Dublin
2023 in Pictures
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
RDH: AUGUST 2023
02/08/23
Securing loose ends this week. Collecting and dropping off work.
Still from “THE NEW DAWN FADES” by Clare Langan at the Golden Thread Gallery.
09/08/23
Fell through. In any case it was still an honour to have been asked alongside the other artists!
11/08/23
14/08/23
Wonderful time over in London. Tried to paint today. Stared at the work for ages but nothing leaped out. Sometimes just looking can be productive. Time to re-energise and heal.
15/08/23
Now may be a suitable time to take own advice and reach out…. can’t just fire a blanket. Have enough work.
17/08/23
Reset desperately needed. Very distracted creatively at the minute. Whatever time can be set aside MUST be used for artistic purposes. Hopefully will get on the right track. Am I too harsh on myself?
Pleased to be a part of Catalyst Arts Member’s Show.
20/08/23
Some progress but not much. Don’t want to dwell on this too much but, as an honest self-assessment in a diary context, WTF. The will to paint is there at times, at others it’s the furthest thing from mind. Perhaps if there were one or two short - medium term targets. Something to aim for may light the fire again.
21/08/23
23/08/23
Yesterday… will remain nameless but they reminded me of the passion and push to create. Jan had noticed when I haven’t made work in a while my mood goes down, procrastination increases and there’s a that wee spiral downwards.
Accepting you’re in a rut.
Take a Break - self care.
Collaborate with others.
Change it Up.
Search for Inspiration
Keep Going
Morning pages - keep moving the pen. Don’t stop writing.
Pages 1 -3: Uncontrolled free writing
Page 4: Reflection on the day.
Advice from subconscious. Not showing my best self. Live by example. To be able to hold your head high. Shake it off and move on.
Clean, workable space
Back to the drawing board (there is a reason this is a saying)
30 minutes of drawing / research is better than 30 minutes of trash TV. Use time wisely!
24/08/23
I wonder if the morning papers would work for sketchbook work. Probably not unlike what Maggie Hambling does as part of her morning routine.
It’s a beautiful morning. The sun is blinding in the brilliant flashes as the bus winds and turns heading across the river Bann. Wall to wall blue. …solo heart to heart, I did my best to be less distracted last night. It’s about being conscious about the negative habits and aiming to nip them in the bud as quick as possible that should really make pay dividends.
Sore neck = Poor Posture.
…give myself permission…
You’d think that well over a decade I should know the answer.
IDEAS / DRAWING / REFLECTIONS / LISTS
Anything goes. The only rule is to put pen to paper every day as much as possible.
Life has a way of happening around you so if shit happens and venting is needed. That’s OK. A.i.L. - L.i.A.
Observing more can only be a good thing - possible leads into other areas of practice. Maybe best to not get too carried away.
Called into Anne Butler’s show “Objects in Time” at the GT on lunch. Such beautiful detail and intricacy in something so delicate and heavy. Love it when materials aim to confuse - mimic characteristics of another.
27/08/23
“Ready to Go” - does it need scaled up? Looking at the “Rooftop / Marina” piece, there are elements in the city scape that are working. Nice, loose and gestural marks but it still needs a lot of work. For the roof in the foreground, less charcoal marks perhaps? Just get something down.
“RtG” charcoaled up, witg the figure more prominent, its already looks like a far more intertersting composition. Solid progres on “Marina” today, especially the cityscape. SSS' aren’t to be taken lightly.
NB: SSS stands for Short Sunday Sessions.
28/08/23
APPLY
30/08/23
Dublin - Curved street is great!
31/08/23
Looking forward to ARRAY event tonight.
Fifteen years. Fifteen years since my outlook was altered forever. Still raw, even after all this time. Anniversaries reel back the pain like a fishing line. You cast it off eventually, but it will always come back. Wrote that like Senior.
“The Night Draws Near” by Array at the Ulster Museum. Wonderful experience.
BE PRESENT!
I will remember the chorus; singing as we were led up to the Síbín for a long time.
RDH: JUNE 2023
03/06/23
Late night transferring… some drawings that have slipped through the net over the years.
04/06/23
06/06/23
08/06/23
09/06/23
10/06/23
Studio cleaned, layered on two new smaller pieces, and cleaned palette.
11/06/23
…no more diddly-dallyin’, let’s get right on into this Sunday studio session. (IYKYK)
Substantial progress on “Put it Away”. Little prayer piece, not so much.
12/06/23
So “Put it Away” moving along nicely and a little surprisingly. The new paints are making a difference, I think.
13/06/23
Visit to the Belfast School of Art Degree Show.
14/06/23
Didn’t get to sketch tonight as intended but there will be time set aside.
Mythology / Semiotics
…venturing onwards…
It’s just dawned on me that Saturdays will alter. Well, they’ll change a good few times in the coming years. But - as always, adapt, re-organise, create, repeat.
15/06/23
After all that graft … to be left at home.
Lovely comment today. Left painting over to Catalyst for showcase and auction coming up.
18/06/23
Studio time now. Let’s see where these go.
