final work on the Carna Bay painting

Here is the promised photograph of the finished Carna Bay painting.

I am happy with the effect.

It will go on exhibition before Christmas, hopefully it won't be coming back home.

I'm off back to my studio now, I've to finish another one or two works this coming week. All the exhibition catalogue notices for the pre Christmas shows are starting to arrive and the deadlines are from only two weeks away. The reason I have just photographed this one is to send a Jpeg image for a catalogue inclusion. I find if you are including a colour photograph of a work it is always better to use the smallest work as it is less likely to be missed amongst larger pieces.

More work from my Connemara sketchbook....

I'm still working away.... this is another work in progress....

It is a painting of Carna Bay in Connemara. I have done more work on both it and the previous posts painting, but I have not yet photographed them. I will take more pics tomorrow when it is daylight.

I also repainted part of the Cashel bay painting, but I need to rework it again. I'm still not happy with it.

I have also started a large painting from a sketch of the sky road, Clifden, Connemara... again the light beat me for the photos.

This work (pictured) is 12 inches square. I have replaced the boulder top left with bramble/scrub, mainly to solidify and anchor the horizon. There are also more details and highlights within the painting in general. Along with the removal of the greens to the left I have also rebalanced the contrast between the land and sea by cooling the distant blue down slightly. A lot of the changes to works in progress are subtle, fellow artists will notice them, and usually see what and where changes are needed. However, many think that paintings just "happen" as we work on them. Much of what goes into art is more than just what we see. Apart from being influenced by what we feel, we also manipulate a scene to allow the work to be visually appealing and easy on the eye, while keeping the viewer within the painting itself, involving them long enough to allow them to be influenced by the artists intent. Couple this with creating interest and tension within a work, it is so much more than a photograph can ever be.

I hope to get a chance to photograph the reworked piece tomorrow, if not I'll do it Tuesday and upload it for you to see. In the meantime I will leave you with a photo of Carna Bay. It will give you an idea of what the landscape is like in reality. You will also notice how the photograph also flattens the perspective, removing the (feeling of vertigo) sense of depth/height of the shoreline above the fallen tide. Also in the photo you will see the tops of the brambles over the wall which I have used to enhance the work........... as yet to be shown.

Indian Summer...

We are in the middle of an Indian Summer. It has gone quite warm again, and in between showers it is nice and sunny. My cold work has disappeared again.

Here is a painting I started yesterday, based on studies of Cashel Bay, Connemara, from earlier in the year. I did further work today, as you will see in the second photograph below.

There is still quite a bit to do on the piece, I will be adding some Montbretia into the foreground foliage later, and I will probably have to do more work on the far shore, but until the hot oranges go in (montbretia) the foreground I will not know for certain how warm or cool the mid-distance will need to be.

To the right is a photo of Cashel taken from the same area, however this from further around to the left of the first Sketch. The tree is from another drawing based on trees that are actually across the road from the bay. But the photo serves to show where the warm colours are coming from, dry grasses and red seaweeds. It was taken too early in the year to show

any of the montbretia flowers that grow wild in the area. Although they are more prevalent in the far south-west,(Kerry and West Cork) the orange flowers thrive in the acidic soils and can add great colour beside the dark red Fuschia bushes that make up many hedgerows along the west coast of Ireland.

Summer's end part two....

I have finished the painting I spoke of in my last post.... I have titled it Gathering Storm. To this end I have used a number of techniques within the piece. The sky is obvious, but within the painting of the sky there are echos and shadows of the underpainted tree branches. These have been left intentionally, they add a feeling of restlessness movement to the trees without animation in the painting. The lines and bow curves of the tree branches are designed to give the impression of whipping movement and tension within the tree. Within the painting of the tree boughs and branches I have tried to create a restlessness using uneven brush marks along with the uncoordinated shapes of the branches.

The magpies themselves also help the stormy effect. The top left magpie is either struggling to perch, or just arriving to join the others.

I have used six of the birds in reference to the old Rhyme, One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy. Five for silver, six for gold. Seven for a secret, never to be told ,eight for a wish, nine for a kiss.
Ten for a bird you must not miss.

