This video from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland puts the spotlight on some of the galleries reopening to the public after lockdown. Included in this video is a little sneak peek of ‘Confessional’ which has reopened at the University of Atypical and runs until the 23rd October.
solo exhibition
RDH: APRIL 2020
“Inside Man” starting point.
Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ - The ethics of looking.
05/04/20
Not sure if attempting “The Ferryman” on this scale is the right move.
The falling boy: “Full of Grace”.
Blocking.
Some really good progress in the studio.
06/04/20
Commissions
“If your art doesn’t reflect your family and community then what’s the point?”
Dale Harding - Tateshots
07/04/20
Happy anniversary JG!
Applications.
Never rains but it pours! Buckets needed.
08/04/20
“Full of Grace” coming well. Would like to incorporate ultramarine blue - hint to the Virgin Mary in there (via the window).
Very funny search for a protractor.
09/04/20
Farcical.
Eventually got to painting after helping with a birdbox.
10/04/20
Should have been “Confessional” exhibition’s natural end.
11/04/20
Such a battle with “Inside Man” at the minute. Struggling with that balance of realistic approach and the drawing mark.
It’s been a while: “I AM NOT A REALIST PAINTER!”
12/04/20
13/04/20
Not overly happy with the finality of “Inside Man” but best to finish up now before I properly overcook it.
14/04/20
All but finished another painting. It’s very strange times indeed.
15/04/20
“Circular Lapse Study” - detail
16/04/20
Six hours and I’m pretty much no further forward than when I started. Going to have to take a completely different route to accomplish this. It would help if I had a goal in mind. Detailed vs Out of Focus. In between? Trying to tackle the green slab all at once isn’t working.
17/04/20
Back to drawing basics turned to mush.
18/04/20
One step forward and four back.
21/04/20
Little talk with VAI’s online café went well with really nice feedback on work in progress and the studio set up.
22/04/20
Meetings.
23/04/20
Some really good painting put down today.
24/04/20
Need to box up and send off!
25/04/20
Reset. Breathe.
26/04/20
Looking. So important. Doesn’t mean you can’t allow for spontaneity or randomness in the process.
“Ferryman” is finished!
27/04/20
A cartwheel with no floor. CT Scans reveal right-sided skull vault fracture and subdural haematoma. Off to Royal Victoria Hospital.
Avulsion fracture to right wrist.
30/04/20
Out of hospital. Time to start recovery process.
RDH: MARCH 2020
01/03/20
Focus turns to show opening.
03/03/20
Spend a little time looking and you might find a way in. Now at that limbo stage with “No Remorse”. Compositionally solid but colours and painterly gestures are off.
Surprising bound forward on “Self Portrait with Sketchbook”. Face is mask-like (maybe a good thing?)
05/03/20
Nervous as hell. First stop - Ursula Burke in the Ulster Museum. Wonderful scope and the wall mural is stunning. A quick jaunt into town - in GT’s “Dissolving Histories” I especially liked Stuart Calvin’s work. Great to see Dougal McKenzie’s project space show “More Bad News”. Beautiful little touches.
Next onto the MAC for Mark Garry’s “Songs and the Soil”. Placed over the three galleries, the work is immersive and stunning.
Helped with the last little touches to the show prep. Great turnout for Late Night Art and the feedback has knocked me back - in the best possible way. Really not good at taking compliments. Marcus Keeley came by for a chat in the store room for his “Instant Feedback” podcast.
06/03/20
Wee stay with Jane. A beautiful house and a beautiful soul. Finally got to visit QSS for “Four Female Painters” exhibition. Amazing space and great work. Alana Barton’s piece “Blossom” made me cry and not even ashamed to say it. It struck a nerve. The delicacy of the child’s little fingers touching the adult’s hair. Beautifully painted.
Took myself back to re-watch Mark Garry’s videos in the MAC. The close up recordings of the horses is haunting and strangely intimate.
08/03/20
Few days off but little updates online here and there.
11/03/20
Sketchbook work
14/03/20
Scary times. Back to the looking phase. It seems to help.
Self Portrait: face is still very mask-like. Reminds me of a still from “Les yeux sans visage”.
…knowing when to quit for the day is important.
15/03/20
Slow burning day but when I eventually got to studio and began making real progress, the power goes off!
Serves me right for getting ahead of myself.
“No Remorse” in progress
16/03/20
The “In Conversation” that was to take place with the show in Atypical has rightly been postponed due to ongoing circumstances.
18/03/20
Have to self-isolate for 14 days. The worries mount.
22/03/20
Sketchbook work for the first time in 11 days. Feels like a lifetime.
Is there a better, more cohesive way to go about the drawing side of practice?
I think immediacy, or the notion of immediacy, is still important.
24/03/20
Transferred some recent drawings to acetate.
STEP UP!
25/03/20
Studio time with Radiohead.
26/03/20
A bit of sketching but mainly organising imagery.
“There’s no point in worryin’ what ye can’t control.”
