More success with Ex Libris prints.

The month has almost gone. Eoin is back from his tour of foreign parts (US, Asia, Australia, New Zealand) on Friday. I have spent the last week organising the house, with Christine wanting everything fresh and clean for the homecoming. The upshot is I have still not started work...
I have a Portugeese collector of Ex-Libris wanting some prints before July. The collector wants to include some images and my bio in a book he is publishing on Contemporary Ex Libris artists. It will be a limited edition hardback (200 copies) with two for each of the two dozen artists involved, so there is no payment for this, mind you, usually when you are contacted about inclusion in books on contemporary art they are expecting you to pay for the privelege.

I am looking forward to getting stuck into some work in the studio at the moment, but I just can't find the time. I am busy with everything else going on, and I've a couple of big Angling competitions coming up next month including a fish-off (24 anglers) for four places on next years International team, and the provincial championship (which is a qualifier for the competition to provide another 10 places on the team). In the meantime I will be having a studio sale sometime in June/July as a fund-raiser towards the costs of this years International Competition in England in September. I need to create some space in my studio anyway, and I have a lot of older work in my studio that needs a new home. So if anyone is interested in something from my website http://www.artbygreglong.com , I am open to offers on much of what is on display there as many of these will be included. It will mean I have to update my website too but it is the push I need to do that! I've been threatening to do it for over 12 months!!

I give up!!! I don't think I'll get any work done at all this month.... painting that is. I've been busy doing other things all week again, and I have at least a couple of days working on other things this week too.

Life can get in the way of painting even when you are a "full-time" artist. At this rate I'll be in Starry Night in New Mexico before I start a new series of paintings.. and that is 12 months away!! I am going to have to just lock myself away in my studio for a week. I may get the work flowing that way....

Spring has arrived, with it's distractions.

Another week gone in a flash! I haven't been particularly productive, After a good start, the neglected garden and other little jobs that need doing got in the way of painting. I have a few canvases stretched and ready to go though. Hopefully next week will be more productive than this last one.

The big problem with spring is the grass starts growing and needs mowing... another job for the forseeable future.

I was determined to start some new work this week, but the fine weather is making it difficult for a procrastinator! I spent this afternoon sitting beside the pond in the sunshine, tying a few buzzer nymphs for fishing. Killing two birds with one stone as it were. It is nice to have warm sunshine again, it was reminiscent of the Cote D'Azur. It helps the varnish to dry on the buzzers too, as they need about eight thin coats of varnish to make them heavy and durable enough to be effective.

So as you can gather painting lost out to a combination of sunbathing and fly-tying this afternoon, with Kris Kristofferson in the background as a counterpoint to the sound of running water falling into the pond, where the fish are happily feeding upon any of the tadpoles that are daft enough to leave the center of the weed-beds. Last years fry are quite big now too, big enough to feed quite happily on the unfortunate tadpoles...