The number of birds is designed to help the collectability of the painting, being a good number to have if someone is superstitious. The number is not an important factor in the composition, just the variety of their stance, the top left craning it's neck looking down, as is the bottom right bird, as they do when scolding the cat. These are incidental to the mood of the painting which also carries the threat of the storm within the tree itself, and from the dirty grey sky behind.

I feel the painting works well, pleasing to the eye while still holding the threat of an impending storm, with the cameo of magpies adding further interest.

Summer's end

Winters coming....I worked on a painting today. Now I'm looking at it on the mantelpiece, and it's icy cold in the artificial light. The summers warms have gone, just like the swallows.

I am still amazed at the subconsious effects on my paintings. I am working on an idea I have been developing recently. It will be called Gathering Storm and is based on Magpies in the neighbouring tree from my studio scolding the cat from the other side. I have created stormy skies behind the tree, which at the moment is in sillouette - which increases the wintery effect - and I'm hoping will warm the painting much more when re-painted/finished.

While I am feeling the effects of the day in the studio, I am now able to work for a large portion of the day. I hope to start producing a few finished pieces soon, it's getting close to the pre-Christmas shows. I know it's still September, but an oil takes at least six weeks to dry before it goes to the framer's. I will soon have to work out what work will go where, I already have two requests for images of work to go shows for the brochure/catalogue. These also take a couple of weeks or more to produce.

Back to the work .... I may turn this painting to the wall.. ..I've an urge to carry it back out to the studio, but I don't want to overdo the working.

It's September already....

I still haven't been painting recently, I have managed to do preliminary drawings and other associated work. I hope to be working soon, as I'm in need of some new work for a few exhibitions coming up. I am leaving a work into a mixed selected show this month, and if it sells I must find a few more for the shows that are coming up in November or I will have to put mixed series into them which I prefer not to do.
I am going away for the weekend on the 10th of the month. It is a birthday treat, it's that time of year. When I get back I really will have to knuckle down to some painting.

Still no progress in the studio.

I have tried to do some work in the studio, but after half an hour I have to give up. I'm still in constant back pain. Physio helps short term, but it is a long painful journey. I try to keep pushing, mainly to improve my mobility, and to loosen the muscles that are in spasm, but in reality I am just giving myself more pain for very little effect.
I am unable to work, it is impossible to concentrate while in pain. The upshot is I am not painting at all.

At the same time I don't want to labour the point either. However it is impossible to talk about my work on the blog when I am not doing any, and cannot even plan work to do. It has now been almost 3 months, without producing any meaningful work. I hope I can start working again soon.

The cost of everything and the value of nothing....

I had a recent discourse with someone who thought €50 too much to charge for their painting. While not exactly a masterpiece it was quite competent, and of saleable quality. It left me quite shocked. How can someone who claims to be an 'Artist' and feels their work is good enough to sell not value it at least at minimum wage levels?
It is bad enough that people who don't either appreciate or understand the value of art cannot see it does have a monetary value. Even as an hourly labour. That someone who professes to 'love' art and who calls themselves to quote, " a good" artist cannot see that art deserves paying for in my view is scandalous.

Even without the cultural value of art, painting, sculpting etc. deserve at least a skilled labourers hourly rate for the work that goes into producing it. Whatever the 'value' of a finished piece of art as an object or piece of furniture to someone decorating a room, I cannot comprehend someone who says they love their art not valuing the labour that goes into it as of less value than a menial piece-work job.

With artists like this, it is a lost cause trying to educate a public that has very little knowledge of the value of art. A painter decorator is seen as a skilled labourer, and is paid a good hourly rate to paint a wall magnolia. Why should an artist be paid less for the hours spent painting a canvas with a multitude of hues and tones, more importantly how can someone who knows the work that is put into it not actually see the elementary comparison.

Some people love to paint paintings as a past-time, they enjoy it. I can accept it is a lovely hobby for them. Some people enjoy D.I.Y. and decorating, and do carpentry, decorating etc. as a hobby. This does not mean that the value of a skilled labourer or tradesman is any less. Art as a hobby as opposed to a career should not mean the value of an artists labour is non-existent either.

