WIP
RDH: FEBRUARY 2024
01/02/24
Beginnings…
02/02/24
…officially taken a back seat. That’s OK though. Needs - Must. Doesn’t mean the grey matter stops!
I mind a ‘Thunderball’ poster with a table in it - or was it N.S.N.A.?
Knots - Riddled.
03/02/24
20:11 - Malcolm John Kielt born - 7lbs 10oz.
Jan was amazing.
09/02/24
I have been thinking about what was put to [redacted] for the [redacted]. Advice could (and should) be taken on board closer to home.
Certain circumstances, mean that practice has taken a back seat - as it should - but this shouldn’t be an excuse to down tools completely and end any creative activity that could be happening. I don’t know if I could fully switch off anyway.
Just because the practical studio and office / sketchbook time is lowered doesn't mean all artistic outlets dry up! There is room in other spaces. Even now, trying to carve out some creative time will be important. Use any spare time wisely - but also enjoy the early days of baby number 2!
10/02/24
Studio cleaning and some posthumous signing this morning.
Had time cleared for the studio for a few hours - just to get some paint down when no sooner had I started, the skirting man arrived.
The best laid plans etc etc.
15/02/24
16/02/24
BEEP BEEP!
17/02/24
“A Brush with…. Wilhelm Sasnel”.
“I do not control painting; I follow it.”
Wilhelm Sasnel
Some studio work - bit of a no-go. Need to re-energise the on-the-go paintings somehow OR start from scratch OR (3rd option):
Finding - or trying to find a new rhythm. Tough going but we’ll get there. What have I done in the past when I’ve come to a cul-de-sac?
DRAWING BOARD! Practical Next Steps.
18/02/24
Plan set out to be productive this evening - … had other ideas.
Submitted!
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IX
XIII
20/02/24
22/02/24
Ciarraí MacCormac at Ulster Presents.
Pond(er) at Catalyst Arts.
23/02/24
“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.”
Voltaire
25/02/24
“A Brush with… Stanley Witney”
(…a painting has to get ugly before it can be beautiful. If you go straight to the beautiful, you’re aiming at the pretty.)
Two canvases started. Badgers’ is quite interesting already.
Fingers crossed.
28/02/24
“A.J.#240” - well I fell asleep during that podcast. Riveting.
29/02/24
Sketchbook studies.
RDH: JUNE 2022
04/06/22
Studio. ‘Mothman’ finally being looked at after several years of hibernation.
Also, a surprise grasp on a 2020 sketch, ‘Peek-A-Boo’. Tall thin canvas has gone muddy.
05/06/22
Small magpie moth - colours?
One for sorrow. Fitting for a self-reflective piece about anxiety relief measures.
07/06/22
Postcard. visual feedback or [illegible].
08/06/22
The Odd inclination vs the Even inclination.
‘From the Creek Billy thought gleefully of the Ten-Foot Lady and the time her only decent leg fell and ended up on the wrong side of Belfast.’
PAULA REGO: 1935-2022
An absolute powerhouse, unashamedly honest artist whose work will resonate for generations to come.
11/06/22
Can you distill the feeling of an image with another or via another form of communication?
C.C.
12/06/22
Fast studio session. Some tonal values layered.
14/06/22
Went to sketch. Didn’t happen.
18/06/22
Darker red/brown in shadow? Little finger slightly bulbous under the nail and looks too long but it checks out in the source material and subsequent sketch from it.
Is it finished? The age-old question. The risk of overpainting is high. Should rest on it for a while.
21/06/22
Sketchbook work on the longest day of the year.
25/06/22
Whistle stop visit to Belfast today. Dropping ‘Saint and Sinner’ into RUA for delivery to the Boyle Arts Festival 2022. Also took a quick peek into the MAC to see Claire Barclay: Thrum. Interesting scaling of otherwise ordinary day objects/materials - allowing the viewer to reassess their relationship to them and their place(s of origin).
26/06/22
Less really is more. ‘Peek-A-Boo’ finished. The hand finally belongs to the face and the origin of the disc’s hue stems from a background colour within the hair. Tying up loose ends.
RDH: MARCH 2022
01/03/22
Meteorological Spring is here.
Nice to catch up with the Ogham crew again.
02/03/22
Loose drawing in response to J.A.’s prompt and RMc’s drawings.
