27/01/26

The MAC over lunchtime. “The Lost Paintings: A Prelude to Return”. Wow, just wow. A powerful show. Deeply moving - caught myself holding tears back walking around the gallery. The show demands you sit with it and witness it. Definitely won’t be the last visit. Raed Issa’s capturing of life in constant displacement - reminded me of Käthe Kollwitz but with a raw immediacy.

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.

01/01/26

HNY. Here is to a fruitful, productive and peaceful 2026!

03/01/26

04/01/26

First studio day of the year. Nice bit of structuring to ‘Milena Study’ face.

05/01/26

Late night sketching

06/01/26

Golden Thread Gallery visit at lunchtime. Azzedine Saleck’s 'The Border That Crossed Me' - haunting spectral figures rendered in gold leaf.

​Sharon Murphy’s 'Mise en Abyme' plays with the ‘uncanny’ through theatrical settings and the clever masquerading of material.

08/01/26

The Rispin Curse.

10/01/26

“The innovations in the painting come from the parameters I set within the practice”

Tim Benson

11/01/26

Wrapping up “BWoatS” for Catalyst Show.

13/01/26

Visit to Ulster Presents to see part I of MFA ‘Prologue’ show.

15/01/26

Some very late night sketching. Must get a decent R.

17/01/26

Derry visit. Guildhall Taphouse Studios - so great to see space for artists of this ilk in the NW especially after the news through the week elsewhere.

VOID - Barbara Steveni retrospective ‘I Find Myself’. A privilege to learn more about her lifelong commitment to the intersection of art and activism.

Rounding up with CCA - ‘It’s Not Clear From Here’. A wonderful show where curator Ashleigh Wilson has beautifully brought together three artists that weave common threads throughout the gallery space.

A lovely phone call on the way to the bus (“There’s one more thing I have to tell you…”).

18/01/26

Stretching large canvas - lots and lots of staples. Now for a bit more time with ‘Milena Study’…

Took a big swing so fingers crossed that fresh eyes in a day or two will see progress rather than a step back. I’ve a feeling it’s both, in different areas.

19/01/26

…first thought is “how the **** is this going to work?”. Polar opposites. Need to chew it over.

24/01/26

Looking at the duality of external vs internal?

25/01/26

A ton of sketchbook work. Drama…. not playing nice. Good news and bad news in the end up.

27/01/26

28/01/26

Dublin. 'The Last Balkan Cowboy' by Dragana Jurišić in Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. I saw Harry Dean Stanton. In Photo Museum Ireland was 'Empathy Machine' Maija Tammi. Poor wee locust. Rounded up with ‘Passages’ by Siobhán McDonald in the LAB Gallery.