Winter dark, and short days...

The month has nearly gone...   I have been busy this month, trying to work on a few new paintings, but I'm not happy with them at the moment.  I have sorted a few pieces out for an upcoming show next week, but I need a few more fresh works as I'm hoping to sell a couple coming up to Christmas.
The weather has turned cold, and the days are short.   It seems the day has half gone by the time the heater warms up my studio.  Even with good artificial lighting I don't like working when the natural light has gone, particularly when working on landscape paintings.  I used to switch to still life work in the winter months to allow for this, but in recent years I haven't wanted to paint any studio sets, apart from my dalliance into fish last year.
At this rate though I may just decide to paint a few more fish before the spring.  With the current temperatures I won't even need to keep them in the 'fridge while I am working... speaking of which, I have a few nice herring in the freezer.  

End of Summer (reprise)

Winter is upon us.  With the evenings drawing in, (It was almost dusk at 4.30pm this evening) I feel that it is going to be a long winter this year.  The weather has been cold for the last week, though thankfully we haven't had the wind and rain the east coast of the US got, and I am thinking it has been ages since I was warming myself in sunshine.  Can it only be a couple of weeks since I was here?

 

I invested in some Ski-wear yesterday, this will keep me warm when I am out and about.  Both fishing and painting.  It must be old age creeping up on me, but I'm feeling the cold these days.  I need to move a heater into the studio again, up until now the spot lights have been keeping it warm enough, but temperatures are dropping.   

At this stage most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, and they are becoming their stark winter skeletons.  They are interesting in a landscape even this way though, and can convey a sense of atmosphere in other works such as this autumn work from 2010.

 

 

 

This particular tree, a willow, which was in a neighbours garden has now gone, falling victim to a chainsaw, due to many dead boughs.  Now all I can see from my studio are sycamore and ash trees.  They don't have the same pictoral impact.  My own mature silver birch sits to the side of my studio and all bar the lower trunk and branches is hidden from my studio window.





BIJENALE EX LIBRIS PANCEVO

The Fourth ExLibris Biennale is opening in Pancevo, Serbia this week.  If you remember my post of March 30th I showed you a preview of my entry, a reduction linocut print.   Sadly I won't get to see it hanging in the exhibition, there are no direct flights to Serbia from Ireland, which makes it almost impossible to take a quick trip. 
This exhibition and competition always reminds me of my friends in Serbia, I know they will be there at the opening.  It would be great to be able to join them for a drink, but sometime soon we may get together again, it seems a long time since we met, but in reality it is only five years since we were together in Monastir, Tunisia at the ABAM art festival. 
I may just raise a glass of wine next Wednesday, and drink a toast, after all, it's only two and a half thousand Kilometers away...