01/04/26
Dublin Gallery Visits
02/04/26
Belfast Late Night Art. A busy night. Highlights were Aoife Ní Dhuinn in Platform and Mia Stewart in Belfast Print Workshop.
04/04/26
Studio - so much moving back and forth. At least there’s a bit of form and structure now.
10/04/26
A surprise late night studio session - unusual for a Friday. ‘The Week in Art’ Duchamp, Dorothea Tanning and Leonora Carrington.
Some progress on the medium canvas. It’s good to know there is a late night option - kind of surprised with the level of productivity. Thought Gathering
19/04/26
A crisp, bright morning start in the studio. Sadly, (or happily), that sharp spring light laid bare the failings of the recent work on the medium canvas a little too clearly. Maybe there’s something to be said about sticking to working in natural light.
‘A Brush With… Danh Vo / Lorna Simpson /. Hurvin Anderson’ - triple whammy of catching up.
There’s a weird type of frustration when struggling to submerge or push back what’s clearly a focal point - the 1890’s female portrait that is front and centre of the canvas. It’s too loud and overbearing for the composition.
Last time, I tried semi-natural skin tones with no joy and pared it back to just a neutral mess / shell. I want the image to be the atmospheric anchor but it was just a flat meh - making the whole piece disjointed.
Had to make a decision - either chicken out and scrap it - the temptation was there - but ultimately opted for something a little different and something I haven’t tried in a while. Commiting to a monotone shift - making the female portrait out of ultramarine, titanium white and ivory, the memory finally started to sink in.
Lightening the harsh charcoal blacks to the cooler grey makes her presence felt without having her scream. All of a sudden, the orange/brown frame wasn’t just bowing to the lady. Now, I’ve started incorporating some architecture to the cell of the inmate in green.
Is it a memory or a timeline?
Stopped while there’s still energy in the marks.
23/04/26
25/04/26
A short but sharp stint in the studio this morning. Feels like I’ve taken a big swing on this large canvas - adding texture, tone and light/shade into the foreground. Also, included a little notion I had a while back - Reflection of light from the lamp, hitting a pair of eyes in the darkness to the right of the composition. I had thought about incorporating more animal like features (legs, eyes, tail) but was reminded of a quote from Ridley Scott
“ The most important thing in a film of this type [Alien] is not what you see, but the effect of what you think you saw.”
In other words, the eyes could be anything and it leaves interpretation wide open.
26/04/26
Second day in a row - short stay again but relatively productive. Light wash on sky to add depth,