03/03/22
…done now…
05/03/22
Belfast. ‘Don’t Look’ piece is done I think.
Smooth out the dog / red?
New piece / Loosey Goosey
* LOOK AT WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE SPACE! *
Nearly ruined ‘Ode’ piece with a flood of red. Hopefully brought it back.
06/03/22
Didn’t stray too far.
07/03/22
Really good chat with writer for ‘Ogham’.
08/03/22
It’s never going to be finished!
12/03/22
Final day of ‘Ogham’ residency.
Painted me wee heart out, finishing two larger pieces and having some fun with the smaller study of Stephanie Tanney’s casts.
Wet walk home.
13/03/22
A slight onset of melancholia creeping up now that the residency is over. But, the show is still to come!
15/03/22
A process of threads?
All of this is temporary?
A pause in the process?
Settling of the sands?
THIS IS NOT THE END
17/03/22
Exhibition open to the public today.
20/03/22
Louise Bourgeois - “A spider creates from it’s own body.”
Pregnant with atmosphere, enigma.
Great to get painting in garage today and get palette cleaned up.
27/03/22
Imogen Rhonda Kielt, born in the early hours of Mother’s Day. 7lbs 6oz. Perfect and everyone well.
Can see so many loved ones’ faces in this tiny new one. It’s just incredible.
29/03/22
Working to find a rhythm.
31/03/22
Belfast Bound. Helped add some chalk to Joy’s Entry for Rachel Macmanus’ superb performance. So good to see the show in the flesh blown and all involved in the project at Catalyst Arts.
It’s been a great experience at a time I will never forget.
RDH: FEBRUARY 2022
01/02/22
Daft Punk Live - Alive. Frantic.
Sketch with music on in the background. No Show and Tell, just Tell.
05/02/22
4,000 weeks. Poetics of space.
Great to meet up with J.A. and S.T and to see Catalyst’s new space.
Quick jaunt to the GT and to the MAC in the morning. Edy Fung’s and Ronnie Hughes’ work were great! Hughes’ translucent layers of paint suck you in and grab hold. Shimmering colour clashes.
Head is buzzing with ideas. Exciting!
06/02/22
Mary Beard’s Forbidden Art. - Pan and the She-Goat.
Daphne Todd - painted recently dead mother.
“Violence will always be a part of the human experience.”
Mary Beard
It’s been an odd weekend. Great but odd.
Ideas are starting to be slid into place about how ‘Ogham’ will be approached. Churning away so keep faith.
It’s been a limbo sort of a day. Feeling the need to do SOMETHING - but not being able to find the energy.
Reading, research, drawing, responding.
Readymade… Domestic
So, actually I retract the ‘limbo’ statement. I did do things today. I was productive. It’s just there wasn’t any tangible outcome. Case and point… 7th page.
07/02/22
Sketchbook with Daft Punk on - upping the tempo.
08/02/22
Fabric search.
Carving out ideas. Scrap yard.
09/02/22
H.B.M. Looking forward to getting into the garage this weekend.
Let’s give it a goo!
12/02/22
Aoife Dunn - IMMA: Socially engaging sculpture.
May have slipped a disc. Acetate sketches.
SUN - MOON - HOME
14/02/22
Image sorting today.
16/02/22
Meeting. Repetition and extremities. Develop and evolve.
17/02/22
J.A. Studio Visit!
19/02/22
Studio time! Finally! Using just titanium white and charcoal - both willow and compressed - to work up images. Going back to my process’ roots - year 2 in art college. Two new works started.
22/02/22
‘Ogham’ has begun. Dog study - black dog. Great to see what S.T. is doing in the space and Rachel’s response.
SLOW AND LOW SHOOTING STAR.
24/02/22
Snow! Appointment done.
25/02/22
Belfast bound. Scared guide dog on the 212.
Great to get into the space at Catalyst and set up for the next two days. Began working on two pieces. ‘Don't Look’ in ogham.
The fourth wall is glass. Casting of mouth by S.T. Reminds me of ‘Red Dragon’ from the SotL prequel of the same name.
26/02/22
Day two in the space. Time is not our friend but still have to remind ourselves that there’s no end goal needed. Just to respond and be creatively present.
So good to meet Rachel and see Steph’s process in the flesh.
RDH: MARCH 2021
04/03/21
It’s been a full on week - trying to ease myself in slowly and find my footing again and knowing my limits.