We have come a long way from the times when artists were seen as skilled tradesmen, more valued as a career than many other trades. Now we are expected to starve/suffer for our art and accept our labour is not worth as much as serving behind a shop counter. Forget the old style apprenticeships, we now have third level colleges educating/training our artists for years, or other artists spending years practising and learning their craft. The value of this?
Under €50?
If I go to the doctor it costs more than this for a 15 minute consult - if it takes longer I'm asked to book two! A repair man will charge €75 minimum to call out to fix something, plus charging full retail for materials.

I accept there are market forces. I accept they will dictate what the 'value' of things are. What I cannot accept is that someone who claims to value art, can actually think it has so little value, even in hours labour.

The reality is if artists cannot hold onto the value of artists and their need for a reasonable return for a days work, how can we educate non artists to the fact?

Answers on a postcard please........

The importance of being....

The Arts Council of Ireland have published a new survey of work-life-pay and conditions for professional artists in Ireland.

http://www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/LWCA%20Study%20-%20Final%202010.pdf

It makes interesting reading, if a little bit academic in language. I note with a wry smile that many of the artists views are almost identical to mine. I wouldn't consider doing anything else, I'd do it all again- but I would not recommend the life to anyone else...

Sadly once again it is official, we suffer for our art, certainly financially compared to other careers and professionals.
In a way it is a little bit useless, in as much that the only people who will take any serious notice of the findings will be the artists. I don't believe it will have any effect on government policies, and it certainly won't convince the general public to spend more money on art. (even if it does I'm sure very little of it will come my way LOL)
In reality it is not telling us anything we don't already know, with the exeption of adding figures and statistics to the general knowledge, the facts have been known for a long time and it is a world-wide trend.

Artists are not seen as professionals. The arts are not seen as a proper career/job and while many accept the cultural and social benefit of a healthy arts culture it is not seen as having monetary value. People will not spend their money on arts, with the exeption of a few novels and popular music events. While the public in general accept educated professions outside the arts should be paid accordingly, educated artists are not seen as deserving of the same rate of enumeration for their work. The world needs plumbers, mechanics etc. and pays them quite well to fix leaks or other problems, but while art is seen as being needed in society, it is not seen as neccesary to pay artists to work.

In truth we don't do it for the money, but at the same time we cannot eat job satisfaction, nor can we pay the mechanics or plumbers with it either.

Ahhh one day my Utopia wil come... in the meantime I'll go fishing occaisionally and create my art, secure in the knowledge that there are a few patrons willing to pay the artists for their labours, even if a little too infrequently....

I'll leave the post with a quote from Pablo Picasso (thanks Molly)

I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money

Sunshine in the garden and the studio.

I spent four hours in the studio this afternoon. I was painting away, and the work went very well. Now, however, I am in severe pain with my lower back. I obviously over-did the standing and painting thing...........

I totally re-painted a work that was almost finished, a view near Cashel bay, Connemara. It was a mix of reds and ochres when I started. It is now a pleasing combination of Blues and greens...It is amazing how a couple of tweeks in tone can lead to a total repaint and change of colour. The whole work is transformed from a struggling landscape into a painting that offers summer's enjoyment with the influence of today's colours. Blue skies where were grey, lush growth, verdant where it was dry dead foliage has transformed the piece into a cheerful painting instead of a cold and barren landscape/seascape. sometimes I surprise myself
Instead of 'fixing' a nagging doubt not fully resolved in the painting, I let my subconcious loose and attacked the whole work with abandon, allowing the now into the painting. It is still in effect a painting of Cashel, and Connemara, but more as one would expect from a John Hinde postcard depicting an Emerald Isle, with glorious sunshine and deep blue waters. I am not worried though, it is what the work needed, updating into the summer sunshine of today, rather than the early spring/end of winter the original sketching was done in.

Enough for now, I'll look again with fresh eyes tomorrow.... who knows? it may drift back from the light a little.....