry in my blog titled ''First aid'' or my blog ''runaway child'' no.. this one was the life of a tiny spider who i noticed in my bath while i was taking a shower, it was heading down stream towards the plug hole when i created a damm with my hand,holding it there until the water drained,

It was a tiny little wet ball which i picked up and looked for the slightest movement,he moved his leg slightly and i knew there was hope, tranfering it from hand to hand until dry it started to run up and down my arm where i then placed him outside the door, job done! i had done my good deed for the day and hadn't even left the house!

If you can try to do one good deed a day, it's fun

Peace 

merv

Yesterday i was sitting at my street gallery when this guy came walking past with an electric guitar in his hand. i was a bit bored so i tried to get him to stop and play something ''gis a tune''

i asked, with that he said to me ''no, you can have it'' and gave me this guitar!

chuffed to bits i was at getting this, a nice shiny black one,sounds good too,Thank you to the guy who gave it to me, fits in colour code perfectly with  my piano.

Don't forget to buy your raffle ticket to help the rocking horse appeal from my online shop and

don't let the credit crunch stop you from spending £2 to help sick children

A Kylie Minogue autographed hand painted portrait for £2! Or you  might wanna get the Fatboy Slim one . how 'bout Luke Goss? they're all there for you to choose from so come on folks, dig deep,get your credit cards out and spend your £2 where it will make a difference to kids lives.

Thank you and good luck in the raffle

Catch me tommorrow at my gallery in kensington gardens brighton, i think the sun will be out so see me before you escape to the beach for your dip, I have a new mick jagger painting i've just finished which will be on display for you to purchase tommorrow.

have a funky weekend

Merv  x

I had such a laugh yesterday with you guys.I noticed that alot of people who play the guess game with their partners when they pass my gallery in kensington gardens,sometimes get stuck when it comes to a particular portrait i painted so i decided to offer it for nothing to the first person that tells me who it is.

I did not anticipate however,the 4 to 500 people who passed and gathered to have a guess at winning a painting for free!

The rules were simple,one guess,no clues. almost 500 people tried their skills and failed and the frustration on peoples faces was very watchable and entertaining.

I started packing down for the day when an irish woman arrived with her young daughter. The mother guessed first with the wrong answer and encouraged her daughter to have a go, who at first kept insisting that she did not know.I then encouraged her my self untill her mum said to her. ''well who's your favourite singer''? the girl replied ''i dont know''mika''

Hooray to the girl who guessed it right! and it happens to be her favourite! great when life treats us so nicely eh?

Please help the rocking horse childrens charity by buying a ticket from my online shop for just £2! and even get rewarded. You automatically get entered into the draw where you will recieve an autographed painting of your choice of the stars that i have painted.we have the likes of Steve Coogan,Fatboy Slim,Pete from big brother,Kylie Minogue,Chris(the earl of brighton)Eubanks,Linda Lewis,and Mr Luke Goss.who are now all on site! thanks again folks.

Karma Karma  x

I got on the bus today and put two small paintings,my charger lead and box, on the seat closest the window.

This bloke got on and as he came near me he said ''excuse me'' to sit on the inside seat of me where my charger lead and box and two A4 paintings,one which was still drying. now i understand about considering other passengers have to sit down but as i looked up at him and looked around there was eight seats behind me empty and five in front! now common sense should have made me order him elswhere but i was so flabergastidly lost for words that i just moved so he could get in there and sat in the seat behind where i began to count the empty seats all around the bus.  What's all that about?

I picked up a hitch hiker yesterday. I was just pulling out of my turning when i saw this guy coming towards me hitch hiking. Of coarse i saw about ten cars drive past him and he was quite smartly dressed so i decided to wait for him to approach me to offer him a lift.now i live very near the king alfred centre and this guy was trying to get to the palace pier in a hurry.

I've been in that situation before where i had to get to the palace pier area in a hurry but the buses are not that quick to come along the sea front, well they weren't when i wanted one.and after speed walking i found my thumb had a mind of it's own and up it went,desperatley trying to catch the eyes of the truck drivers and work vans as they passed me by. One van driver did stop and pick me up which is why i thought about doing the same.

