A shot of the studio with two large paintings in progress. Left: "Afore the Stoop" Right: "A Manifold and Truly Glorious Strife".
RDH: 01/08/18 - 31/08/18
01/08/18
Blog generally.
03/08/18
Confessional - portrait through mesh?
installational idea - structural notes on seat. Guidelines for penance.
"The Ash Wednesday Supper" by Giordano Bruno - 1584
Michael Simpson - think of your 'style' as developing a language; coherent and your own without being stylised.
04/08/18
'Real Artists Don't Starve' by Jeff Goins
Agendas in the work? Activism? Does it need to have a message?
At the Gates of the Music Palace by Alex Cecchetti. Curated by Mary Cremin - VOID Derry
05/08/18
RUA works dropped off.
"As a painter you constantly want to overcome your virtuosity, but at the same time you strive for virtuosity" - Per Kirkeby
06/08/18
08/08/18
Been offered to show work in New York City!!!
09/08/18
Stiffen the Sinews, Summon up the blood. - King Henry in William Shakespeare's 'Henry V'
The above is written on the studio wall of Maggi Hambling (Tateshots). Some sketching done.
11/08/18
Average Buzzard wingspan = 110 - 140cm. Overlap red silhouette of bird with rabbit skull. Any black in the skull should remain the red of the buzzard. Don't overwhelm foundation of composition.
Will get a good push in the studio tomorrow. At the same time if I rush at it, that's when it is more likely to fall apart. If it happens, it happens..
12/08/18
Triggers: words, memories, looks, objects?
13/08/18
"Happiness is like an orgasm - it doesn't really last." - Raqib Shaw
14/08/18
Reading 'Oedipus at Colonus' to get a better grip. "...further into darkness with every step".
15/08/18
Just realised how I went about the 'Oedipus' painting in the first place ... shading down on charcoal and fix + light transparent wash to unify all the tones. Once dry, pop in colours and detail accordingly, How did I forget?!
16/08/18
...waiting on submission is tortuous.
17/08/18
Trying very hard not to get ahead of myself.
18/08/18
20/08/18
Roasted Crane = culinary symbol of Irish submission. Breaking of legs before being thrown into the sea. The Pale - area above Dublin. (beyond the pale saying). Notes from episode 2 of "Story of Ireland".
OH DEAR. Painful. What a difference a day makes. Twenty four little hours. Three things looking good and they all come crashing down.
22/08/18
A shitty week but it will be OK. Shouldn't have let it affect me as much as it did. Got blindsided and took eye off longer focus and objectives. Onward.
23/08/18
Grayson Perry's "Rites of Passage" episode on death really got to me. A lot of people would give an arm and a leg to have that last conversation with a loved one - what they meant to you and what you mean to them - before they pass.
24/08/18
Prioritise / Lists - allow for flexibility.
25/08/18
Bit of an overhaul on "Procession Study" today. Clouds were OK but too noisy. Back and forth with it today. Looking more like a study now. A little looser.
26/08/18
27/08/18
'Nemo Malus nisi probetur' roughly translates to 'No one is evil until it is proven'.
28/08/18
Bank Buildings in Belfast city centre completely gutted by fire.
Above: Some shots of the Golden Thread Gallery's two simultaneous solo exhibitions: Travis Somerville's "Homeland Insecurity" and Ian Cumberland's "a common fiction".
"Art Practice as fictioning (or myth-science) by Simon O'Sullivan.
29/08/18
A group show in London? GT meet up yesterday was great. Hearing what folks have been up to and where they are going. Some feedback from sculptural ideas from friends was positive.
30/08/18
Cat is missing.
31/08/18
An application was successful so there will be two solo shows - one in 2019 and one in 2020!
Moth Man
"Secondhand images can create first-hand emotion" is a quote by Marlene Dumas. It holds true to this drawing made from a found image which shows a man with part of his clothing in his mouth. In the past few years I've noticed a strange and really annoying habit develop that I seem to do when I'm worried or anxious.
Only when seeing this picture did it really hit home as to when and why I do it. This image resonates because it sheds light this strange coping mechanism and how absolutely bizarre it is.
Knowing When to Stop
Cy Twombley once said "it's absurd to talk about paintings that you haven't finished". With that in mind I'm going to talk about paintings that I haven't finished.
No matter how long you have been painting, there is always a danger of overworking a canvas. The feeling of losing something that had promise at some stage isn't pleasant but I think its important to look at these errors and, all being well, aim to avoid them in future works.
The child's skin tones and using primary colours in the amputee figure worked in the earlier stage. In an attempt to unify the images it all became washed out. The one section that survived is the child's arm which was quickly removed from the rest.
"The Woman With the Dogs" is probably a work that I will come back to at some point. The dog in the earlier stage is melting into the portrait and has very few marks. In trying to bring out the woman's face more, it eventually became overworked with too much happening in the image as a whole. The drips were the final nail in the coffin - for now.
Group Exhibition in New York City
Delighted to be taking part in a group exhibition in New York City in September. Organised by Robert Sellar, 'Transforming the Turf will show emerging Irish artists in the newly opened Stella and Fly on the Upper East Side.