Evenings = questions
05/03/21
UPDATES
06/03/21
Handwriting is a microcosm of the personality.
A good start to “The Infamy of Crete”. Muddy palette so far but for now it’s working.
11/03/21
SorT? tech-check. Target -> 1488 (done).
Bullet points for a smooth six minutes.
Could easily fall into the trap of not doing anything this weekend but I know how it would make me feel if nothing was to happen. Try your best - productive variables.
12/03/21
Good God this text is heavy!
Taking time in the studio. The little pieces of canvas / glass that I’ve been asked to put something on for a student’s project was actually a really good loosening / warming up exercise. I have plenty of little strands laying around and could put paint down / play / experiment / make mistakes for twenty minutes before moving onto wall works. Not a bad idea.
Gold Leaf for step edges possibly?
13/03/21
Some really solid background work to “On Gilded Steps” - a lot of blending work. The scratching around the figures - lets try and keep some of that!
15/03/21
Scanning.
16/03/21
Having to go up above to finish online work just sucks.
18/03/21
Waking up at 4am - chocking. Not good.
Miriam O’Connor: different coping mechanisms - access to the studio so important - adaptability key to productivity - art to navigate trauma in life - art practice is tool for survival
Austin Ivers: teetering between the two poles of anxiety and boredom.
19/03/21
Really enjoyed taking part in the panel talk yesterday and the podcast is out today. So happy it was recorded before my voice left me completely.
20/03/21
Darkness in control.
“O.G.S.” - Steps are really annoying me. In hindsight I probably would have set the steps differently. now, however, with the background nearly prefect as it is, it could be a disaster to try and adjust the steps and lose that backdrop. I have this painting by Rembrandt rolling around in my head at the minute.
What a game!
21/03/21
Should the bull’s head go black? - went a little too far with it today but it’s fixable.
25/03/21
Scaling sketches down in scanner is probably a good move. A few good drawings of old family photos tonight.
26/03/21
“T.I.O.C.” looks more like an etching at the minute.
Loose! Emphasis on LOOSE!
27/03/21
Last night was a total nightmare. Floating, panic and chased by a hooded killer. Once caught a falling sensation would wake me up but once I dozed of I was straight back into the nightmare and repeated this process around four or five times.
‘Create and curate your own archive’.
Farewell Fernand.
28/03/21
Marta Dyezkowska Talk
memory / identity / trauma
We should be able to close the door on loss.
Standing with back to camera, an act of defiance against process. Mix memory with current state.
Really enjoyed this talk today! Watching and listening in made me really nostalgic about LOFT. We should be proud of what we were able to achieve with that space.
29/03/21
“The infamy of Crete” - finished. Not perfect but pretty solid.
30/03/21
Little bit of “T.I.O.C.” was really bugging me so I crept into the studio and fixed it last night.
Today was a case of drawing up a few smaller works and putting down basic paint layers. A promising start.
31/03/21
A quick up and down trip to Belfast for an appointment.
RDH: JANUARY 2021
03/01/21
‘sub cruce salus’
… too simplistic or is it hard to get ideas across?
04/01/21
Need to leave site.
05/01/21
Elevator pitch: use personal and found imagery to explore notions of trauma, memory and experience. (13 words, 83 characters)
imagery with personal connection - greater impact?
large scale drawings = link between sketchbook and canvas.
06/01/21
FORM —> CONTENT —> FORM —> CONTENT …
Can you distil the feeling of an image?
Play with gesture.
…adding just for the sake doesn’t cut it. Integrate if it adds to a message.
07/01/21
08/01/21
Growing uncertainty in other areas is just leading to this “deer in headlights” feeling.
09/01/21
Lists are all well and good but to get making again ; that’s what it’s all about.
10/01/21
Passionate about painting / drawing and interplay between the mark-making of both processes… juxtaposing imagery. How do they sit together?
11/01/21
Still have to show though.
12/01/21
16/01/21
A little slow to get in today but four canvas pieces off the starting block which makes up for it.
18/01/21
21/01/21
…in a jar for the day.
23/01/21
25/01/21
Sketchbook work
27/01/21
…days just melting into each other.
28/01/21
Not one but two zooms this evening.
29/01/21
Some surprising paint down today. Loosely does it.
30/01/21
Cold.
