the mac

RDH: APRIL 2024

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02/04/24

Utilise own advice! Get pro-active!

04/04/24

Not being idle within practice is key.

LNAB

07/04/24

“A Brush With… Nalini Malani”

“…slippage of imagery…”

Clothing detail work on “Last Fancy Dress” and a promising start on “They Had It Coming”. Keep it raw - how do you describe that?

11/04/24

Submission 1.

16/04/24

Submission 2. Ran out of time for drawing work.

17/04/24

Sketchbook work.

S.A.W.E.D.

18/04/24

Submission 3 - an open call.

21/04/24

Studio - pre paint notes:

  • Headscarf - maroon?

  • Background - a sickly yellow / green (not unlike “Amy Study”.

Now that the canvas is covered (no more blankness) - it’s show time.

24/04/24

Dublin bound. Really bad that I have gotten out of the way writing in this. [slaps wrist].

S.V. confirmed! Class!

Popped into the LAB Gallery to see “Emergency Knowledge: The Missing Archives - Vagabond Reviews”. Great to see Save Our Sperrins highlighted among other important causes.

25/04/24

OK, so I’ve been putting this off for a while and now, it seems that bus time is usually RD time these days.

Project idea I had maybe ten years ago: record a sitter - up close in portrait whilst asking questions - mix of mundane and psychological. Between each question - leave around 20 - 30 seconds. The sitter remains silent throughout - more of an introspective process. The idea was to then take still of video and convert to painting.

What if…

test demo screenshot from 2014

instead of a static camera on tripod (that I tried back in 2014) - the footage moved in, out and around the sitter?

And…

instead of working off individual stills on separate works - merging onto one surface. Showing a variation in composition, scale and method of painting depending on the image taken throughout the test?


So, let’s take stock…

Four submissions done in past 6 weeks plus an SV!

Sketchbook work tonight - since brain is firing on a few more cylinders than usual.

27/04/24

Four years. Surreal.

28/04/24

Studio time.

Well, after nearly losing it on the skin tones - “THIC” turned out better than I could have hoped. A strange feeling.

30/04/24

“mother tongue” in the MAC - GREAT!

Dorothy Hunter’s work took breath away! Bloody brilliant.

2023 in Pictures

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JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

RDH: DECEMBER 2022

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Sketchbook work - it’s been way too long!

03/12/22

Quick studio time…

… as suspected, it didn’t take much to get last two paintings of the year over the line. Still aiming to keep the (well, less is more is a little inaccurate) “Stop before I think I should” mentality.

Definitely less misses with this strategy.

08/12/22

‘New Exits: 10 Years of Painting’ opening at the MAC. Excellent show. Daniel Coleman’s painting ‘The House Down the Lane’ is absolutely stunning. It moved me to tears. A real stand out from a strong group show.

11/12/22

Freezing in the studio.

Drew up two small works (having a crack at the ‘Jaws’ image again - with a slightly altered composition) and have set up to take a look at a couple of pieces that have fallen through the cracks recently.

‘Street Walker’ and ‘Laughing Man’ (working titles).

17/12/22

Wood is for the living, stone for the dead.

Said farewell to GT’s reading round. It’s been such a boost having this weekly outlet of chatting, sharing ideas and making connections. Had a great run!

Stream of admin this evening.

18/12/22

“Tomorrow is Saturday” - Interesting documentary on Sean Hillen.

28/12/22

Studio time. “The Week in Art: 2022 in review” podcast.

Blocking in on the small piece. ‘Man looking in his pocket while descending the stairs’ or ‘Looking for keys’ OR ‘Check your pocket’.

29/12/22

Newcastle.

30/12/22

Penultimate day of the year. admin and prep before a few hours in the studio!

For the time of the year that it is, I find myself in a bit of a reflective and thankful mood. 2022 has been good to me.

There have been losses also. People who have impacted our lives that have moved on, but their imprint will remain.

So much to be thankful for, a loving family, the support of friends and loved ones during the highs and lows. Also, to those who took a chance on my work, who invited me to be a part of their projects:

THANK YOU!

