Art in Action....on Achill Island 2014

I've just spent the last 3 days demonstrating and exhibiting at Art in Action, at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. And it's been a blast!

Art in Action - Farmleigh House, 2014

This was the first time I have ever attended Art in Action, let alone take part in it. But when I was invited last year to take part in the 2014 event I jumped at the chance, having heard about it through some friends and other artists. The concept is very simple - bring together a diverse collection of painters, craft workers, ceramicists, sculptors, in fact all types of artists, and have them share what they do with the general public.

So I set up temporary studio in the Craftworkers marquee and painted for the 3 days. 

Art in Action 2014

What a great way to spend the weekend:) This was a real family event, with both children's and adults art classes being held each day - painting, potting, all sorts of crafts. It was just a great festival of art! And it's got me all fired up for my first painting workshop of 2014 which takes place on Achill Island next weekend, May 10th and 11th.

 There are still some places left - but if even a 10th of the people that said they wanted to come to Achill for one of my workshops show up then I'm in trouble! The full list of dates for my 2014 workshops on Achill Island are:

  

May - 10th/11th

Art in Action, on Achill Island!

June - 7th/8th ( *This looks like it might be fully booked, pending confirmation from 2 people. So please check with me first)

July - 29th/30th/31st - This is being run as part of the Scoil Acla Summer School.

August - 4/5/6/7

August - 11/12/13/14

August - 18/19/20/21

Full details of the workshops can be found at www.padraigmccaul.com

Unique Limited Edition Print 'FAMILY' Now Available

'Family' Limited Edition Print with Oil Over-Painting

My new Limited Edition Print FAMILY  is now available to order.

Printed on Hanemuele German Etching Paper, each print is individually hand finished, the figures being over-painted in Oil, making each copy a one-off, unique piece.  The edition is limited to 25 and comes mounted and framed.

Details:
Image Size: 11.5" x 11.5"
Edition Size: 25
Framed Size: 40x40cms
Price: €295 (Including shipping)

The print will be available at my upcoming exhibition Family Album which runs in the Dun Laoghaire Art Gallery from April 3rd to 19th. View the full exhibition here...http://www.padraigmccaul.com/GalleryMain.asp?GalleryID=142532&AKey=HPCT53G4

For further details please contact me at info@padraigmccaul.com or ph:086 8801733

What's the difference between Miles Davis and Miles Davis?

About 10 years it seems....

I've never been a big Jazz fan. The only jazz album I've ever owned until recently is Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, which by any standard is probably one of the best ever recorded. Sketches from Spain is another I bought around the same time, but that has always sounded more like an orchestral piece to me so I don't really count that. But I fell in love with Kind of Blue the first time I heard it. The music and the playing on it are just amazing.

Well it's been on the iPod a lot in the studio lately, and it led me to search out some more from Miles. So after downloading a couple of 'Best of' albums ('The Real Miles Davis' is a great one) I finally went and bought Bitches Brew. None of the tracks on this album tend to feature on any of the 'Best Of' albums, and yet it is routinely cited as one of the top three Miles Davis albums (Kind of Blue is always in the list too). And if you listen to it you can see why.

There is only 10 years between them (Kind of Blue was released in 1959 and Bitches Brew in 1969) but the difference in style and sound is unreal and could be measured in light years! There is something primal about the tracks on Bitches Brew,  it's like music in free fall, made up on the spot, and sounds nothing like the beautiful, melodic music of Kind of Blue. But it's a brilliant album too, it just gets in on you and is great music to work to. And it's by Miles Davis - the same guy that made Kind of Blue!

It's been on non-stop in the studio for the last month. I'm not sure if it's having any influence on the new paintings I've been working on, but you'll have a chance to see the results at my upcoming exhibition, Family Album, which opens in Dublin at Dun Laoghaire Art Gallery on April 3rd. There's still plenty of work to be done before then but here is  sneak preview of one of the new ones...

