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A bit of a change in subject matter and media.I took photos of a couple of local horse/ponies and made sketches in the studio using soft pastels
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This particular pony had real attitude which attracted me, not sure if its a girl or a boy but it’s called “Magic”. I hope I captured its “magic” personality
Seems like forever since I posted, but I think its only a couple of weeks. Have been very busy getting ready for the upcoming exhibition and now that the pressure is off I am finding it difficult to paint. This one I did from sketches I made last autumn in a friends garden, and only finished a week or so ago.
If anyone is in the area on Friday 29th April feel free to join us at the opening at 7.00pm in the Grain Store, Ballymaloe, Co Cork.
Haven’t posted for a while, been busy trying to finish paintings for the exhibition.
This is a small painting 7x5 inches on canvas board, I started it about 12 months ago, but it wasn’t going right so it got put away, now I’ve finished it , I think its reasonably ok. Don’t do many still lifes.
Here’s another 7x5, again was started some time ago and left, don’t know why because its a subject I know really well, as I see it from my windows at home. Any way it’s finished now and framed.
This is the third and probably final in the series of Tango Dancers. Not quite so keen on this one , the girl seems a bit static, but will live with it before doing anything about it, it may grow on me!
Here are the other two in the series for anyone who missed them.
This is the second in the series of paintings of tango dancers in La Boca, in Buenos Aries.
I was in Buenos Aries in October of last year, and one of the places visited was an area called “La Boca”, a magical place where all the houses are painted bright reds and greens and blues. Being a huge tourist trap there are all kinds of street traders, artists and of course tango dancers. This couple I found particularly interesting, I presume the mans costume is traditional, and I took many photos with the thought that I would eventually make a series of paintings. This is the first, I have another two on the go, they are oil on small canvas boards , 7x5 inches.
If you would like to buy an 8”x10 “ limited edition Giclee print of this image,please visit my Etsy Shop
Seem to be on a roll at the moment,must be the sunshine giving me energy, another painting that was lying around for ever has been finished.Thats two this week, it could become a habit…..
At this rate I might actually have enough images for the upcoming exhibition!
I have finally managed to finish a couple of paintings that have been hanging around a while. This is one that I posted the other day as a work in progress, I have changed it a good bit with the addition of the tree on the right and the Grey Heron in the foreground. There is actually another heron towards the rear but it’s small and doesn’t really show here. I’m still not totally happy with the work, as I don’t like the reflection of the outermost tree on the left , but to change this I would need to get rid of the tree and that could lead to problems, so I will pretend I’m happy and hope that nobody notices.
Just posted this on Sketching in Nature , so decided to post it here as well. Despite the cold weather we have had in the last few days, Spring is forcing itself onward, and the apple trees in my neighbours garden are full of buds. Have set myself the task of following these trees through from bud to fruit with a series of sketches , so watch this space!
Here’s yet another painting I have been fighting with for quite a while, but finally I think it’s going somewhere. I am thinking of putting a large silver birch on the right hand foreground with maybe a Grey Heron sitting underneath.Still got to add a few more reflections and bits and pieces. Have a class this morning and then gonna spend the afternoon trying to finish it. Will post an update in the next couple of days .
I must have been working on this picture ,on and off for at least two years, I had discarded it many times, but now, with the pressure of an exhibition looming in the Grain Store, Ballymaloe I am digging out stuff that I think may cut the mustard.
I was originally attracted by the light streaming through my kitchen door on to the plants inside, but I really struggled to achieve this light when it came to painting it.Still not sure if I have managed it ,although the photo is not great, so its hard for people to judge it.
I have also been offered an exhibition in Waves restaurant in Ballycotton starting next week on the 9th March. Because of the closeness of the other venue I have decided to exhibit only “Limited edition prints”. Anybody in the area is welcome to visit.Below are some of the images that will be on display.
