For Mike Francis
…realising the hopes, dreams, nightmares, visions,
of other artists;
transporting us from a silent, empty black box to
Kwazulu, Hastings, the Marches, Belfast, the Balkans,
and endless rooms and streets in Ellesmere Port;
transporting us to a roundhouse, a pigeon loft, a ferry,
a seashore, a desert, a hill fort, a lonely farm, a cave;
truly gifted – with more than a touch of genius;
rigorously creative – solving problems with
always elegant, quality solutions;
mastering a repertoire of skills –
carpentry, metal-work, information technology;
mastering a range of technologies –
wood, metal, plastic, sound, light;
understanding, appreciating, exploiting
the grace and strength of materials;
a modest, unassuming, self-deprecating perfectionist.
By David Selzer