02/11/25
J.A. painting visit to the studio today.
06/11/25
Need to make a list….
07/11/25
08/11/25
Study of Daddy by IK.
09/11/25
Right, in the studio - but no painting. Stocktaking, thinking and strategy time. Upcoming show in the Courthouse. ‘Veiled Realms’ will take place from 28/08/26 to 10/10/26 in Ennistymon.
Have in head when looking.
So, five large works are damaged beyond repair. I might see about cutting and mounting some sections onto board at some point. Some areas are worth saving I think.
When clearing the storage garage and sifting through works, I stumbled upon the last surviving work from my degree show (15 years ago).The body of work at the time was looking at the loss of morality and any semblance of the human in warfare. It shows a soldier - the same colour as the bleak desert background with a ghost of the war machine (chinook) hovering above. For some reason this is the only work that didn’t get destroyed or painted over.
Leading up to the degree show, I remember immersing myself in early 20th Century war poetry. One line sticks out even after all these years later.
“That I may lose my way
And Myself”
‘Lights Out’ by Edward Thomas
‘Lights Out’ was written shortly before his death in the Battle of Arras. Seeing this today is a sad reminder that, unfortunately, the subject will always be relevant - eternally repeating itself like the snake eating its own tail - and tragically magnified by unspeakable suffering we are all a witness to with the genocide in Gaza and war-torn Sudan to name a few.
11/11/25
Imagery organising and sketchbook work at long last.
15/11/25
Thinking about ‘To Conjure’ - how to differentiate the two seperate image plains whilst unifying the image as a whole - Large portrait vs Séeance scene. Giving the portrait a higher contrast will help - keeping the values of the séance figures/room closer together - making it feel distant, like a memory or a wish.
Portrait colours = warmer (brown, pinks, red ochres)
Desaturated colours for the Séance - muted / period appropriate (50’s smoke stained green) / dusty blues, cool greys for the walls, fireplace and clothing.
23/11/25
Took a big swing at ‘To Conjure’. Sometimes there is that terrifying moment in a painting where you have to risk what’s already been done to get the atmosphere the way you imagine.
I washed over the whole piece to push the background figures back and unify the double exposure effect. It feels like a step backwards - losing definition - but a necessary step to make the figures and possible memories internal rather than sitting on top and fighting for eye time. Let it dry.
25/11/25
27/11/25
Art Unwrapped opening ar Ulster University with work of Terence Philip Flanagan.