Memories

Every now and then I am forced by ever decreasing space in my studio, to have a bit of a tidy, it’s amazing what turns up. Long discarded sketches and paintings ,that at the time I thought were rubbish, or unfinished or just not good enough, suddenly in a new dawn seem not so bad. That however could all change tomorrow.

I was in Dubai a few years ago and remember sitting for ages at the side of a small pool in the Emirates Golf Club trying to do justice to these amazing birds, Black Winged Stilts, A very common bird in the Emirates , they are extremely rare in Ireland, so I was somewhat mesmerised by them. After many failed attempts, this sketch was finished, and obviously when I got home discarded, as I only refound it yesterday, a bit worse for wear.

This was another sketch I did at the time, Greater Flamingos, at a place called Khor Dubai, right in the city of Dubai, an amazing wetland area, which unfortunately was close to the Sheiks palace for his horses , so the police kept moving me on, thinking my telescope was a camera. I intended turning this into a semi abstract painting but it never got done. Maybe now.