The extra frustration is when you can see your destination from the start of your 20 minute walk when you only have 5 minutes to get there. So i picked him up and dropped him off at the pier. he was only in my car for 5 minutes or so but the conversation we had makes me wish him all the best as he has been seperated from his kids since christmas due to re-marriage. good luck mate and never stop trying

merv x

3 cheers for Emily on her 3rd birthday  x

Come on down to kensington gardens Brighton today, where I'll have my gallery set up .

Someone is going to walk away with a painting of their choice at 5pm today for £1. I have amy winehouse, neat pete docherty,hendrix and many more. The famous one day raffle, come and join in

Merv  x

Hi everyone, Another eventful day in brighton for me. I was walking down western road with my gorgeous girlfriend,just crossing the junction of the mad hatter and taj when we've heard a small child of about 2/half years old hysterical and running straight into the road crying for his mummy,He reminded me of the famous image of the Vietnam Napalm Girl     He was a little oriental boy and his mum was nowhere to be seen.

I   motioned to the traffic to stop and stooped to pick him up from the middle of the road and calm him down. He stopped crying when i picked him up and although i was dead worried for him, i had to keep smiling to reasure him everything would be ok which seemed to work, after all i was a total stranger picking him up and bringing him back across the road.

Well, after what seemed like about 5 minutes looking up and down for his mum she eventually turned up, not realising the stress he had just been through. I played down the seriousness of it as not to instill such a bad memory in the childs head and just gave him back to his mum before bidding him farewell.

I   still dont like to see kids on leads though as i do around brighton. you know the type that goes around their wrists?   everytime i see a kid with those on they look embarrassed to be wearing it.

Take care

merv

P.S. this message is for dan, thanks for comment on my song. i've put it back up for you in the guest book button.keep fighting for your little girl.  merv  x

Hi, i wrote to you   five weeks ago   explaining how   i managed to lose £15 by throwing it away by accident (refere to may festival blog)

I explained that when this happened,i would be likely to get it back by finding some money,what goes around and all that, well today it happened,

I was out on my bike for the first time in god knows how long, rusty chain creaking as i pedaled against the wind riding through hove when i slammed on my brakes to pick up a crisp ten pound note!

I almost felt a womans sigh of grief coming towards me as i got to it before her,

thats £5 i yet have to find to get my money back!

check out my new kurt cobaine that i'm just about to put in one of my gallerys.

your fantastic

merv x

It's lovely again. The sun is out and the sea is cooling. I read a message for me suggesting a self portrait.

what d'ya recon? I dont know who would possibly buy it, i mean who would want me on their wall?and could i really spend 2 weeks painting a self portrait and risk having it stuck around me,staring at me. I dunno about that one, maybe you guys would like to see what i look like.

Well if i decide to go ahead, it will just appear in my gallery pages, but of coarse there will only be one done so watch these spaces.

Hope y'all have a wonderfull monday enjoying the sun. come and catch me in the laines this week and kensington gardens on a sundays.

had my first bbq of the summer on the beach last night. cans of beans, cans of asparagus soup, duck spring rolls,sardines and pancakes, unconventional but so good.

Just off to the beach now for my lunch and a bit of that sea breeze, come and join me!

stay cool

merv

well yes i know.The suspense is killing me too.''who else you got coming on''? people are saying to me,well the suspense is killing me too because i cant tell you untill they are all on. there's about three or four more stars to come on now and they are almost here.

Then i can anounce the draw date and we'll be off but there is nothing stopping you from buying your ticket now and entering into this unique raffle, it's for a great cause and you would have secured your chance of getting the autographed painting of your choice!

your patience is a virtue and because of this and the fact that i cant wait to announce the winning raffle tickets, i'm gonna do a free competition right now!

the first one to give me the correct answer to my question wins a jimi hendrix portrait i painted.

answers must be given in my guest book and dont forget to put your email to recieve the painting:

here's the question:

In how many directions can your eyes look? ie looking to the left is one, looking to the right is two and so on

go for it!

merv

Well it's bank holiday again and i hope the weather holds out for ya.

I'll be exhibiting my work once again in the north laines Brighton over the weekend,being in kensington gardens on sunday.

