"Still Lives" to be opened by Olivia O'Leary

My new exhibition Still Lives is almost 3 weeks away. Opening night is the 17th April and I'm delighted to announce that the show will be officially opened by award winning journalist and broadcaster Olivia O'Leary.

Most of the work is almost completed, with the exception of a few of the larger pieces. But I need to let them "settle" and sit in the studio for a while so that I can pick up on any small changes or touches that I think are needed. It's an important part of my painting process - to allow time at the end to just live with the paintings in the studio. It's amazing what little things you can do to a painting at the very last minute that can make a profound impact to the overall painting.

This piece was "finished" two weeks ago, and I was happy with it. But something was nagging away at me telling me it needed something else. And then I added the shock of red to the gable end, and it suddenly came alive!

 Here is another of the new pieces from "Still Lives". No titles yet,  I will be writing a little more about the thoughts behind the exhibition in the next few weeks. I will also be posting a YouTube video of the paintings which I am close to finishing.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone for all of the warm congratulations I received over the success of my work at the Affordable Art Fair in London last week. It's a brilliant platform from which to grow my profile in the UK, so a special thank you to Denise and Deirdre at the Doorway Gallery for being so pro-active about promoting and marketing their artists abroad.

 

Music To Paint To

One of the absolute pleasures of being a full time artist is that I get to indulge my other great passion in life - music. The music I listen to in the studio helps to shape a lot of the work I create. It helps to set the mood for the day.

Sometimes I want something loud and noisy (Interpol, Psychedelic Furs, AC/DC), sometimes it has to be melodic with plenty of sing-along-ability (Divine Comedy, Supertramp, The Thrills). And sometimes it just has to be quiet and reflective (Anthony & The Johnsons, Ryan Adams).

The key is that it has to be something that I can listen to over and over again as I hit the repeat button and let the album play for as long as I want it to.

For the past few weeks I've been listening to Gavin Friday's new album Catholic. It's just a beautiful album, every single track. And it seems to set the right mood to match the work I'm producing at the moment. Everytime.

This is a small painting I made last month of some of the trees on the hills around my studio. They are old Scots Pine trees, over a hundred years old.

Here is the opening track from Gavin Friday's album. Great video too.

All Set for the Affordable Art Fair

Last look before they leave the studio en route to London for the affordable art fair. But if you are in Dublin anytime before next tuesday you can preview the full selection of work that will be heading to the UK in the Doorway Gallery on south Frederick Street. I will be dropping all the new work in this evening.

I gave a demonstration to the High Loft painting group last night in Monkstown. It is so rewarding to be able to paint for such an appreciative audience. I really enjoyed it and was delighted to meet everyone there. Maybe I'll see one or two faces over in Achill at one of my summer painting workshops

2 More Paintings for the Affordable Art Fair, London

Here are 2 new paintings of mine that the Doorway Gallery will be exhibiting at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea, London next week.

The first is called "Still Life" , 60x60cms , Oil and Wax on canvas. It is one of a series of paintings that I have been working on for my upcoming exhibition in the Dalkey Heritage Centre in April, but I'm delighted to have it included in the London exhibition and am looking forward to hearing the feedback on it.

The second piece is titled "Looking Over Dooagh, Achill" - 60x90cms, Oil on Canvas, and is based on some sketches and photos I took last summer.




I was hoping to get over to the affordable art fair next week but it looks like I won't make it now. Maybe next year!

I'm looking forward to giving a painting demonstration tonight to the High Loft painting group in monkstown. I just have to go off now and figure out what to paint for them :)