RDH: JUNE 2022

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04/06/22

Studio. ‘Mothman’ finally being looked at after several years of hibernation.

Also, a surprise grasp on a 2020 sketch, ‘Peek-A-Boo’. Tall thin canvas has gone muddy.

05/06/22

Small magpie moth - colours?

One for sorrow. Fitting for a self-reflective piece about anxiety relief measures.

07/06/22

Postcard. visual feedback or [illegible].

08/06/22

The Odd inclination vs the Even inclination.

‘From the Creek Billy thought gleefully of the Ten-Foot Lady and the time her only decent leg fell and ended up on the wrong side of Belfast.’

PAULA REGO: 1935-2022

An absolute powerhouse, unashamedly honest artist whose work will resonate for generations to come.

“Dog Woman” Paula Rego 1994 Pastel on Canvas

11/06/22

Can you distill the feeling of an image with another or via another form of communication?

C.C.

12/06/22

Fast studio session. Some tonal values layered.

14/06/22

Went to sketch. Didn’t happen.

18/06/22

Darker red/brown in shadow? Little finger slightly bulbous under the nail and looks too long but it checks out in the source material and subsequent sketch from it.

Is it finished? The age-old question. The risk of overpainting is high. Should rest on it for a while.

21/06/22

Sketchbook work on the longest day of the year.

25/06/22

Whistle stop visit to Belfast today. Dropping ‘Saint and Sinner’ into RUA for delivery to the Boyle Arts Festival 2022. Also took a quick peek into the MAC to see Claire Barclay: Thrum. Interesting scaling of otherwise ordinary day objects/materials - allowing the viewer to reassess their relationship to them and their place(s of origin).

26/06/22

Less really is more. ‘Peek-A-Boo’ finished. The hand finally belongs to the face and the origin of the disc’s hue stems from a background colour within the hair. Tying up loose ends.

RDH: DECEMBER 2020

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01/12/20

…wrapping

Ars longa, vita brevis.

02/12/20

‘A Brush with… Ragnar Kjartansson’ podcast

“Art is a shelter from a storm” - Ragnar Kjartansson

“Raking It In” Pen on Paper

“Raking It In” Pen on Paper

03/12/20

An opportunistic pitch to pat themselves on the back.

04/12/20

“Soaking Up The Sun” Pen and Marker on Paper

“Soaking Up The Sun” Pen and Marker on Paper

NT - how you might approach and on what grounds.

06/12/20

“Norwegian” notes: warmer flesh tones? Texture in sand (sawdust?)

“Swivel Study” Pen on Paper

“Swivel Study” Pen on Paper

07/12/20

Some really good sketchbook work done tonight.

“Just This Once” Pen on Paper

“Just This Once” Pen on Paper

10/12/20

Commended for the Moth Art Prize 2020!

Thought I had destroyed “Norwegian Stance” a few times today but it’s a stubborn git. In any case it was good to get paint down.

…some sketching work tonight but not much.

11/12/20

One minute I think the painting is finished and then a wee niggly bit pops up.

“Norwegian Stance” all but finished.

“Norwegian Stance” all but finished.

14/12/20

Sketchbook work … but I’m distracted a little.

Sketchbook work … but I’m distracted a little.

15/12/20

Belfast. Three months on…

“La Loge” in the Ulster Museum. Absolutely stunning to see in the flesh

“La Loge” in the Ulster Museum. Absolutely stunning to see in the flesh

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Seeing “Hotel ‘78” with the name tag beside it made it all the more real. Great to see around the RUA.

Jaunt to the Golden Thread Gallery. Absolutely stunning show “Put It To The People” by Joy Gerrard. I’ve seen similar small scale works before but the larger canvases are amazing! Real gestural mark making at it’s finest.

The Peter Liversidge show in the MAC is at such an epic scale. Uplifting messages and cool to see the workstation tucked away at the back. The “In a Rainbow of Coalitions” show in the MAC was colourful, fun and poignant.

18/12/20

What’s been lacking recently is the idea of structure. Lists are missing. I love lists. I think this happens around this time every year.