It's a lovely evening now and i'd love to pop out for a cheeky shandy but love it more so when i'm fresh and hangoverless   to visit my beautiful three year old daughter in the morning.

maybe one day i'll put the song i wrote and composed for her up here for you to hear,just a ballad with me playing the piano and singing.

good news also is that i have a movie coming out towards the end of the year. I'd done bits and bobs for the BBC and stuff and theater with shakespeare and the likes but this will be my first feature film i'm acting in. It's called ''bigga than ben'' and you can see a trailer of it on the website   www.biggathanben.com  

Come to mention it, I am acting in another film where i play a character called ''whitey''. the film is called too much too young and you can see a trailer of that on the website www.toomuchtooyoung.com .I'm in the racing screeching car on your left.

Thats about it for now my trusted loyal fans, have a wonderful dinner and a cracking bank holiday. chat soon

Merv x

I found it hard to write to you guys mainly because i thought  to myself, ''how can I top a story like first aid''?
well i cant,so i wont try. At the moment  i'm watching the chelsea man u game and i've placed my second ever bet in the bookies.my first being 20p on ben nevis in the grand national. i think i won about £4.20 , I remember my mum being annoyed that she did not put more on for me, ''god rest her soul''. My friend  who i'm with at his house now is a keen fan of the bookies and i was once told.''never trust a gambler  but he hasn't  betrayed me in the 3 years i've known him so there's your exception.He went in to put a bet on earlier and i thought,why not have a little flutter so i put one pound on chelsea to win 3-2. i stand to win £33 if thats the score so hold tight.
I'm just about to order an indian takeaway,should be ready for half time.

talk to ya soon
merv

ps  go-on the chelsea!

Hello you. I had to use something that i trained to do for the first time today,first aid.

I was required to do a first aid coarse when i graduated as a reflexologist a few years ago and today,instead of finishing off an Amy Winehouse painting i decided to drive to kemp town to put some anti freeze in my car. yes i know what your thinking, ''but merv it was el scorcho today''. yes i know, but it was just something i've been meaning to do for a long time and now i needed it for the cooling effect it has on your car.

Anyhow, off i went,bought my anti freeze and decided to put it in straight away.  

I was   finishing up pouring it and doing the lid up when   i heard a loud crack just behind me,like a coconut cracking on the ground.

Well,i looked round and this old man of about 90 years old had colapsed! right there behind me.i   realized   that the cracking sound was the poor mans head as he landed ,i went to help him up but he was still,no response at all.i   soon realised   that i was in a cpr situation for the first time since my coarse and i struggled to remember what to do,i was supporting his head with my hand at first putting pressure on the very nasty wound on the back of his head and stooped with my head low to listen for breath and watch his chest for movement, no air, no chest movement.

When i looked at his face again it was blue, i had no choice but to give him mouth to mouth.

I blew into his mouth 5 times and done just one handed compressions on his chest, as i went for the lip connection again he breathed deeply and started to move, i got a blanket from my car and made a pillow   that put   pressure on the wound untill the ambulance arrived.

by that time he was joking that he had just had his hair cut and i was joking thank goodness he had fresh breath! actually i wasn't joking about the fresh breath bit but i was glad to be there and i hope he's ok. I am not happy however about forgetting what to do though and with that i shall do a refresher coarse,

that's all for now folks and remember,,brush your teeth, put antifreeze in your car and do a first aid coarse,you never know when you might need it

merv x

Glorious bank holiday here in brighton. There's a market that runs along the the front of the broken down pier, actually its right where my logo picture was taken and it bustles over the weekends. This week end saw the market over the three days and i joined the ranks to display a gallery there of my work.

I set up a hammock across two of the big iron pilons that still remain of the old pier and whiled away the afternoon meeting art lovers, jugglers and tightrope walkers. did any of you see that guy on the tight rope across another two pilons? so good, the dropped baton trick was my favourite with him informing me that it took five years to learn it, another couple of years and he could have been a doctor!

I love my girlfriend

take care

merv x

Hi everybody, May again so it all starts here in brighton. The Brighton festival every may brings acts from all over including street performers who you will bump into as you stroll out on your lunch or shopping trip.