Quick notes for Prey/Pray:
charcoal first
contrast facial tones
less marks in hair - blurred or subdued
Quick notes for “In a Corner/ Huff”
Scrape paint on walls - flatter
T-Shirt work
NB: Didn’t get as much done as I would like to.
19/06/23
PRINTS HAVE DROPPED!!!
20/06/23
FB Memories - use to dust cobwebs off? Also just having the small sketchbook close by - for out and about.
Is it too fuzzy? Probably do no harm to have the mini sketchbook around with me - as was the original idea for it.
One thing I have noticed, and it’s a good thing. With the two journeys on the bus three times a week and the time at lunch, I’ve noticed some considerably more writing / thinking time / ideas coming into RD.
I’ve even started bringing a book with me on the bus. Although The Iliad was probably a poor first choice. I am eager to delve into mythology / symbolism again.
The legend of “Bisclavret” has been crawling through my head the past few days.
IIW = IMAGES IN WAITING
21/06/23
Quick stop to see the work in Catalyst’s Showcase.
22/06/23
23/06/23
Our beautiful Bonnie, my studio assistant and my dad’s blonde shadow passed away in her sleep last night. Everyone is hurting. 12 and a half wonderful years. The best girl.
24/06/23
…called in to say hello… folds around eye went in such a way that it looked like he didn’t have a socket let alone an eye. Hard to explain.
Quick Question = Very Quick Yes
25/06/23
“A Brush With… Jacqueline Humphries”.
Finished “Let Us Pray”. Areas successful, others not.
28/06/23
Dublin Bound.
Culchie boy, I love you / Grá mo chroí thú, mo chábóigín féin – Kian Benson Bailes at the Project Arts Centre.
“an atom bomb in each morsel of life” by Katherine Sankey in the LAB Gallery. Beautiful aroma in that first box space.
RDH: DECEMBER 2022
Sketchbook work - it’s been way too long!
03/12/22
Quick studio time…
… as suspected, it didn’t take much to get last two paintings of the year over the line. Still aiming to keep the (well, less is more is a little inaccurate) “Stop before I think I should” mentality.
Definitely less misses with this strategy.
08/12/22
‘New Exits: 10 Years of Painting’ opening at the MAC. Excellent show. Daniel Coleman’s painting ‘The House Down the Lane’ is absolutely stunning. It moved me to tears. A real stand out from a strong group show.
11/12/22
Freezing in the studio.
Drew up two small works (having a crack at the ‘Jaws’ image again - with a slightly altered composition) and have set up to take a look at a couple of pieces that have fallen through the cracks recently.
‘Street Walker’ and ‘Laughing Man’ (working titles).
17/12/22
Wood is for the living, stone for the dead.
Said farewell to GT’s reading round. It’s been such a boost having this weekly outlet of chatting, sharing ideas and making connections. Had a great run!
Stream of admin this evening.
18/12/22
“Tomorrow is Saturday” - Interesting documentary on Sean Hillen.
28/12/22
Studio time. “The Week in Art: 2022 in review” podcast.
Blocking in on the small piece. ‘Man looking in his pocket while descending the stairs’ or ‘Looking for keys’ OR ‘Check your pocket’.
29/12/22
Newcastle.
30/12/22
Penultimate day of the year. admin and prep before a few hours in the studio!
For the time of the year that it is, I find myself in a bit of a reflective and thankful mood. 2022 has been good to me.
Collaborative residency and exhibition with Catalyst.
Work shown at the Boyle Arts Festival, Roscommon.
Part of the Royal Ulster Academy Exhibition in the Ulster Museum, Belfast.
Gave a talk with Basic Space Dublin in the Hugh Lane Gallery.
And most importantly, became a father!
There have been losses also. People who have impacted our lives that have moved on, but their imprint will remain.
So much to be thankful for, a loving family, the support of friends and loved ones during the highs and lows. Also, to those who took a chance on my work, who invited me to be a part of their projects:
THANK YOU!
2022 in Pictures
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
RDH: OCTOBER 2022
02/10/22
#Mousegate
Strange events
08/10/22
…notes complete. Need refined for easy consumption.
13/10/22
Royal Ulster Academy opening. Craig Donald won an award for best portrait! A great night all round and chuffed to see my little painting up on the wall with some wonderful artists.
14/10/22
Early start. Perhaps the X in X4 stands for extra-long.
Talk in the Hugh Lane couldn’t have gone any better. Pleased with the reaction and feedback from everyone and profoundly grateful to Basic Space for the opportunity to speak.
15/10/22
‘A Brush With… William Kentridge’.
charcoal - the indeterminacy of the point.
… at the edge of meaning.
“Give an image the benefit of the doubt… there is a danger in certainty.”
William Kentridge.
21/10/22
NB: Melancholic apostle image interesting.
22/10/22
World of proximities.
23/10/22
26/10/22
David Lynch “The Art Life” - documentary
27/10/22
“The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri
30/10/22
“Cherish your own emotions and never under value them”
Robert Henri