Time marches on, the pre-christmas shows have started. I have collected some work from my framers to go into a group show next week. The work looks very well in the frames I chose for it. I am hoping some of them will sell, but one problem with the Christmas group shows is that they usually have twice as many works hung as would be normal. As a result they can look very crowded and my work is not particularly bright and brash enough to stand out at first glance. I am exhibiting five altogether, they are from my fish series, all square in shape ranging from 10 inches up to 18 inches. It will now depend on how and where they are hung, hopefully they will be hung in proximity and not split up here and there as can happen when the people hanging are trying to squeeze extra numbers in.

I am still progressing with my web-design course, but not really able to do much work in the studio. I am hoping I will get a few commissions after Christmas. I usually do in early January, and my web-design course finishes in mid February, just in time to let me get stuck in to any commissioned work that comes in.

I am going fishing tomorrow, I need a day's R and R. The weather is going to be wet and very windy again though, but still, the fresh air will do me good.

My new website..

My Angling website has gone 'live'. I finished it and uploaded it to the server.
I haven't changed the content as such, but I just replaced the tables with CSS and a bit more design with the images and layout. I also have a full page image on the index page which will switch into the content homepage automatically after 5 seconds (If the link isn't clicked beforehand). All work was done purely with raw code using plain notepad.

I've finished playing with the site for now and it is a lot cleaner than the older one. I am now considering re-working my art gallery site, and replacing the template I am currently using with a completely new build.

If I've any sense I'll wait a while first..... LOL. Well at least until we start using dreamweaver.....

....but who said I was sensible?.

Time is flying by, It's a third of the way through November already. Sadly the web-design course is taking up so much of my time I am not getting time to paint. I have almost finished revamping my angling site though. I will probably upload it in the next week or so. I built it the hard way, using nothing but code, both htm and css.

I built the header image in fireworks, but I have built the hotspots for the links in the image using pure code. The fish is the near 7 pounder I caught late last year, I have another composite image built for my index page but I don't have a copy of it on this computer to upload.

I have a few paintings to collect from my framer this week, they have to be delivered to a group show at the week-end, it will be nice to have a few exhibited, it seems ages since I had an opening.

I am back from our weekend away in Connemara. We stayed in the beautiful surroundings of Lough Inagh Lodge near Recess. We had a great time, both touring around Carna and Cashel, Clifden and Renvyle and wining and dining in the hotel.

Here are a few photos of the area for those that don't know it.

Lough Inagh.

The West CoastLough Inagh Valley

Dubh and I near Carna

Lough InaghBallinahinch Castle

I am still keeping busy with the web design course. I can almost operate Fireworks without using the manual now...LOL. We start on dealing with Dreamweaver next week...and html/css code.
It's funny, I managed without all the bells and whistles for years, but I notice that the new browsers are not showing my angling site properly due to the outdated way it operates, so I need to learn the new techniques and css.

My dog is sulking because she is being left alone all day while I am at the course. The goldfish are nearly jumping into the studio to get their food when I come home in the afternoon... so much for Mr Dependable... LOL. the critters don't know what is going on. I guess they will have to get used to it too.

I need to drop some works into the framing shop this week for a group show in North Dublin in November. I spent last night deciding which works to send. Unusually I was trying to keep the numbers down instead of wondering what would go with what. I have a few little series of works after this years endeavours. But still no landscapes....Oh! for a dry summer!.

I will probably not get a lot of painting done over the winter (other than any commissions I get pre Christmas) with the coursework but I can still go back to my sea-bream when the course is over. In the meantime I'm getting my creative fix from fireworks/photoshop.

I'm going to sign off now, Thursday's Lads night out was postponed to Friday....
order one for me...I'm on my way.

Dreaming of dreamweaver.........