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DAVE’S GARDEN
POPPIES
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BALLYTRASNA 2
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PEEPING THROUGH
Hi everybody, I am back in one piece from my groups art weekend. In fairness there was quite a lot of painting done , but also a fair amount of gin and tonic and red wine consumed. The food was amazing as all the girls in the group are tremendous cooks.
The weather could have been better but I did manage a couple of outdoor sketches using my new hand made sketchbook that I got from EDM member, Vicki Holdwick.
This one was the beach just below the house we were renting, I was lucky enough that a young couple wandered into my view, which puts a nice slice of life into the sketch.
St Declans Cathedral dates back to the 12th century, unfortunately as you can see its a ruin, but the round tower is almost perfect, not sure what age that is.
There is a lovely cafe/gallery if you are ever in Ardmore , Co Waterford, run by artist,Breda O’Brien, she has kindly asked the group to exhibit some of our work in June .
A friend of mine was left a house recently by an old lady; the house was full of old furniture, probably none of it worth very much, but the only thing to take my eye was this old Singer Treadle Machine, which is still in working order. Oh what memories it brought back! My mother was a tailoress and had a workshop at the back of our house. A workshop is a bit of an exaggeration, it was the garden shed converted, but it served its purpose. I can still see my Mum furiously pedalling the treadle, turning out all kinds of wonders in cloth.
As you can see, one of my cats has taken a fancy to it as a perch, or watch station, or maybe its just somewhere off the ground to sleep.
Seems ages since I posted anything, haven’t been painting much but have really got into sketching with a black pen, also it allows me to be a couch potato and still feel as though I’m doing something.Did this the other night while chilling with a glass of red, tried to get the impression of the light from the lamp, but didn’t get it as well as I would have liked.
Did this one last night, again with a glass of red in the other hand. Found the image on the back of an old magazine I found amongst my books, it’s an advert for Barbour jackets, and it just appealed to me, although I don’t think I’d get dressed up like this to go sketching.
Another discarded painting I found while rooting around in my studio. A bit stylized but with maybe a bit more colour in the sky could be revitalized. The female mallard needs a bit of work , she appears to be on the water as opposed to in the water.
Did this sketch of an immature Grey Heron,sitting on a small boat in Ballycotton Harbour. It flew away before I had the time to get all the colour down, so will put some watercolour on and see how it looks.
Still suffering from painters block, but making myself sketch everyday, at least today I put colour in the sketch, thats a start !
This fella belongs to my wife and lives on top of the radio/cd player, I thought he must be very bored sitting in the same place everyday, so I let him sit on the window sill while I sketched him. I used a black ballpoint and then coloured pencil. My wife has already claimed the sketch for next years Christmas card, she’s really thinking ahead!
I first showed this on the blog 3 years ago, when to be honest ,only about two people in the world knew I had a blog. Recently refound it, stashed along with a few watercolours and other miscellaneous items.
Its coloured pencil on black canford paper, I remember at the time that it seemed to take forever to build up the colour and at the end I wasn’t very happy with the result. Looking at it afresh I don’t think its so bad, but if I did it again or something similar, I think I would maybe use mixed media, maybe acrylic and coloured pencil.
Still can’t seem to get down to painting, so am making myself sketch, so that I am doing something. Did this from a photo I took a couple of years ago, when a very nice man let me wander round his farmyard with my camera.
Suffering from painters block again, this is becoming a pain.Have so many unfinished paintings, and seem to be at a total loss as to how to fix them. Have been making myself sketch everyday, just ordinary things around me, so at least I’m doing something, hopefully it will lead to picking up a brush.
I used a black biro for these sketches, I really like the effects you can get with them, I would usually use a pencil, but I think a pen makes you braver.
Haven’t got round to posting for the last few days, and haven’t done a whole lot of painting either, time just seems to be slipping away. Will have to get a move on as an exhibition coming up at the end of April.
Thought I’d show a different side to my art today, every now and then I turn away from the representational and just throw paint.I love to see what happens when I just let the paint run and I love using primary colours, the more vivid the better. Never quite sure how to put a title on them though.
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.