RDH: OCTOBER 2020
02/10/20
Prepping studio for visit
03/10/20
GT Reading Round returns!
-inbuilt desire to want something out of ourselves.
04/10/20
Sketchbook work.
06/10/20
MRI scan. Very loud.
Some progress on the little boy piece that was swiftly undone.
07/10/20
Materials ordered.
10/10/20
World Mental Health Day.
Very happy to have been asked to take part in the second day of Reimagine, Remake Replay’s mental health festival - Head and Heart.
Got a little emotional at one point but that is OK. In good company.
11/10/20
Real struggle to focus the past week. Probably the least productive day in the studio since March.
12/10/20
15/10/20
Buck up ideas. Foot off the gas.
16/10/20
With new restrictions in place, there will be no Belfast visit tomorrow sadly.
17/10/20
Started two new canvases today. Not sure what’s up. For a while I thought it was the imagery that isn’t exciting enough but I don’t know anymore.
18/10/20
22/10/20
“Silence is Golden” finished.
24/10/20
Surround Sound!
26/10/20
Painting work. (‘Misunderstood’ as a wee inside joke?)
The little go-cart piece - tougher than expected.
Two tone might be an option - like voyage home and G’OK.
27/10/20
Out of sorts.
20 paintings since March - hard to believe.
29/10/20
‘Confessional’ home safe and sound. Thanks to University of Atypical for their support and patience.
30/10/20
31/10/20
Radio Three’s Sunday Feature: Tate Modern - Exploding the Canon
With the darker evenings and the colder weather setting in, it’s not a surprise that studio time has dwindled. This shouldn’t mean that productive time goes to waste. I have been doing sketchbook work more and now is a good time to research other creative outlets.
○○○
RDH: JUNE 2020
01/06/20
Clarify your eye.
Mixed what was left on the palette after 7 weeks of caking. It produced this gorgeous black / green hue perfect for the large canvas. Dad gave me a hand to clean it as I only have one at the minute.
02/06/20
In two minds but some good ground work. VAI café now with Alan Phelan and Ursula Burke.
UB: Being a witness to what has been happening.
UB: Bridging the gap between antiquity and the contemporary.
AP: John Joly Photography method
03/06/20
Hospital appointment: I can take the wrist support off!
Painting again. Very very rusty but such a nice feeling to be standing in the studio again.
…there are areas that work really well (the transparency of the plates in the skull). Painterly approach. Pretty much the rest is just clunky and stale.
04/06/20
The following quotes are from ‘Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics’ by Herschel B. Chipp:
“The source of all inspirations. Whether the artist works directly from nature from memory, or from fantasy, nature is always the source of his creative impulses.”
Hans Hofman - on the topic of nature.
“…a synthesis from the artist’s standpoint of matter, space and colour. Creation is not a reproduction of observed fact”
Hans Hofmann - on the topic of creation.
05/06/20
Mucked up.
06/06/20
Built up layers on two smaller pieces. They are at that stage when there is something missing - limbo.
‘Circular Lapse’ was in that place until the overlapping discs were added. Patience.
07/06/20
“Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.”
Salvador Dali
Put the brakes on today.
08/06/20
New projector at long last. It doesn’t move an inch!
09/06/20
Got to using a brush at the end of a bamboo cane like Matisse used to.
“It was in me like the rhythm that carried me along. I had the surface in my head.”
Henri Matisse - on the use of bamboo tool
Visual and bodily. Some good progress today.
10/06/20
Troy Michie Talk Art was very good.
Finished “Beatrice Study” but paid the price; head is banging. Am I doing too much too soon?
11/06/20
Well today was a write off. Spent several hours at the Royal in Belfast looking for answers to the pounding head and the potential CSF leakages. Feels like recovery has taken a step back by a few weeks.
13/06/20
Trebuchet magazine has arrived and some updates to website.
15/06/20
Slept in.
Would love to visit the Christo and Jeanne-Claude covering of the Arc de Triomphe in October 2021.
Studio time feels a little panicked for some reason. Settle the head.
Now I.N.A.R.P. but I think there comes a level of pressure when you are personally and emotionally connected to a person to try and capture them as they once were. Settle the head and shake it off!
Well - you do get days of going backwards. Pre-mix before committing?
Cinematic tropes to frame personal trauma - à la Roxanna Halls.