… large scaled drawings - add a link between the pen drawings and paintings…

20/12/20

“Pacing in Isolation” Pen and Marker on Paper

“Pacing in Isolation” Pen and Marker on Paper

23/12/20

Conjunction with Jupiter and Saturn

Conjunction with Jupiter and Saturn

27/12/20

Inspiration is not reliable. Keep curious and critical. You don’t know everything and never will. Perfect conditions don’t exist so stop waiting for the ‘right’ time. Art is not who you are - art is a way of expressing who you are.

29/12/20

Tidying loose ends.

30/12/20

Doing these semi-traditional write ups at this time of year helps to take stock of what’s been happening. Hopefully subliminal pointers of where to possibly go next have been planted for the time ahead.

RDH: SEPTEMBER 2020

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01/09/20

Power is out.

02/09/20

The Rashomon Effect: When the same event is described in significantly different and often contradictory ways by people who were involved.

03/09/20

I do feel a little stuck with the Crimean Painting. Some sketchbook work - get back to the drawing board.

06/09/20

Death Masks: bottling the soul, bottling the trauma.

08/09/20

Very strange few days. ‘Taking Orders’ painting - just not sure where to go with it. Leaving it aside for now and having a look at adding a recent sketch and incorporating it into an old abandoned piece. The only good thing I can see in the failed ‘St. Lurach’s’ work is that weeping willow to the left. It should stay in some capacity.

Very lethargic for some reason.

Thoughts = NOT A REALIST PAINTER!!!

Lifelike/ reality isn’t what I’m aiming for in drawing or painting. Yes, sometimes a more realistic application or approach is required depending on what the image dictates. EG: ‘GO’K’ works in that it hints at realism but ultimately leaves the majority of the portrait minimal - barely any detail. This is not just limited to composition, but especially colour I think.

10/09/20

Belfast bound.

So good to get to the MAC for the degree shows from the Belfast School of Art.

‘Confessional’ reopening was great! It’s a show I’m very proud of.

12/09/20

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Some good progress on ‘The Voyage Home’. Less is more - even on this scale I think. Suits the image and composition well.

13/09/20

Finished!

tvh-detail-two.jpg

15/09/20

Halfway through September! HOW?!?!

Figuring out ideas for next steps and possibilities. Good to get some sketching done tonight. Forgot how accessible sketching smaller than A4 is.

sketchbook-work-15-09-20

18/09/20

‘The Week in Art’ podcast.

Guston and de Kooning - both developed making works with a ‘formula’ able to commercialise work / work that could be made in their sleep and sell no problem. Both rejected this formula and started again.

Integrity.

‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Mary Ann’ studies - the looser the better.

studio-shot-18-09-20

20/09/20

Detail of ‘Elizabeth Study’ - work in progress

Detail of ‘Elizabeth Study’ - work in progress

I think I’m coming close to a mini burn out as far as studio work is concerned. Might be good to take a step back, read and research for a few days and see where we are.

22/09/20

Finished the little portrait studies. Really different approach but that’s no bad thing. Started some new canvases.

“Art is a wound turned into light.”

Georges Braque

‘Elizabeth Study’ and ‘Mary Ann Study’

‘Elizabeth Study’ and ‘Mary Ann Study’

23/09/20

Research - that’s about it.

24/09/20

Some good progress in the studio today.

studio-shot-24-09-20

25/09/20

Got scared very easily.

sketchbook-work-25/09/20

Sketchbook work.

26/09/20

Five canvases on the go at the minute. Best to focus on one or two at a time. First up., ‘Waiting Room’. It’s been a while from I attempted this image.

Seats / Symbols?

‘The Waiting Room’ - detail

‘The Waiting Room’ - detail

27/09/20

What was light at the end of the tunnel has turned into a dark abyss. Shrug it off and keep going.

28/09/20

Sketching

29/09/20

So the past few days have seen a real drop in productivity and drive. Reasons or not —> focusing on work will help. Taking a mini break will also help. Easy to fall into old, procrastinating habits.

Meaty questions.

