Anticipating a studio move.

I was down at the 'Country retreat' earlier in the week, planting a few more fruit trees and some fruit bushes (currants and gooseberries) though the wildlife will probably eat most of these, (deer the shrubs and Birds the berries of any bushes that survive)  I also decided where to position my studio when I move it during the summer.  I have decided to pop it down here with a north facing view.

 

 

It will be about sixty yards from the cottage, far enough away to be 'at work' but close enough to pop home for a cup of tea.  There is a little spring running in front of it, in which I will create a couple of weirs to give me more sound from the water, I intend putting a pond in lower down, but that will be in front of the cottage to the left of this picture.  Some of our neighbours were particularly interested in what I was doing... but I don't expect they will really be bothered.

 

I decided to keep the Studio away from beside the stream as I wan't to create a walk alongside it rather than have the studio in view of the cottage.  Where I am putting it is hidden from the cottage until we walk up the Bohreen (small narrow road) as it will be screened by trees and hedging.

We are looking forward to our move to Sligo, and every little bit we accomplish leads us nearer, although there is still lots of work to be done.  At the moment doing it as we are, is a pleasure, and we are making our plans for the work more concrete as we go, because we are letting the feel of the cottage and land influence our descisions.  Most of our plans and research are now done, and we can start implementing them over the summer.  It will be a labour of love, assuming we get suitable weather this year, if it is as wet as last year work will be considerably slowed down.

Health risks in the studio...and we let kids play with printing..

Working as an Artist can be a dangerous job. Last night while working on a Lino-cut, while not in the whole of my health and at the peak of concentration, I stabbed myself in my little finger with a lino cut gouge. These gouges are very sharp, and little pinkies bleed an awful lot!

It often escapes notice how dangerous our activities can be until we make silly mistakes. Print-making is quite a dangerous activity, between stabbings, cuts, crush injuries when using presses and then there is the ventilation issues with some inks and glues. Sharp saws in operation when cutting timber blocks, many of which are small in size so hands are close to the saw blade.

My little mishap started me thinking on this subject, we as artists need to consider health and safety issues within our studios. We use sharp implements (I have a dozen or so box-cutter blades lying around, I use them for cutting both paper and canvas, sharpening pencils etc.) staple-guns, hammer & nails, saws, guillotines, not to mention the chemicals involved in our paints and other mediums. Dirty paint rags, scrap paper and old thinners/cleaners stored for disposal, all can be a catalyst for fire or fumes.

Health warnings over... I bet you didn't realise being an artist was such a dangerous occupation. And I didn't mention Bulls in fields when painting plein-air...

Back now to the cause of my discomfort, I was continuing work on this little block of lino with a pencil impression on the paper in my sketchbook.

It is another sea-bream work, which I am experimenting with. I will finish the block-cutting off later today, and tomorrow I will start doing a test print.

Pond paintings and my studio

I have finished the painting I posted earlier, this is it here. I have also completed another one, painted from outside the studio. You will notice the reflection of the studio in the bottom left corner of the work.

I was going to do some more work from the pond today, but it is overcast with rain forecasted later so I will leave it until the weather is more suitable. In the meantime I have other jobs to do anyway, so I can get stuck into them today and I have a meeting tomorrow I need to prepare for. I will try to update a little more regularly, but I tend to get sidetracked to easily... :)

Organising for an exhibition, and considering a painting studio sale..

I have been selecting some paintings for a show from the stacks in my studio. I am seriously considering holding a "Studio sale" later in the year. I have so much stuff to clear out of the studio. Small works and studies I have been holding on to for later re-use or repainting were easily stored in my old studio as I had plenty of space. My new studio however is a different story, I just don't have the same storage. I am due to do an art fair in the summer, but even so I have more than enough work done for it.
I may have an online studio clearance about April, I don't particularly want to frame them for an exhibition, and I can't use my studio as an open studio to sell them either, it is too small for that.
I have to take the paintings to Clare next week, the gallery down there wants 5 or 6 works for thier Easter Group show. I have just finished phoning my framer, I need a couple of the pieces framed in a hurry......as usual he will oblige. :) I forgot Easter was so early this year. Time is flying by........ I hope to get a few sales from the show, the Gallery does quite well, and Easter is a good time for sales as the area gets a large amount of tourist traffic, as does the gallery. If I take a couple of smaller works (24 inches and under) they usually sell quickly, although the big pieces can sell, but I prefer to keep those for one man, or major shows with lots of space available to display. In a group show situation the gallery can only allocate a certain amount of space to each of thier Artists, so larger works mean less paintings displayed for sale.

