My new look website is operational

I have re-launched my website.  It was in need of updating, and had been in situ for 10 years in it's current format.  I have my suspicions that the amount of java that was in the template I had been using was detrimental to the ease of use with smartphones too, but I can't complain it served me well for the decade at a cost of about $60 when I bought the license to use it.  

I decided to keep the new (improved, I hope) site simple.  It is just a basic html and css setup with little to download other than the images to facilitate smart phone accessibility.  Hopefully it will bring a level of sales similar to the old site when  I was actually updating it.  I'd messed up my shopping cart for about the last two years without realising it by changing my email address and forgetting to update the paypal shopping cart- even though the new email is on the same account the paypal cart was only operating - or not operating as the case was- on the now defunct email.
Thankfully a buyer contacted me to let me know there was a problem, hence the rush to update without fully testing.  I still need to finish off my alt tags and keywords etc. but the site is fully operational (as far as I know until someone actually buys from it again ;)) I added a link to here on the site to add to the functionality.

Further work on my two fish paintings

Well, I reworked the water in this one a little. I think I may leave it now.

The second work has been reworked extensively, without the silver foil though. I am quite happy with this one as it is, and I have even signed off on it. Always a sign that I know I have done enough.

I am going off to lough Sheelin tomorrow, hopefully I'll catch another trout to use for further pieces along the lines of this one. That's my excuse anyway. ;)

Cashel Bay, Connemara, Re-worked:

I reworked the painting from
April 2nd's post.

I replaced the lobster pots with nets. These are depicted with some orange and onion netting, glued down and painted on and over.
I also reworked some other areas of the painting, particularly the foreground area which I warmed up to increase the depth of the landscape.

The 3D effect of the scrap netting is interesting in itself. I managed to set the bright colours back with judicous use of paint. while still allowing the colour to come through, while the painterly effect on the plastic bouys still allows them to sit in the foreground while appearing to be three dimensional alongside the netting.

Update on my lino cut prints.

I finished the second ex-libris lino-cut, the one on the right obviously since I already posted the first one. I have sent them off to the Museum in Serbia, and now I can get back to my painting again.

I am still working on fish.. mainly sea bream, but I am nearly reaching the end of my journey with them. I may just finish off the works in progress and move on to something else.

If the weather improves I am still hoping to get some landscapes painted en-plien-air, to re-work over the winter. However this is less and less likely due to the inclement weather we have been having. This last month was the wettest August yet. We have had between 150% (east) and 250% (west) of normal August rainfall this year. Hopefully we may get an indian summer and a dry warm September so I can get out and about.

Just a small update..

I am still working on more pond paintings, with the humid thundery weather of the last few days the oil paint has been slow to dry. It still surprises me at how dependent on the weather conditions drying time can be even while using drying mediums. I still need to do more work in the studio too, I have not finished my re-organising yet.
I will be doing some plein air landscapes shortly, at least if the weather is amenable I will. I am hoping to get a few days here and there around the country so I have some varied Irish landscapes to hopefully organise a show in the US in a while. I haven't had a US show in a couple of years, but at the same time I have not really had that many Irish landscapes "in stock" in a few years to organise a show featuring landscapes of Ireland.
I have been meaning to get enough together for quite a while...the world is paved with good intentions....and I just haven't been in the mindset to do it.

I have set up a page on Facebook this week, mainly to keep in contact with family members abroad, but feel free to look me up...:)

Finn Eces (Finnegas) Salmon of Knowledge, final stages.

Here is the finished painting of Finn Eces' salmon. I added two more hazelnuts, mainly to help break the horizontal across the back of the painting. I had considered putting the nine nuts the salmon was said to have eaten in the myth but I don't really see a need to be a slave to the legend.


I am considering doing a series based on the Irish legends and have started another work, the hound of Culainn the Blacksmith, reputed to have been slain by the boy Setanta, thereafter known as Cuchulainn.

bradán feasa, a painting and searching for the inspiration....

I have not posted in a while, I have been busy both with an exhibition and also re-evaluating my art. I feel I have to move forward with my painting. I have not been totally happy with my work recently, it is/was in a rut. I have decided to move from my normal representational work further into a more stylised conceptual way of painting. I may even move more into semi-abstract works if the fancy takes me.



I suppose I am overdue a change, I have been working on a painting, based on my lino print of the salmon of knowledge, Bradán feasa in the Irish language.

Here are some photographs of the work in progress, although it needs to progress quite a bit further yet.




















the first stage, drawn in charcoal and fixed. The hazelnuts have been painted green.










a base colour in position



further work, mainly on the salmon, note the repositioning of the Newgrange passage tomb to below the hill-line








the present stage of the work


















detail of the salmon





I will give an update later in the week, after I do a bit more to the painting.

Incidently, it is acrylic on canvas, 24 by 20 inches.





The painting has an accumulation of themes, the salmon is said to have gained it's knowledge from the hazelnuts that grew on trees around the magical spring from where the rivers of Ireland grew, hence the contorted hazel trees and hazel nuts. The Salmon was caught in the river Boyne, which runs through the valley at Newgrange, two more elements of the work. In the clouds and river, the swirls of the contorted hazel are echoed, also encompassing the spiral decoration from pre-christian celtic art found on the stones at Newgrange. All of which combine to create a history of the salmon of knowledge while the dissapearing river leaves us seeking knowledge of where it is going.

More paintings..

I have been working away yesterday and today, I also picked up some more supplies this morning. The work is going well, but I am not sure I really want to continue with it. My lack of colour in them is making me uneasy. They are of the western loughs, irish landscapes with lots of water and quite atmospheric, but not my usual work.

I will evaluate some of it over the next few days, and decide if it is worth continuing with.

Two recent Irish landscape paintings.

Here are two recent works, the first is a view of Connemara. Acrylic on canvas, 18 by 14 inches.

The dry dead foliage gives the landscape a warm feel with any sunshine. The light picks up the reds and ochres of the dormant foliage, while the pools of water amongst the bog sparkle with light. The reflections in the puddles and pools give a contrasing coolness to the warmth of the landscape.



More details of the paintings can be found on my website .
The second painting is an oil on canvas, of the same dimensions and is a painting of Lough Carra in County Mayo. I like the oil painting particularly, as it gives the feeling of calm that this particular lough gives. Lough Carra is the smallest of the western lakes at 4000 acres. It is an intricate Lough with many bays and points. A clear lake it is the safest of the western lakes, and rarely gets the rough waves the others can experience. The light limestone marl gives the shorelines the characteristic 'white' shallows, dropping off into deep dark water. It is along these edges the best of the trout fishing is found. This second painting is also on my website and is available to buy direct.

A Painting for St. Patricks Day.

Here is a small study/oil painting sketch of Croagh Patrick in Mayo.

I am selling it as a special for St. Patricks day.

I am only charging $300 for it.

It is an Oil on canvas, 18 inches by 14 inches and I normally would charge about $650-$750 for it direct from my studio. Allow about 10 days for shipping to the US.

Click on the painting for a larger photo.

with Paypal, secure online payments

My new Studio

is almost ready, the groundworks have been completed. The Portacabin arrives at 8am in the morning, and hopefully will be in position by 10 am. I will take a pic tomorrow and try to upload it. I then need to organise the bridge to get into the studio....hmmmm

Here is a not-to-scale plan of our garden, with the proposed position of the studio. The Garden is 65 feet by 26 approximately for scale.