Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Plein air painting...


I have been out painting with Don Maier and his wife Suzie this week. Visiting Sligo on the north-west coast, the sea south of Dublin and spending time in Wicklow. I did a couple of knife paintings and one with brush as a warm-up to the Plein air painting festival in Wexford this weekend.

Don has travelled over from Atlanta, Georgia to take part. Many plein air artists know him from his Plein air artist group online there is also an online group out there for Irish Plein air artists http://pleineire.ning.com/ . These sites also give information for those wishing to mpaint out as part of a group. Now, I'm off to do a little bit of studio rework on some of my plein air studies...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I am in the middle of sorting paintings to hang tomorrow, prior to my Studio Sale in Rathfarnham at the weekend. Today I am clearing out other stuff, and I'll hang the work in the gallery tomorrow. The sale is to help raise some funds towards defraying the costs of representing Ireland on Grafham Water in September.
I will recieve visitors from the US then on Wednesday, prior to the plein air festival in wexford, so I am busy at the moment. I built a new shed to take all the extra bits and peices I can no longer fit in my new van, and some of the rubbish that had found it's way into my studio for storage. Hence the big clearout...

Friday, July 8, 2011

Rambling, rather than working...

I am still very busy with non-art work, but with one week to go to my studio sale (sat 16th @ Village framing in Rathfarnham) I need to get everything ready for moving. I want to pull a few more prints too, just so I have a few lower priced items available. Don't forget offers are accepted for any work up on my website this week... The studio sale is intended to raise some funds towards my International fishing duties as much as to empty some excess work from my studio. Representing the country proves quite expensive due to a serious lack of support from the national sporting bodies as anglers don't have official coaching staff, with a recognised coaching qualification... ... how do you manage to do that! At our level the main areas to coach such as casting techniques and reading water are automatic. A lot of our (well mine anyway) success is due to the un-explainable, much less the un-teachable, a sort of sixth sense, a combination of thinking like a fish and observation, and an ability to spot small almost imperceptible movement below the water and in the wave patterns. Not so much the fish I catch, but seeing how many I am getting to look at my flies but not catching that tells me I need to alter something. Again the something to alter is usually instinct, or if not, then a process of elimination, starting with what I think is the most likely problem. No coach can do the thinking for me.
Rant over.... I have an American Artist and his wife coming to visit later in the month, we will be taking part in Art in the open, in Wexford at the end of the month. This will be a chance for me to do some plein air work, (or should I say push me to do some) before my trip to Starry Night in New Mexico next spring.
..... I do seem to do a lot of travelling for an impoverished artist... ...imagine how much I'd do if I won the Lotto..