Sunlight, water and brightness

I have been busy working in my studio again, but the last two days have been quite warm (about 15 degrees centigrade) and sunny, so I have had the door open and I have worked to the sound of running water in my Pond. The sunlight reflecting in through the windows and the door off the water surface fills the studio with light. Added to the fact that the studio was a gift, it is really a joy working in there. The difference in the atmosphere between it and my old studio in Marlay Park is emmense. I was painting away, the work was progressing well, and I had stepped back to view the painting and I glanced to the right, the light reflecting up from the surface of the pond catching my eye, and I thought to myself, this feels good.

I am working in a beautiful environment, in a studio that was given with kind regards....it has only pleasant feelings. In short it is a nurturing environment for creativity. It was something I was missing for a long time in the Marlay studio. I am looking forward to getting stuck in to a series of work this summer. I hope we get a bit more sunshine than last year though.

Autumn rains

I am currently working on the structural element of my studio access, in short building my 'boat-dock' out to the door. The steel structure is in place and I now can fit the timbers to it. Today though we have heavy rain and wind so I don't see me getting much done. I cannot even try to sort out the power outlets in the wet.
It is looking like a day to go wandering around a few galleries and the art supply shop. I may even spend a few hours socialising in the city while I am at it. I haven't done that in quite a while, I have been too busy since getting back from Tunisia, and I didn't have the time before my trip either.

Moving of my studio is complete.

I have moved all my work into the new studio, even this piece (from a study I did in Florence) which is seven feet by four and 3/4 ft. It is a little bit too big for the space though.

I also have moved all of my paints, brushes, easels, my painting table, computor etc. into the unit. I have enough space to work, although with the lower ceiling I may have difficulty working on the larger canvases. I have less room to display finished paintings, but no-one will be coming in to look anyway. I have all the works stacked up against one side wall of the studio. I will create a rack for them later. I also moved my bookcase and books in while I was at it, in fact as soon as I connect the studio for electricity it will be ready for me to paint in. I accomplished all this by rigging a temporary platform into the studio. I have removed it again though as I used borrowed materials to do it. I hope to do the permanent job over the next week or two, but I can get into the unit by stepping across the gap in the meantime. I am looking forward to getting stuck in to work soon, but after the last few days I need a break, so I will take a day off tomorrow.

I am in the middle of packing

up my studio. There is a lot of it to do, apart from the paintings, and there are a lot of those, there are all my sketches and studies, my easels, paint, brushes, coffee machine, radio, computer, paperwork,press-cuttings, books,(lots of these) bits and pieces collected for paintings and future use.....I am going to have to sort out some of the surplus items I don't know where all the bits are going to go. I am going to leave the desks, and just bring my paint table with the pull-out leaf for my palette and my bookcase.

My studio is now in place

I still have to do work around it though. The tree to the left will need pruning back a bit. I need to build a bit of a porch in front to allow access to the door. I also need to connect a reinforced electric cable from the hous into the cabin. I will probably paint it green too. I will start planting around the edges with creeping/climbing plants to soften the edges and I will build window boxes for the front in the spring.

I have done a small, adjusted photo in paint to give an idea of the size behind the tree. Another gives an idea of what I may do for access

Iam looking forward to moving in.

Preparing for my new studio

I have been clearing the shrubbery at the back of my garden, ready for my new studio to arrive.(Hopefully this weekend) I have still to build the footings for the Portacabin, which will sit against the wall and project over the pond by about 4 feet. I had an earthen bank behind the pond also which I am in the process of removing with a shovel. It's hard work!. My studio will be twenty by ten feet, or 6 X3.3 meters. Not particularly big, but it will suffice, and, as it is going to be a "vandal-proof" portacabin it will be totally secure. The Dog managed to get herself into the photo again, but at least she gives a little perspective to the photo. The pond is 18 feet by 15 feet incidently so I will still be left with with about 14X15 feet of water surface visible, and the over-hang will give the fish more cover too.