There's plenty to see through the whole month of may here although i have to say that the street performing side of it all has been narrowed down somewhat over the last four years but never the less you should marvel at what you see here, Things are hotting up, as is the sun, the bloke that comes out every saturday morning in his little aircraft is back flying above the west pier doing his usual loop'der'loop tricks to get us in the mood of good 'ol Brighton.

I threw £15 in the dustbin last week, one of those jobbies where you have to double check rubbish you may have had in your hand longer than 3 minutes before eventually throwing it,

well i bought a cuppa for a street trader and was left with the empty sugar packets in my hand together with £15 in cold hard cash,

Through engaging conversation i threw the sugar packets and my 15 smackers. Now there's a bloke who i've seen on a couple of occasions eating out of that same bin, Sad i know but i only hope that he was the one who found it and like what goes around comes around, I expect to find some cash at some point, I'll let you know if and when i do.

Still waiting for all the stars in this first pool to come on board, I'm waiting for the return of my painting from a certain actor in LA so once again your patience will be rewarded if you can bear with me on this task, They are busy but have pledged their support so we just have to wait a little longer.

Pinch,Punch,first day of the month and all that to ya.

merv

Ok folks hope you're all well.Please accept that the stars that have agreed to help me in this fund raising event are very busy. So bear with me for just a little longer before the first six stars are all revealed.

I'm looking forward to introducing them to you so dont forget to keep coming back to check.

You can of course join my mailing list and be alerted when they arrive on my website, either way your all in for a treat and its just a way of saying thank you for you supporting the www.rockinghorse.org.uk charity.

We aim to make this special for everyone involved so thanks again for you purchase of the £2 charity raffle ticket, available now in the online shop

merv x

Congratulations to Imogen who won this weeks one day raffle in kensington gardens with ticket number 578, she chose the bob marley, well done, and to all of those who bought a ticket today thank you, keep it to recieve a discount when you buy off me from my stall in kensington gardens, Have a nice week,

merv x

Well folks i made it to forty and further more i made it through till 10am the morning after my party.

what a good night i had.Thank you to all those who turned up and made it so special and a big thank you to carla who hosted it in her big fantastic house.also to her cool housemates.If it was big brother you'd all be winners.

 I'm still playing catch up with this extra hour malarky but at least it means it's the first day of summer.I'm looking forward to going to the beach with a fishing rod, catching a couple of mackerel and cooking them straight away on the   BBQ with a nice potato salad. last year was great doing that, It was from swimming in the water to being on my plate in 15 minutes and tasted gorgeous, I'm salivating now just thinking of it.

 Burger and chips today.  goce de su comida!

merv x

Hello everyone, Birthdays galore, All over Brighton.Birthday fever and no-ones going to the doctor for it. If it's your birthday then a big fat happy birthday to you.

Yes It's three and a half hours to my 40th and I'm having a party tommorow. The first friend I made when I came to brighton Is hosting It at her house for me. I stopped by yesterday to organise It all and as far as planning goes I told her I had two speakers, She told me she had the decks and that was It!

No fuss just party.  maybe I could become a party planner.

boys II men were at the brighton center tonight, perfect name for them,well done boys oop, I mean men.

Duck feet tommorow people, I think we've got rain In. I'll let you know how my party was If your not there. Have a nice weekend

Merv x

Hi everyone,  I'm so excited about the stars that have agreed to help raise funds for the rocking horse charity by autographing my paintings of them. I'm itching to tell you who I have on board for this but I have to resist simply because of the fact that they are not quite on the site yet but soon folks, soon.

It's such a good cause and you will be rewarded for buying a ticket not only by knowing that you have helped to raise funds for sick children but for the fact that you will recieve a 25% discount on all paintings worth £80 and up.