30/09/20

Studio all clean and tidy!

studio-shot-30/09/20

RDH: MARCH 2020

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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.

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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-11/03/20.jpg

Sketchbook work

14/03/20

Scary times. Back to the looking phase. It seems to help.

Les Yeux sans visage

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

“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

no-remorse-detail.jpg

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

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“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

SPwS-detail.jpg

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.

Exhibition Highlights 2019

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Here are five of my favourite exhibitions I’ve attended this year. I’ve struggled to omit some exceptional shows for this list, namely Christopher James Burns’ ‘Limbo Land’ and the Golden Thread Gallery’s ‘Noise of Silence: Japanese Art Now’.

The list below is in chronological order.

Porous Plane

Lennon

Golden Thread Gallery - 02/02/19 - 23/03/19

Lennon’s first solo exhibition in Belfast in twenty years saw the Golden Thread Gallery’s two spaces and connecting passage utilised to the full. The following is from the exhibition text:

Come and stand in front of artworks that are larger than you. Make time to fill your field of vision with Lennon’s innovation of ‘non image’ art, an art form he has dedicated his life to developing through rigorous research and experimentation since the 1970’s.

….

While the work has complex origins, no knowledge is required to enjoy the beauty of these paintings. Lennon’s paintings invites each of us to find ourselves and arrive at our own conclusions, from our individual viewpoints. For Lennon the “subject is always: how does it feel to be alive now knowing what we know”.

“PECHE MERLE FUGUE/AL13 MMVII x composite 2018” acrylic paint on aluminium, 14’6” high x 30’ wide approx.

“PECHE MERLE FUGUE/AL13 MMVII x composite 2018” acrylic paint on aluminium, 14’6” high x 30’ wide approx.

While painting on aluminium isn’t new, the layout and interconnection of the works was a first for me and truly breathtaking. Like Rothko’s notion of taking up the complete field of vision, it was a joy to get up close to these works and just be there as the artist intended. The paint looked as if it was almost scratched on and the colours shimmered on the metal and beside each other. There were also smaller monochrome works which helped you not to overload on colour and gave the eyes a breather between the larger installations.

Detail of Lennon’s painting in “Porous Plane” in the Golden Thread Gallery.

Detail of Lennon’s painting in “Porous Plane” in the Golden Thread Gallery.

Fragmented

Aimee Melaugh

An tSeaneaglais - The Glassworks, Derry - 28/03/19 - 10/04/19

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In a former 19th Century Georgian Church beside the Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin in Derry’s Great James Street - is the Glassworks - the stage for Aimee Melaugh’s first solo exhibition. This was the first time I had seen her work outside of the degree show in the Belfast School of Art. I’m an admirer of Melaugh’s use of painterly technique to conjure a sense of mood in her work and the stunning venue seemed to heighten this tenfold.

The work is a collective exploration of traumatic events which have taken place throughout history but there are also personal elements thrown into the mix with references of the her grandfather’s experience in the Second World War. This method of working is in line to where my own practice lies (why I may have a soft spot for it) but where we differ is in Melaugh’s beautifully rendered elements of realism mixed with stencilled numbers / dates that fire the imagination of the viewer - a kaleidoscopic narrative emerging from the coloured haze.

“Fighters Mix It Above “ by Aimee Melaugh - 38cm x 42cm

“Fighters Mix It Above “ by Aimee Melaugh - 38cm x 42cm

The C C Land Exhibition

Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of Memory

Tate Modern - 23/01/19 - 06/05/19

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To get to see one Bonnard would have been great enough but to get thirteen rooms filled with works was almost a sensory overload! While navigating the exhibition it occurred to me how blessed we are in NI to have time and space with the work we go to interact with. I went in the midway point of the show’s run and it was next to impossible to not say ‘sorry’ while bumping into other viewers who were also bumbling their way through the crowd.

“The Studio with Mimosa” Pierre Bonnard 1939-1946 Oil on Canvas

“The Studio with Mimosa” Pierre Bonnard 1939-1946 Oil on Canvas

Hung in more or less in chronological order, Bonnard’s subject was continuously shifted among topics of everyday life but what remained was the stunning innovational use of colour, forcing colours together that would not normally be seen in proximity to create beautiful iridescence on canvas.

