Art Journal: December 2025

07/12/25

‘To Conjure’ finished.

teacup poisoner. Ability to blend in - an unassuming, quiet figure who poisoned people in plain sight.

Brushes down.

09/12/25

Always a strange month, hectic in so many ways but hopefully there will also be time to work on my own stuff a bit. take time to reflect on the past year and taking some quality time with the family.

10/12/25

The Sketchbook quandary. Nearly impossible to carve time to draw when I normally would have - in the evening before bed. Looking at other options. Commute and breaks are most viable options for now. Will test.

11/12/25

Rolling back the years here. Sitting outside Belfast Art College on lunch - sketching, observing and dusting off the cobwebs.

14/12/25

Snapping recently finished works and a bit of cleaning - palette wiped and some acetates sketched out.

Drew up two canvases - could have been far more but stopped myself. Don’t want to draw up works just for the sake of drawing up - filling the gaps, breaking the silence.

15/12/25

In Southern Regional College, Banbridge today to give a talk to students.

16/12/25

20/12/25

Studio session. Three latest works out of the way and down into storage. When down, four of the larger damaged works could be cut and restretched. Will be interesting to see what, if anything can be salvaged.

‘A brush with, Luc Tiuymans’ —> “Authentic Forgeries”.

Good start to ‘Milena Study’ today.

Milena Pavlović-Barili was a Serbian born artist who never settled into one style or one city, finding fame in New York rather than Europe. Her death is marked by an air of mystery.

24/12/25

31/12/25

Ending the year with a lovely, if not a little chilly walk around Pomeroy forest.

Art Journal: October 2025

01/10/25

Prep ahead of VAI event in the MAC.

02/10/25

The start of a crazy month. But looking forward to LNAB later…

Craft NI - Derek Wilson

‘The Weight of Inheritance’ showing in the Royale Arcade Academy group exhibition.

PS²

Catalyst Arts

05/10/25

Deep breath…

Let’s have a go at session three for “B,W,oatS”.

A Brush with Wolfgang Tillmans - “RE-ENERGISE YOUR ARCHIVE!”

From what I can tell, the ocular device looks the part - symmetrical enough to look convincing and squ-whiff enough to be interesting.

Finished - bar Malcolm’s contribution (although I do kind of like it).

S….GF?

12/10/25

A Brush with Suzanne Jackson.

Completed ‘Kiss with a Red Flag’ - minimal touches needed - thin wash on highlights of hair and a slight change in background / freshening of the red flag / shirt. It could have been done on the second session but with elements not dry, the risk was too high of destroying any good work done to that point.

14/10/25

Visit to the MAC. Niamh Seana Meehan’s sombre textile installation that waits for you to immerse yourself.

William McKeown’s paintings of meditative light and beautifully subtle horizon lines.

Marie Hanlon and Rhona Clarke’s thought provoking work - a collaborative video installation that shines a light on the climate emergency plus Hnnlon’s sculptures of knotted glass that explores water as a resource.

19/10/25

Second session on ‘To Conjure’. Both images are fighting for dominance right now. Limiting the palette to see how this could affect this struggle and the work as a whole.

Mostly working on the large portrait element today.

22/10/25

EMIC

26/10/25

Went and sat up in the studio for a while only to realise I wasn’t ready Space needed tidying up and organised so after a bit of time cleaning - it was back down to the office to work on admin updates. The boring stuff needs done too.

28/10/25

Zhanna Kadyrova in the Golden Thread Gallery’s ‘Radical Hope’ exhibition.

Art Journal: August 2025

01/08/25

Time for bed. (NOTE: Should have heard by now).

03/08/25

“The Woman with the Dogs” finished. Having timed deadlines according to size seems to be working.

05/08/25

C.H.C = No Date as of Yet.

06/08/25

Sat down last night with intent of own work but - other preoccupations took over. Shame.

07/08/25

Late Night Art Belfast.