So Come on people, what are you waiting for? buy your tickets online now and start to make a difference

All the best

Merv

Happy St patricks day to one and all   especially the irish of coarse as i feel i have an infinity with them,i'm expecting to see the whole of brighton shammrocked out tonight with the usual shinannigans going on like the obligatory guiness hats and i'm sure lots of us will be out tonight painting the town green.

have a safe evening and if you see me out, mine's a guiness

drink safely

merv

Cor blimey! 80mph winds,slates coming off roofs.I saw a nice mercedes that had been crushed by falling bricks and slates from rooftops at my end of town just by the town hall in hove, nice to see an old lady getting blown about but laughing her head off, must admit i'm a big wind lover so i think i'll head on down to the beach after   writing to you guys here, i love the big waves crashing in and the spray of the sea on my face, i went to the devils dyke last night after doing some work on my new piece

for those of you who dont know this place it's about a 5-10 minute drive from brighton up into the countryside where you ascend to this point where you can see out to sea as far as the i-can-see and out towards london as far as the i-can-see, in fact you can turn round and see panorammicaly(if there is such a word)as far as the i-can-see, beautiful spot and dead quite when your there,

all i could hear last summer whilst snoozing there was the sheep pulling out the grass 200 yards away, until i was disturbed by this guy on a motorized hang glider buzzing around above  me, so annoying i wished i had my catapult with me

anyhow i was there last night watching the storm coming in, i could see the clouds and lightning in the distance heading towards me,with the   deepened red sky murmuring   on the horizon just under   the thick grey blanket of cloud that   was coming to give us what for.   I was hoping to see the rain lashing down in the distance while i was still dry in the beautiful spot where i was,   It didn't happen.

so off home i then went where i fell asleep fully clothed with my feet hanging off the side of the bed, d'narf do your back in when you do that!

i do hope that none of you suffered any loss or damage in the storm, let us all know in the forum of your experiences

sleep well

merv

ps. dont forget to join my mailing list as it will be well worth your time. takes about ten seconds to join up. and any big announcments and offers to make in the weeks ahead  you will be the first to know, see ya in the list.

Yes it's fast approaching. my 40th,in a matter of weeks now but i'm not fretting, oh no, i'm merely celebrating the fact that i made it to that age,whoo hoo!(thoughts out to hendrix,dean etc etc)so a party is on the cards and i'm looking forward to it, friends from london and my new family of friends right here in perfect brighton that i have become fond of in the two and a half years i've been living here.

and yes,life does get better as you get older,especially mine right here in brighton, i still love it here.i like the fact that when you hear a siren, nine times out of ten it's an ambulance or fire engine and not the police curbing trouble,   you lose your phone and it would get handed in to the nearest restaurant/shop and you would get it back, thats what happened to me,and for all the single guys, there's four women to one bloke here.

perfect pete,winner of big brother or (neat pete) as i like to call him came by to see me today. his new single ''cosmonaut''out now to download so gettcha copy now! an amazing all round talented guy. I met him a couple of years ago before he took the house by storm and i wish him all the best. i'll be downloading his track promptly

listen to it here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apP_9wn2omc

Look out for the signed by him portrait I'll be doing.

May all your troubles be little ones

merv

It was a funny  old day today  with not alot of sunshine and i was set up  in brightons  kensington gardens where i have a range of A4 size paintings which are proving to be very popular amongst you all. the only bad news I heard today was from a couple of cool dudes who didn't see the taxi rank before they parked there and alas they had their car towed away,,sorry lads. they bought an amy winehouse painting from me and i felt like giving it to them but i have to eat.

I didn't spend any money on dinner though, i ate last nights indian, lovely how it taste's so handsome the next day do you not think?

I like the beesmouth in western road and i've just come from there after my after work pint, not everyday i do this but you should have seen what i was pulling today, i looked like ben hur in colour!

walk safe.
merv

well done to dominique who took part in my little raffle to win a small a4 size painting , yes, she won and when she came back she chose a john lennon painting,

Another glorious day today although we all still needed our coats here in sunny brighton.

I   took a lovely drive into the countryside and bought the biggest canvas i have ever bought.It's 2 meters by 1 metre, big and i dont know what or who i'm gonna paint on it yet, any suggestions?? maybe micheal jordan slam dunking i dunno, I may just turn it sideways and start painting the west pier in brighton but it would need a nice big wall to accommodate it.have you got such a wall needing filling?maybe your looking for someone to paint you something big you've always wanted done? you might wanna send me some pictorial ideas. rocky balboa perhaps? you tell me.

you tell me who you want that big on your wall and i'll paint it for you, Happy Holidays!

merv