I'm back coughing and wheezing, meanwhile I'm waiting for an appointment with a Respiratory Consultant again. Consequently there is very little painting being done. I have been suffering with this complaint for over four weeks now and it's not improving. Steroids have given short term relief but not cured the problem which comes back as soon as the dose is reduced and I can't take the steroids long term either.
With all the respiratory problems work is almost impossible, and I find it very frustrating, both on the health side and from a work perspective. The bottom line is that I am feeling lousy, unwell and frustrated at the same time. The up side is that I am feeling too unwell to pay much attention to my frustration.....
.........and if I jump up and down I just rattle from all the pills....LOL.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
A plein air Study
I did a little study of a Hill-farm near the upper Liffey in Wicklow today.
There is a small touch of spring appearing in the air... with the couple of days of (relatively) fine weather I decided to do a little outdoor work. The painting was completed within an hour, it is not that warm yet, so speed was essential before frost-bite set in.. LOL.I like the perspective in the piece though.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Starting work again at last....
I have been into the studio and made a start on another painting. I did not manage to get a lot of work done, but I feel better for starting. Although I am back on more steroids I still have a bit of a wheeze and remnants of the cough. My energy levels are quite high, but my fitness levels aren't, so I start something and realize halfway through I can't carry on.
I have planned out and laid the base coats on the painting, and left them to dry out. At the moment the background layer is just a strong dark deep red, which will more or less dissapear as the work progresses. My next step is to start adding details into the base painting of the sea-bream so I can be fairly set in the colouring and style of this aspect before I work on the peacock feathers and the background. I will take a photo of this first stage before I start, and another at the end of my next session. I am not sure if I will post them as works-in-progress though, I may post the full series with the finished piece in one post, or I may not post them at all. I think it will depend on how the work progresses, and how happy I am with the way it has gone.
Working on and through ideas, does not always allow the process to be visible, as they can become very confused and cluttered and even worse unresolved. I see the proposed painting in my mind, and at first it seems to gel and work, but when it becomes a physical object that can be analysed and studied it often shows weaknesses not apparent in the planning -- a bit like a dream not reflecting the reality.
I am hoping to start the work using previous studies and images rather than the actual still-life subject (another sea-bream) due to the short bursts I will be working in. With so little fitness short spells of work are going to be called for and I will end up using a lot of fish during work on one piece if I don't. I will save the fish in the freezer until I start working with the peacock feathers. I will need to see the way one of the feathers lays across the fish, as I intend to have one doing that in the painting -- but this is subject to change.
I have planned out and laid the base coats on the painting, and left them to dry out. At the moment the background layer is just a strong dark deep red, which will more or less dissapear as the work progresses. My next step is to start adding details into the base painting of the sea-bream so I can be fairly set in the colouring and style of this aspect before I work on the peacock feathers and the background. I will take a photo of this first stage before I start, and another at the end of my next session. I am not sure if I will post them as works-in-progress though, I may post the full series with the finished piece in one post, or I may not post them at all. I think it will depend on how the work progresses, and how happy I am with the way it has gone.
Working on and through ideas, does not always allow the process to be visible, as they can become very confused and cluttered and even worse unresolved. I see the proposed painting in my mind, and at first it seems to gel and work, but when it becomes a physical object that can be analysed and studied it often shows weaknesses not apparent in the planning -- a bit like a dream not reflecting the reality.
I am hoping to start the work using previous studies and images rather than the actual still-life subject (another sea-bream) due to the short bursts I will be working in. With so little fitness short spells of work are going to be called for and I will end up using a lot of fish during work on one piece if I don't. I will save the fish in the freezer until I start working with the peacock feathers. I will need to see the way one of the feathers lays across the fish, as I intend to have one doing that in the painting -- but this is subject to change.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
I still haven't been into the studio. My breathing is quite bad at the moment and I am not physically able to get stuck in. Mentally, I'm raring to go, but unfortunately the body isn't willing.
I hope to be able to work soon though, I think when I do start work I'll produce well. I may need to tidy the studio first, just to start with a clean slate and lots of working space. In the interim I will see the Doctor again this afternoon and hopefully they can do something for me.
You really miss your health and fitness when you don't have it any more, and it's surprisingly easy not to pay attention to these things when you are healthy. At the moment I feel like an old crock. Mentally I'm still in my youth.... sadly the physical facts are not so delusional LOL.
I hope to be able to work soon though, I think when I do start work I'll produce well. I may need to tidy the studio first, just to start with a clean slate and lots of working space. In the interim I will see the Doctor again this afternoon and hopefully they can do something for me.
You really miss your health and fitness when you don't have it any more, and it's surprisingly easy not to pay attention to these things when you are healthy. At the moment I feel like an old crock. Mentally I'm still in my youth.... sadly the physical facts are not so delusional LOL.
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