Playtime in the studio... anything to get out of the clean-up.

I started a studio clear-out with interesting results. Those that know me will know I hate tidying.

I reworked an old landscape/seascape study I had laying around in the studio. I painted a sea-bass over part of the seascape, turning the work into a painting of a fish rather than the original intended work. I then painted the remaining sections with thick impasto colour, applied with a knife as a flat surface. The landscape/seascape was too weak to make a good painting, but it made an interesting back-drop for the Bass painting. I may still rework the foreground area, I feel it needs to be flattened more (It is actually flatter in colour and tone than the photograph).

I also reworked a quick trout study with the same thick flat paint technique, carving the prehistoric symbols for water through the paint. This is still experimental. I am going to rework this, in blue and steel grey rather than the green and earth tones. I have used these to give me a contrasting background before building up another layer or two, in which I intend to allow some under painting to bleed through.

These are canvases that I did not intend to continue with, so I can happily experiment with them. I am going to look for some silver foil for the second piece, to work into the surface, I have gold leaf in the studio but no silver. I will happily play with this one for a while. Why not? I'm having some fun... ...but it will have to wait unti Monday.

A Virtual Art Exhibition.

Our virtual exhibition via facebook is now on. See it here You will probably recognise Dubh..

I am now home from my fishing duties, tired but ready to paint, I started painting today but had to give up and tidy up the studio a bit first, the chaos was getting to me. It is still not finished but I'm getting there.

Early September, Autumn is here.

September has arrived. I will be absent for much of this month, I am just back from the lakes of Killarney where I fished as part of the Leinster team in the Interprovincial fly fishing championships. While I failed to make the top ten anglers I did do better than most, managing to weigh in four fish over the size limit. I had a pleasant day fishing though, much thanks to my boat partner Terence Keane, and our boatman/gillie Tommy O'Loughlin, who, coincidently, is a brother of my Autumn International team-mate Seamus, both of whom kept up witty banter all day. I managed to whitewash Terence (who was on his home water) 4-0 which makes me look a little better too. (Sorry Terence) Lough Leane (lower lake, Killarney) is a beautiful lake, surrounded by Killarney National Park. We set off for the day from under Ross Castle and much of the time it was hard to concentrate on the fishing instead of the scenery.

I travel to Grafham water in 12 days time so painting will be out between now and then. I need to finish a few jobs and ensure everything that should be done before I go is done, business wise. I also need to finish my fly-tying and other research and make sure I have every eventuality covered including spares of all important items for the trip itself.