lnab

Art Journal: September 2026

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03/09/26

Late Night Art Belfast.

In the studio and working on commissions - good progress on both.

10/09/26

Dublin bound in prep for Get Together 2026!

11/09/26

TUD Grangegorman - a great day all round.

12/09/26

Got to car and a wallet fell from underneath the wing mirror - good deed done.

17/09/26

…hanging together…

20/09/26

Full day in the studio. Steps in the right direction but what is it …. that’s proving difficult? Flatness of the image? Lack of shadows that help define structure and form? Proportions… angle? It honestly couold be a combination of some of all of the above. Will get there though,

…a joy to work on and is actually fun exploring the canvas and how the image can be pushed / developed further. Complete opposite.

The trick will be having all look effortless despite a cavernous gap in experiences thus far. Does the black/charcoal background come away? Making way for a colour that ties both subjects - say a cooler, muted olive green?

22/09/26

‘Navigating the Kaleidoscope’ exhibitiion by Dan Shipsides in Ulster Presents. Nice variety of works - video, sculpture, early painting and beautifully tactile charcoal drawings (with a wee bit of taxidermy thrown in for good measure).

23/09/26

Clamp - last thing needed.

24/09/26

Funky clouds

25/09/26

Number 1

26/09/26

Sketchbook work - great to dedicate a solid day to drawing, working out ideas, playing with line and getting lost in the process. It’s funny how you’re shorthand can change without being noticed straight away.

27/09/26

We cannot go back.

2023 in Pictures

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RDH: JULY 2023

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02/07/23

TALK ART: TIM STONER

“When you are a mature artist, you’re not a mature painter”

Edward Hopper

“Process of Catharsis”.

“The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye… The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.”

from ‘The Ascent of Man’ by Jacob Bronowski

Really good going with “In a Huff” today. Yellow a little acidic maybe and the t-shirt needs refining - but not to the point of going too tight with it.

06/07/23

09/07/23

‘A Brush with… Jeremy Deller’

“In a Huff” - muted the floor; slightly less acidic and lightened the background / walls. T-Shirt texture is troublesome so pared it back to jostle with it another day.

“Put it Away” - background darkened and textured up. Happy little accidents like the dripping on the skin and around the mouth. Have kept them there for now. Perhaps veil them at a later layering stage.

The lighter hair is going to be a challenge and at this point it’s rough as hell

but

I’m looking forward to tackling it again. I feel this may be a case of slowly working in between a few days of drying time. The open hand is a headache because the source image is so bleached out with light that it looks flat. COUNTER THIS.

11/07/23

A few days off.

LATE NIGHT SKETCHING!

13/07/23

Palette cleaned and two new canvases drawn up. Essentially getting ready for Sunday/Monday painting session.

Noticed something when looking through acetate sources. Initials. Lots and lots of initials. Subconsciously adding? Especially ‘A’. If you look at the drawings (and by proxy the paintings too as I try to keep elements of the drawing mark there too) they are there from the get go. Food for thought.

15/07/23

… submitted …

16/07/23

Thought better of putting paint out for a morning studio session. Decided to focus on pushing the drawing and tonal elements of the two new canvas works instead. Full day in the studio tomorrow. Best not throwing that away!

17/07/23

The bones of Orestes.

A really good day in the studio. “In a Huff” finished and more progress on “Put it Away”. Also some layering and groundwork done on the two new pieces. More of this please!

19/07/23

Take own advice.

22/07/23

Oppenheimer = outstanding.

23/07/23

A solid six hours in the studio. Good momentum on large piece - still no title (but worked from an image of Marina Ginestà). An enjoyable birthday weekend.

27/07/23

… preselection…

30/07/23

Not feeling it today. That does not mean that you simply walk away from studio. Grind it out. Do something! Will set ‘Marina’ aside and work on “Put it Away” instead.

See what happens if you stick it out!? Finished this painting even though head was not in it today at all. Yes, the guts of it was done and it just needed refined in certain areas. There’s a level of satisfaction to be had when you accomplish something that is usually the bread and butter stuff when you’re not in the zone. Makes it sweeter somehow.