16/06/20
Really early start. Seems to have worked - finished “Back in my Day”. When in a certain frame of mind I seem to work quickly. Time is something I have in spades at the moment. Have probably over-painted areas (hands) but best leaving it as is and moving on.
17/06/20
Drawing and tonal work to “Race to the Bottom” - working title.
18/06/20
…any shout of a practical day in the studio has disappeared. May be a blessing in disguise though as it’s probably best that I don’t spend every day standing in the garage through this recovery period.
20/06/20
…in terms of “RttB”, washes are or will probably key to keeping the action / immediacy of the figures alive.
Really pleased with how some of the facial work turned out today and I think the differing tones of navy/blue/grey will work.
22/06/20
2pm start - better than not starting at all I guess. After a few hours of frustration it was decided to just omit the second figure from the left. Eventually made more sense compositionally - balancing out the tumbling ensemble.
Need to be careful.
23/06/20
Different perspectives - slightly out of focus.
Am I too picky?
Over six hours of really solid drawing time today.
24/06/20
Two canvases primed. Focus vision and work on that one element. It isn’t a race.
25/06/20
Before I literally wipe the slate (palette) clean - could I use those silky black colours on the large canvas? Probably shouldn’t have got up at 5am. Eyes are rolling in head and its only 10:16am…
…waiting on a phone call. It was 47 minutes later than scheduled and on the phone call they decided to reschedule and to expect a phone call next week…
On third wind now but thought it best to call it a day before setting out the stall entirely.
‘A cup of clarity from the clarity flute.’
26/06/20
Unified the sky of the large canvas with a thick thick covering of velvety black paint. Pushing the oppressive sky downwards closing in on the running figures. Claustrophobic.
Now, learn from previous over meddling mistakes and move on!
Michael Armitage talk from Brooklyn Rail was fantastic! Got to ask a question too!
27/06/20
Really need to sort out a decent sleeping pattern.
28/06/20
Charcoal work today and not much else. Notes and revising for a presentation.
29/06/20
Very very close. Addition of the poppy. Centuries ago, the poppy was known as the witch’s flower. This is where the Irish for poppy comes from as ‘cailleach dhearg’ translates to ‘red hag’.
30/06/20
VAI Show and Tell: Northern Ireland addition. Delighted to have taken part.
RDH: APRIL 2020
Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ - The ethics of looking.
05/04/20
Not sure if attempting “The Ferryman” on this scale is the right move.
The falling boy: “Full of Grace”.
Blocking.
06/04/20
Commissions
“If your art doesn’t reflect your family and community then what’s the point?”
Dale Harding - Tateshots
07/04/20
Happy anniversary JG!
Applications.
Never rains but it pours! Buckets needed.
08/04/20
Very funny search for a protractor.
09/04/20
Farcical.
Eventually got to painting after helping with a birdbox.
10/04/20
Should have been “Confessional” exhibition’s natural end.
11/04/20
Such a battle with “Inside Man” at the minute. Struggling with that balance of realistic approach and the drawing mark.
It’s been a while: “I AM NOT A REALIST PAINTER!”
12/04/20
13/04/20
Not overly happy with the finality of “Inside Man” but best to finish up now before I properly overcook it.
14/04/20
All but finished another painting. It’s very strange times indeed.
15/04/20
16/04/20
Six hours and I’m pretty much no further forward than when I started. Going to have to take a completely different route to accomplish this. It would help if I had a goal in mind. Detailed vs Out of Focus. In between? Trying to tackle the green slab all at once isn’t working.
17/04/20
18/04/20
21/04/20
Little talk with VAI’s online café went well with really nice feedback on work in progress and the studio set up.
22/04/20
Meetings.
23/04/20
24/04/20
Need to box up and send off!
25/04/20
Reset. Breathe.
26/04/20
Looking. So important. Doesn’t mean you can’t allow for spontaneity or randomness in the process.
“Ferryman” is finished!
27/04/20
A cartwheel with no floor. CT Scans reveal right-sided skull vault fracture and subdural haematoma. Off to Royal Victoria Hospital.
30/04/20
Out of hospital. Time to start recovery process.
"Cult" - Work in Progress
This is a paint study of a sketch from seven years ago. I came across an image of a Holy festival in Seville that dates back to the 16th Century - a long time before the Ku Klux Klan donned regalia which bares a strong resemblance.