BAK
“No Remorse” is finished. There are parts that still annoy but all in all pleased to it’s best to leave it and move on.
28/03/20
Pushing and pulling with “Self Portrait with Sketchbook”. Frustrating but really fun at the same time!
29/03/20
Cleaning palette and studio up. Also stripped the background of “SPwS”. Too similar to the skin tones and made the canvas seem quite flat.
30/03/20
So bloody close!
31/03/20
Last day of quarantine.
Great to take part in the VAI online café and to get an insight into Tinka Bechert’s wonderful work.
“SPwS” finished. It is very wonky as it’s taken from a very wonky sketch from a few years ago but there’s something about the sketch that made me want to try and develop it into a painting for quite some time.
RDH: FEBRUARY 2020
01/02/20
Detail of “Self-Portrait with Sketchbook” - painting in progress
Right, get paint down! Started two little pieces today and “The Crown of Dionysus” is complete"!
“The Crown of Dionysus” on my very dirty studio wall.
02/02/20
The last palindrome day for another 111 years. Damn rugby is distracting!
“No Remorse” - background building up.
03/02/20
Parcel.
06/02/20
“Religion decays, the icon remains; a narrative is forgotten, yet its representation still magnetises (the ignorant eye triumphs - how galling for the informed eye).”
Julian Barnes - ‘Géricault: Catastrophe into Art’
“No sooner do we come into this world, than bits of us start to fall off.”
Gustave Flaubert
09/02/20
Detail of body - “No Remorse”
Using storm Ciara to aid in the drying process.
10/02/20
Submission started.
Mobile installation?
11/02/20
…might be a little out there. Will sit on it for a while.
“Laziness is a sign of mediocrity.”
Voltaire
15/02/20
Visit by Jane and Hugh.
Victim / Perpetrator / Both
linking current work.
17/02/20
All pieces are wrapped and ready to go.
21/02/20
Slight change of plan.
23/02/20
Sketchbook work tonight.
25/02/20
Nerves are shredded already!
26/02/20
Work is on its way.
27/02/20
Well that’s it! Install complete I’m really happy with the exhibition and now it’s a waiting game for the opening.
29/02/20
Louis Fratino on Talk Art podcast.
Repeating motifs. mem: Like that odd shoulder loop that happens in drawings and then translates to paintings.
Made good progress in some areas of “Remorse” (bodies) but mostly have over painted to the point where I can’t put anything else down. Better to walk away now and go again another day than to push it over the edge today. Have reintroduced some rough drawing elements into the background.
Solo Exhibition at University of Atypical
Very happy to be displaying work in the University of Atypical Gallery for a solo show that is opening for Late Night Art Belfast on the 5th March.
Below is the text to accompany the exhibition. “Confessional” runs until the 10th April and there is an “In Conversation” event in the gallery on Saturday 21st March. All welcome
RDH: OCTOBER 2019
01/10/19
“A puncture - a level of emotion” - Zarina Bhimji
Mental health does not and should not define who we are.
Work is dropped off to Newtownards!
03/10/19
Umbrella destroyed by storm but the opening of “Bardo” was great. Great support from friends and a wonderful text written by Gemma Murphy.
09/10/19
“Sress is the killer of creativity” - Jamian Juliano Villani
Good sketchbook session tonight.
11/10/19
Doodles to burn.
12/10/19
‘Cooley’ is gone. Very stale so had to go. A really old image of Helen has replaced it. It’s been a long time since I attempted this image.
Mask and orchard idea. Sucker for attempting old failures.
17/10/19
Placed…
The prodigal ipod returns after nearly a year missing.
19/10/19
“Study of Helen” - image is nine years old and I’ve tried to tackle it many many times but only now does it feel like I am making any sort of headway. Difficult to describe. “No Regrets” - push and pull between the two images.
20/10/19
Conscious decision to limit the palette initially. Sometimes there can be too much choice - especially when starting a new piece. Thinking that by limiting colour in the first stages it can help focus in on tonal values and composition a little more.
“No Regrets” - Painting in progress
Weekends aren’t long enough.
24/10/19
Couple kissing under a dark sky.
Geometric lines turn from canvas folds to forks of lightning.
Portrait with slightly opened lips.
26/10/19
Very impressed with the RUA show this year. Some really strong works. Also great to check out the Ulster Museum’s new acquisition of Cornelia Parker.
‘On Refusal’ in the MAC is brilliant - especially Troy Michie’s stunning collages.
David Sherry’s ‘Philosophical Society’ in the Golden Thread Gallery was a lot of fun!
Some unexpected speed curating from VAI was good fun and great to meet up with old friends.
27/10/19
Little visit to Fiona Stewart’s fabulous studio to be recorded for an upcoming podcast.
30/10/19
Applications.
Text for "Bardo: An Unknown Country"
Below is text written by Gemma Murphy that accompanied my solo show “Bardo: An Unknown Country” in the Ards Art Centre. Huge thanks to Gemma for her kind words and research into the exhibition.
Gemma Murphy