"A Manifold and Truly Glorious Strife"
For the past few years I've been interested creating work loosely based on the works of Sophocles and in particular the plays surrounding Oedipus. Yes there is the obvious notion of trauma involved in realising you have murdered your father and married your mother etc but this isn't really of interest. I have started a few times to make work using imagery form an 1896 Dutch production of "Oedipus Rex" but all have fell short of what I wanted to achieve.
The character of Oedipus has appeared in art many times. Some focused on the character's known genius and skills as a soldier / king to be like Moreau's "Oedipus and the Sphinx". Renoir's take on the myth looked at the unravelling scene of when Oedipus the king emerges from his palace having blinded himself for realising his deeds. Filled with light and energy Renoir's work is chaotic and seems to put Oedipus' kingdom of Thebes into a frenzy.
One painting that has a different stance comes earlier than Moreau and Renoir yet looks at later circumstances. "Oedipus Cursing His Son, Polynices" by Fuseli looks at the epic poem 'The Thebaid' where Oedipus curses his sons for disrespecting him by praying to Zeus that they (Polynices and Eteocles) died by each others hand.
Polynices and Eteocles roughly translate as 'Manifold Strife' and 'Truly Glorious' respectively. I did a small sketch a few years ago of a photo taken in 1911 of past family members from when they were children and hadn't developed it any further until it came to mind as a stand in for the two sons of Oedipus (although one is actually a little girl). I've decided to merge the Dutch production image of Oedipus and the personal photo.
A mixing of the translations of Polynices and Eteocles serves as the working title for this painting in progress:
"A Manifold and Truly Glorious Strife"
A WORK IN PROGRESS
RDH: 01/07/18 - 31/07/18
01/07/18
Crunching numbers.
02/07/18
... feels unfinished ... sections fall apart ... a denying of illusionism ...
03/07/18
TRAUMA PARADOX - CONCEPT
04/07/18
Shocked. Head spirals backwards. Sketchbook work today.
05/07/18
'Bardo' - (tibetan) a state between life and death
...instead of saying "What's wrong with you?" it should be "What happened to you?"
1: Emotional brain basically becomes a 'survival brain' and can hijack the conscious brain.
2: Alarm system in brain becomes distorted and a person may become hyper vigilant.
3: Ability to appraise the present and to learn from experience (an imbalance and a resistance to heal).
Developmental trauma takes time to heal and there are no quick fixes.
BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!!!
07/07/18
08/07/18
09/07/18
Refined some charcoal marks on the large landscape today.
10/07/18
"Traumatic Memory"
trauma - from the greek meaning 'to wound' or 'to pierce'.
11/07/18
NOTES from Psychology texts:
"...the story of trauma is one of enlightenment and forgetfulness.Knowledge gained and lost over and over. A history categorised by criticism and denial."
A tragic paradox of trauma is that one of it's primary casualties is that of truth itself.
Trauma is considered as - "an event outside the range of usual experience." (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -III - R - 1980)
Trauma shatters the assumptive world - invincibility has gone and the world is seen as darker, chaotic, evil and dangerous.
12/07/18
Sketchbook work today. Little steps are better than no steps at all.
13/07/18
Stretched a few canvases today.
14/07/18
Colours laid out and tightened back of landscape canvas.
15/07/18
;
16/07/18
Finished "The Mountain of the Heights" today. Could have done more but I'm learning to let go before work is destroyed.
17/07/18
"Second hand images can create first hand emotion" - Marlene Dumas
18/07/18
19/07/18
20/07/18
A pretty good start to my week off; I have been offered a solo show!
21/07/18
22/07/18
23/07/18
Too many ideas floating around.
NB: To loosen up before working from chosen imagery, I want to try and do some work from life beforehand. Can't do any harm.
24/07/18
A trip to Derry for meetings and gallery visits.
I first saw Colin Davidson's 'Silent Testimony' three years ago in the Ulster Museum. Today it was in the Nerve Visual Gallery in Derry. Still so powerful. The 'us and them' mentality is nonexistent and removing divisive language and politics reveals the human suffering on all sides. It is so important. So glad to have seen it again.
Have multiple little eggs going on at the moment.
Imagine... Rose Wylie on BBC iPlayer
...where presence is evident...
"I think you're a lot happier if you don't mind a bit of imperfection." - Rose Wyllie
25/07/18
The two sons of Oedipus, Polynices and Eteocles translates to "Manifold Strife" and "Truly Glorious" respectively. Might just be the title of a new painting that's been started.
Good news: I have two works pre-selected for the Royal Ulster Academy 2018. Fingers crossed!
26/07/18
"What's for you won't go past you."
"It's strange, but you can't make a painting without content. Content is not like solving a problem in school or university. Content much more means that you've built up enough reason to do it. And content is also shitty because if you begin to identify too much with the content then you can't move. There are too many people shouting out in the chorus. Content starts you up and you leave it behind. It doesn't mean that you remove yourself from the content but it's too cumbersome to carry along. So when I'm working, it's not mechanical at all but it's cool headed because I'm not questioning the content. I've left it behind. It's interesting to say that content is crap, but you can't live without it." - TAL R
27/07/18
Really pleased with how "A Manifold and Truly Glorious Strife" is shaping up.
