Last year I made a series of drawings to try out new shapes and these dish-looking things started coming out. In December I made a couple of paintings on scrap ends of MDF board and people seemed to like them. I did, too, so I made a few more.
They're all oil on 1cm (excluding the third one,which is on .5) thick MDF, roughly 23cm by 19cm, securely wired on the back for immediate hanging, and inexpensive.
I am taking part in an experimental workshop with KAVA, addressing the impact of single-use plastic on our environment. This workshop concluded with an exhibition at The Russell Gallery in New Quay February 17th through March 3rd.
I have created a page for the results of this project that includes a set of social media profile images. a few small watercolor portraits of these objects, and a report of when I went to a local beach and collected plastic waste to see what one person could do for one hour.
A book about the project is currently in the planning stages.
BTW, "witches knickers" is Irish slang for plastic bags caught up in tree branches and hedges.
Now through February I have a few of my paintings on the walls at The Coach House Bistro in downtown Oranmore. In my completely unbiased opinion the Bistro has brilliant food, terrific staff and a warm and cozy atmosphere. Rating: 4 vague oval shapes (highest vague oval shape rating).
MILKY NOON SIGNAL (2017), oil on cardboard on wood, 20cm x 60cm
An exhibition of my recent work is running through September 24th at The Courthouse Gallery in Kinvara, County Galway. The gallery is open 11 am to 6 pm and closed Mondays.
During the show I'll be using the gallery as a studio, painting, drawing, and whatever else comes to mind. KAVA has been looking for engaging ways to utilize the space both during and between exhibitions and I thought this would be an interesting experiment, bringing the public into my decision-making process.
I'm also live streaming from the gallery on Facebook to both show my works in progress and to see what putting myself out there like that results in.
AND...here's my interview with Cathy Dunne on her KinvaraFM show. I'm on at 19:00 (after "Me and Mrs. Jones").
THAT THERE (2017), oil on cardboard on wood, 21" x 23", private collection.
This painting is included in The Art of Nature, the annual KAVA members exhibition at The Courthouse in Kinvara opening Friday, August 18th. The show runs through August 27th and features a lot of work by a lot of talented people.
MORE WAH-WAH TRAPEEZE (2017), oil on cardboard on wood, 8" x 24".
I have my first solo exhibition in Ireland at KAVA's Courthouse space in Kinvara September 1 through the 24th. I've been busy working on new cardboard-based paintings and some larger versions on wood panels, and I'm really looking forward to showing them in our new homeland.
There will be an opening reception Friday, September 1st at 7:00 PM, and you are cordially invited to attend. Refreshments and myself will be provided.
In February we made the move to Ireland. As you might imagine, this change has been intensely joyous, exhausting, melancholy and relieving. I have been generously given the use of the studio of Fabiano Mulas, a terrific artist and brilliant owner of Basilico, one of the most consistently outstanding restaurants I've ever enjoyed. I am now at work on two commissions and starting new works as time allows.
SPRING DRAIN MANIFESTO, oil on four panels, 24" x 72", Private collection.
A selection of my paintings are on view now through February 21st at The Passdoor in Sebastopol, California.
There will be a "Meet the Makers" event on Saturday, November 26th from 5 to 7 p.m. I'll be there as will live music and refreshments, so I hope you can stop by and say hello.
Seven of my new paintings are on display at Monique Arnon Art and Antiques in San Francisco. They join a few of my older, more representational works. If you've been wondering what these things look like in person, why not stop by Mme. Arnons wonderful Presidio Heights gallery.
I have four of my smaller works from 2010-12 for sale at Monique Arnon Art & Antiques in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. The shop is extremely charming and focuses on fine arts from the 18th to the mid 20th century, all selected with Mme. Arnon's keen eye. The selected works include "Two Drawings of a Lake", Absinthe #1 and #2" and "Arrangement A", which can be viewed in the "Paintings 2003-12" section of this website.
Happy to announce that starting in November some of the cardboard paintings will be available at The Passdoor in Sebastopol, California.
Details as they develop.
See right through.
This week I’m applying varnish to a couple of finished paintings. Varnish does things. It seals and protects the painting from smoke, light, minor scratches, marks and other possible surface damage. It intensifies the colors of the paintings, like adding a piece of glass over an image printed on matte finished paper. It adds a very shiny surface to the painting as well, and for those reasons many, if not most oil painters add multiple coats of varnish to their finished paintings.
I do it, too. Pretty much all the time.
I once asked my friend and fellow artist Mitra about whether I should add a coat of varnish to a painting and surprisingly, she said no. When I asked her why, she said that it added a layer of separation between the viewer and the art.
She was right, of course. It does. The shininess of varnish puts a very noticeable “finish” on the painting, and that can certainly be seen as a protectant both real and metaphorical. Perhaps as artifice and illusion, as well. Does the viewer have a closer connection to the artistic process (and by transubstantiation to the artIst) if the true qualities of the paint are preserved? It becomes a pretty subtle nuance for both the creator and the purchaser of the artwork. Does the new owner sacrifice a type of intimacy with the object over its preservation or the potential of aesthetic enhancement? Is the artist subconsciously keeping a physical distance between him/herself and the world for reasons of privacy or self-preservation?
I can’t recall if I ended up varnishing the painting in question. If I didn’t, it would have been one of the very few that I left au naturel. Mitra owns a few of my paintings and most, if not all of them have been varnished.
I’m guessing that the greatest reason i had for doing it was to make them more attractive. Perhaps, even with my closest friends, my work and I need the sheerest of gossamer to keep from being completely exposed.