Connecting Artists Collective - Atypical

Craft NI

Chloe Austin | Platform Arts

Daniel Coleman | Arcade Studios

Frits de Ridder | Belfast Exposed

Davy Mahon | Threshold

Ben Malcolmson | FLAX

Arts or Storage | VAULT

The Black Box

08/08/25

10/08/25

Tai Shani - A Brush With…

Stretching canvas!

13/08/25

Priorities. Bridge. Swing. Power Pylon. Patterns everywhere.

Utilise time more wisely. Shake yourself out of the self-imposed rut. Yes, it’s difficult to carve time out but it must be achievable in some shape or form.

14/08/25

A.S. applied.

16/08/25

17/08/25

Added three coats of primer to new canvases.

Jane and Louise Wilson - A Brush With…

Let’s get some images on these bad boys!

Lots of drawing and tonal work today.

20/08/25

Sketchbook work NOTE: Need to refresh image pool -> prep for drawing transfers.

28/08/25

“__________ is a new language in my practice.” - Such a good line!

31/08/25

Studio and great to get layers down on “Better, Worse or about the Same?”.

Some videos - out of comfort zone.

RDH: JULY 2024

04/07/24

LNAB

Belfast Exposed

Catalyst Arts

The Black Box

Belfast Print Workshop

Vault Studios

07/07/24

Early sketchbook work this morning - bit of a delay but in the studio now eventually.

12/07/24

Late Night Sketchbook Session

14/07/24

“Turn to Page Five” - good progress.

21/07/24

Into the second round of the RUA. Taking “Defiant Study” up on Sunday 4th August. Fingers crossed.

25/07/24

Wasn’t successful in Mayo application. Onwards.

Not too much art related happenings this week and next - decorating the kitchen and having some family holiday time. Must make a point of getting thoughts / ideas / notes down as and when if possible. There have been a couple of instances where something has popped into view mentally relating to practice but since they weren;’t recorded, they have faded into lost memories.

Renewal isn’t a lie.

30/07/24

North Coast - burnt to a crisp.

RDH: DECEMBER 2021

01/12/21

OMG! ARRAY have only gone and won the Turner!

Amazing!

02/12/21

Make the most of tomorrow.

03/12/21

Sadly just a short stint in the studio.

05/12/21

“Infant Terrible” finished. - Less is more.

09/12/21

Dire.

14/12/21

Tinnitus - bit of a surprise.

Great to finally see John Rainey’s ‘SLIP TANK’ in the Naughton Gallery today. Hands down, the best sculptor in the North.

15/12/21

“The impulse to discover and re-contextualise rather than to generate a picture reintroduces questions of intention. Why did they pick that? What did they do to it? To what end?”

‘World of Art: Contemporary Painting’ by Suzanne Hudson

16/12/21

Fractured narratives.

Sketchbook time. Good to do something creative for the first time in a long while.

18/12/21

Light at the end of the tunnel?

21/12/21

‘The Sky Gives Way’ Solstice performance by Méabh Meir and Emma Brennan with Array Collective.

22/12/21

New year will be a fresh start. Exciting!

23/12/21

Christmas Eve-Eve. News from yesterday have just evaporated the angst that has been looming overhead the past few weeks. Can now settle down and enjoy the holidays with the family minus the worry.

27/12/21

A Clean palette and tidy studio.

28/12/21

Very early rise. Studio time FINALLY!

Topography of Man - surveillance?

30/12/21

With two pieces at a treacherous crossroads, there is that leap of faith needed. If they go sideways then that’s alright. It can be rectified or started again.

There is that strange debilitating fear when work is at a junction like this. It’s easy to kick the can down the road and avoid messing any work that has gone before.

"Label"

"Under Surveillance"

Last day in the studio for the year. Maybe this added to the frantic energy but “Label” and “Under Surveillance” have changed beyond recognition. Darker and Simplified.

Fresh eyes will know whether to continue working or not. A good day.