'Family'  Oil on Canvas, 50x50cms

3 New Limited Editions Now Available for the Autumn Exhibitions..

Winner of my new print competition, Marion Bockman, with her prize!

Earlier in the year I ran a competition to help me choose which painting to create my next Limited Edition from. And here's Marion, winner of the competition with her prize - one of the first copies of the new 'Homeland' print!

As well as 'Homeland' I have produced 2 other new prints, 'West Cork Homestead' and 'Tom', all of which will be available at my exhibition in Whites of Wexford, as well as at Art Source in the RDS in November and Craft Fair in the RDS in Dublin.

That brings my collection of Limited Editions to 15. The full collection can be seen here...www.padraigmccaul.com

'West Cork Homestead', 18x18ins Limited Edition Archival Print

'Tom', 10x10ins Limited Edition Archival Print

Exhibiting at Whites Hotel during the Wexford Opera FRINGE, from 25th October

I somehow managed to delete my previous post about the upcoming Fringe festival exhibition, so here are the details again...

I will be exhibiting in Whites Hotel in Wexford during the Opera Fringe Festival from Oct 25th to 28th and Oct 31st to November 3rd. I'll be in the Selksar Suite on the 1st floor from 11am to 7pm each day.

There's a nice mention about the exhibition in the latest edition of the Irish Arts Review...

http://www.irishartsreview.com/whats-on/129-wexford

'Under Summer Clouds' 50x50cms

I will be exhibiting my full collection of Limited Edition Prints and Art Cards, as well as over 30 original oil paintings. Don't ask me how I'm going to fit them all in!

'On the Saula Road' 40x40cms

Homeland - New Solo Exhibition and Video

'Our Mountain', 60x60cms

My new exhibition, Homeland, opens in The Doorway Gallery on June 27th.

I'm starting to get excited about it now and am really looking forward to seeing the reaction to my latest 'Family' paintings. It's a little bit of a departure for me and has made the new show much more personal. I don't have too many of them in the exhibition but just enough to tell a little story of our time living on Achill Island.


That's the family there in the painting above, on 'our beach', under 'Our Mountain'. Jack the dog isn't ours but he likes to hang around and play with the kids, so he get's to be in the painting!

Homeland Video

I put together a short video, a mix of paintings from the show and some footage that I shot in my studio of me talking about the ideas behind the exhibition. It features a song from The Harvest Ministers, 'You do my world the world of good'.

This was the first single we ever released, it was recorded around the kitchen table in the recording studio in one live take. It's still one of my favourites and just goes to show that sometimes that special 'magic' comes only once and you have to learn to leave as it is once you've found it, and don't go trying to 'improve' or tamper with it. Just like a painting!

New Work On Show at the Affordable Art Fair in London this Week

The Affordable Art Fair takes place again this week in Hampstead, London and once again the Doorway Gallery will be exhibiting some new work of mine there.

'Riverbank Rooftops' Oil on Canvas, 60x60cms by Padraig McCaul

 If you would like free tickets to the fair please contact the gallery at..

24 South Frederick Street, Dublin 2
Ph: 01 764 5895
www.thedoorwaygallery.com 

As if to act as a reminder to me to let you know about the fair I received a lovely email over the weekend from someone who purchased a painting of mine at the fair last year. Without giving away any names I thought I would share it with you...

'I bought a painting of yours over a year ago at the affordable art show. It seemed so much money at the time and I had to pay half in cash and borrowed half off my sister. It looks amazing in my house now and I love it. Sometimes if I'm watching tv and its boring I swing my head round and sit and gaze at it instead. I've had so much pleasure from that painting, I thought you should know!'

'The Road Home' by Padraig McCaul, Oil on Canvas, 100x100cms

Now there's an email that put a smile on my face :) It's amazing how good it can make you feel when someone goes to the trouble of simply letting you know they are enjoying your work!

You should try it sometime, I know I plan to.