"You have to create something that lives in a kind of mystery." - TAL R
28/07/18
Worked on "Rehearsal Study" today. Played with skin tone and facial features using an air compressor to manipulate the paint. A slightly less controlled appearance.
31/07/18
So pleased to have been able to attend the iDA reception event at the Atypical Gallery in Belfast. This website is only possible through the iDA grant from atypical and the Arts Council fo Northern Ireland so I'm extremely grateful for their continued support and guidance. Congratulations to all the award recipients this year!
Seven Months Later...
Slieve Gallion ('the mountain of the heights' in Gaelic) is a peak at the south end of the Sperrin mountains which straddle Derry and Tyrone in the North West of Northern Ireland. It can be seen from my home and I have fond memories of family members telling stories and singing "Slieve Gallion Braes" when growing up.
Usually the longest it would take to finish a painting would be three months. If you include the hiatus the canvas took in March, April and part of May then from beginning to end "The Mountain of the Heights" took seven months. I usually merge imagery but here I was unsure. I experimented adding a mother and child image but this took away from the original image so I eventually decided the mountain needed to stand on its own.
Old works from 2008
Rummaging in the attic today I stumbled across a number of sketchbooks from 2008 with small oil and charcoal studies of photographs taken during the american civil war.
RDH: 27/05/18 - 30/06/18
27/25/18
NB:- "Imprint": washes over selected charcoal marks makes for a more painterly and softer outcome whilst still retaining the drawing element - it's just not as overwhelming. Marrying the two worlds. Artistically I'm in a good place. It's utilising time more effectively.
28/05/18
On Hodler's "Night": covered figure personifies death as an intensification of sleep. On the back of the canvas Hodler wrote: "There is many a people who lies down to rest in the evening but who does not wake up in the morning."
"Riot" and "Chidren of the Stage" started.
Haven't painted on board in two years. Keep forgetting how forgiving the surface is.
29/05/18
Started small canvas of "Cult" drawing I did five years ago. Been a long time but its always good to keep everything - just in case.
30/05/18
Let's see what happens.
02/06/18
Playing about with "The Mountain of the Heights" - particularly the sky. Intangible so the marks should be also.
03/06/18
"I want to be a painter of modern life, and modern bodies." - Jenny Saville.
A.F. born today.
04/06/18
05/06/18
Notes from a previous workshop:
Turn off distractions
Centred space
Give yourself permission to move your practice forward.
Elevator pitch - needs work.
Find focus and priorities.
Studio days - regimented routine.
Be persistent and consistent.
Find unproductive habits + break them.
Defend creative time.
Slow down and hear your own ideas.
"Creativity is not a talent - it's a way of operating." - John Cleese
When you value serendipity, you start noticing it at work right away.
07/06/18
Awarded iDA from Atypical Gallery and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland!
09/06/18
Saw a lot of art. A LOT OF ART.
Belfast School of Art degree show was fantastic but there were four stand out artists:
Ryan Hamilton in photography.
Stephanie Tanney in sculpture.
Karl Hagan in painting
Aimee Melaugh in painting.
The Golden Thread Gallery group exhibition "After an Act" was great.
David Moore's show in Belfast Exposed was really interesting.
10/06/18
11/06/18
Zero energy. There are not enough hours in the day. Structure. Guilty of putting off work because of convenience.
13/06/18
Is yellow is the colour of hope?
16/06/18
Bacon was fascinated by butcher shops as a child. The figure in the painting said to be pre-war Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain - known for carrying an umbrella. This work is raw power, beauty and horror rolled in one.
18/06/18
Paint/draw with purpose. Reasons - just because I can't pin them down doesn't mean they aren't there.
20/06/18
Lubaina Himid - take a "given history" from found objects and then "paint a history on them that isn;t as much talked about." Daytime can't be squandered - every hour counts.
23/06/18
Painted pretty much up to 10pm tonight,. Stuck in the zone.
24/06/18
Trip to Rosses Point. So hot too and great to bump into Rob and Sally. Small world.
25/06/18
Great to see familiar names (Lisa Ballard, Alison Pilkington and Clement McAleer) in the Hamilton Gallery's group exhibition 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death'.
26/06/18
Trip to The Model in Sligo town before home. A wonderful space.
28/06/18
Slowly getting back into the rhythm of working again. Finished "Cult". The small child is considerably creepier than expected. More work to "Mountain of the Heights" - been looking at Cezanne's multiple treatments of Mont Sainte-Victoire for some sort of guidance.
Extremely hot in the studio - close to 30°C.
30/06/18
I have Sickert's "Ennui" on my mind.
"Cult" - Work in Progress
This is a paint study of a sketch from seven years ago. I came across an image of a Holy festival in Seville that dates back to the 16th Century - a long time before the Ku Klux Klan donned regalia which bares a strong resemblance.