I am very busy taking a web design course in Adobe cs4 at the moment. I am not getting much time to paint, let alone post on my blog. I decided to do a course in web design to allow me to upgrade my angling site, which I built 10 years ago with a decade old system. It badly needs re-doing.
To be honest at the moment CSS script etc. is all new to me, but I hope to be up to date by February when the classes finish.

To be honest I was not even competent on photoshop, or similar programs. I use paint, but that is about all. (There is no substitute for a brush and paint. )
So I am in the middle of learning the ins and outs of Fireworks at the moment prior to moving on to Dreamweaver.

As I get more up to date I will probably have more time to post to my blog, and, more importantly, paint in the studio.

More about fish, and my paintings

I am busy,busy,busy.... working on my new sea-bream paintings. I am having fun with the concept and playing with my paint. I bought a new brand of oil paint from the art suppliers, it is artist quality but it contains much more 'filler' and is much cheaper to buy. This is allowing me to work with thick paint and even some knife work, which I have not done in years. I am refraining from showing the photos of this new work for the moment, since I am experimenting at the moment I am not sure if I will show them.

Because the works are much more stylised I am able to work from my earlier fish studies, and some reference photographs without the need for the actual fish on a plate. I may change my mind later and repaint the fish more realistically, or I may even take them further into abstraction. Yes, I am having fun!

Fish, and fish...

I'm back after my weekends R&R. Mind you the fishing was hard work. We had bright sunshine and no wind at all on a shallow clear lake. Almost 30 anglers only caught 3 fish for two days. Modesty forbids me to mention who caught the biggest one :)



And speaking of fish I have been working on one of the fish paintings derived from my previous posted ideas. It is coming along but it still needs more work. I need to go to the artists supply shop tomorrow to get more canvases to continue working. I have plenty of canvas, but no stretcher bars or stretched canvases. I'll keep the pics coming as I gather momentum with the works.

Playtime on the Computer.

I have been playing for a few hours... I never really considered working in 'paint' (as on the computer) but I had a couple of workup drawings that I wanted to explore in colour. I was sitting at the computer and decided to draw them on the screen. Working this way makes it easy to change hue and tone. It's a lot easier than over painting areas. (But not as much fun or satisfying)
I ended up with these few pieces. I then created a few composites, and varied them slightly. I had come to an impasse as to where I wanted to bring my fish paintings. I think I have discovered where I wish to go.

Now I need to decide if I want to try and work the ideas as woodcut prints, or in oil paint, or again maybe both.

Well, we still have plenty of rain.



I have been tied to the house for an extent for the last week as Dubh has had to have an operation at the vets. Because of this I have to keep an eye on her when she is not wearing the plastic collar to stop her biting out her stitches. She doesn't relax or lie down with the collar on, but winges and whines (throughout the night) so I don't get a lot of sleep either. We will have to wait for the results of her tumor biopsies. Hopefully the vetenary surgeon managed to excise it all if it is malignant.



Dubh is not just a dog, she is more like a child, but with more tendency to have cuddles and not let you out of her sight than most children.



She is lying on the sofa beside me, snoring away, looking cute and quite comfortable. I know that if I stand up she will come alert immediately, just to make sure she doesn't miss anything. I have my work cut out to stop her jumping off/over the back of the sofa in an effort to catch up with me... She has already pulled a couple of stitches, and vetenary bills are expensive......

Meanwhile...

I managed to get into the studio yesterday, now things have settled down a bit. Dubh is quite happy to spend time in there with me while I work.

I finished off another piece, Filleted Fish II. 40 cm square, oil on canvas.

I now have to decide whether to carry on with the series or take a break from it. I will be away for the weekend, so I'll make a decision when I get back. I have a busy week ahead so I won't get much painting done anyway, unless I get the weather and time to do some studies while on my travels. I am going up to Northern Ireland tomorrow, I have meetings on Thursday. I have another meeting in Dublin on Friday morning, before I head west to Mayo again.

I have to go now, I am due at my framer's I need to sign one work before he finishes off the framing as it will be behind glass. He has the others ready for me now.