Working a lot from memory gives the work a non realistic and dreamlike quality to the compositions. Even the self portrait titled “The Boxer”, which would normally be a study from a mirror has links to being worked from memory. Fighting the throng across this exhibition was definitely worth it.

“The Boxer” Pierre Bonnard 1931 Oil on Canvas

“The Boxer” Pierre Bonnard 1931 Oil on Canvas

“The presence of the object … is a hindrance for the painter when he is painting.”

Pierre Bonnard

Acts of Mourning

Doris Salcedo

IMMA - 24/04/19 - 21/07/19

“Plegaria Muda” by Doris Salcedo

“Plegaria Muda” by Doris Salcedo

Going to see this show, I was ill prepared. The first work that greets you is “Plegaria Muda” - an installation focussed on the loss of innocent life during civil war and it didn’t take long before I broke into tears. A few days prior the journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed during unrest in Derry. I had met Lyra a few times and she was destined to be a voice of tolerance and reason in a divided part of the world. Blades of grass find ways to penetrate each upended table; life inevitably goes on and hope is still present.

Detail of “Plegaria Muda” by Doris Salcedo

Detail of “Plegaria Muda” by Doris Salcedo

“Plegaria Muda” is the first of six bodies of work by Salcedo strewn across the wing of IMMA. “Atrabiliarios” contains female shoes encased in the walls behind preserved animal fibre. You can see the remains of the human but it is blurred and out of reach. This work reflected on the cruel treatment of female victims in Columbia where shoes were relied upon to identify remains. I was struck by the personal connection with Salcedo’s work throughout all the projects included here. The empathy with victims of trauma and violence is universal and made for an emotional reflection on loss and remembrance.

“Atrabiliarios” by Doris Salcedo

“Atrabiliarios” by Doris Salcedo

On Refusal: Representation and Resistance in Contemporary American Art

The MAC - 25/10/19 - 19/01/20

From the exhibition text:

On Refusal brings together the works of Paul Stephen Benjamin, Elliot Jerome Brown Jr., Aria Dean, Troy Michie, Arcmanoro Niles and Sable Elyse Smith to explore a notable (re)turn to figuration in the practices of a generation of artists currently working out of the United States, and to investigate the political impetus for this (re)investment in the body and notions of embodiment as a subject of art in the context of contemporary America; an increasingly nationalistic and conservative terrain, in which certain bodies are privileged and protected, while others (those of black, brown, queer and other minority peoples) have been made more vulnerable than ever.

“Ojitos” Troy Michie 2018

“Ojitos” Troy Michie 2018

This is a thought provoking exhibition bringing together exciting artists form America to the MAC for the first time. There is a huge political pulse in this show and for good reason. With governance in NI at a three year standstill, Brexit looming ever closer and the choice to ignore or abuse human rights as political collateral . The UK government has thankfully now brought marriage equality and abortion rights into line with the rest of these islands since the exhibition’s opening but the reality of the topics covered in the works of these artists still remain.

What if?

“Out of Sight, Out of Mind” Troy Michie 2018

“Out of Sight, Out of Mind” Troy Michie 2018

What if there was another way to see ourselves? Troy Michie’s photographic collages are powerful works in this context. In “Ojitos” (‘little eyes’ in Spanish) we are looked upon but theres a hint at a duality in the figure that is concealed in the figure’s identity - the same arm and eye repeated twice as to not give anything away. There is a real power in the use of ambiguity in Michie’s work. In the larger and more complex “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” multiple images interconnect and dissect each other, figures of varying scales push forward for dominance in the composition. Colour is used well to highlight areas of the picture but you get the feeling that the need to be seen clearly is falling on blind eyes. Michie’s figures hide in plain sight and are isolated in the open. The ‘resistance’ here could be that they will not go away.

"When We Played as Kids" Arcmanoro Niles Oil, Acrylic and Glitter on Canvas 2016

"When We Played as Kids" Arcmanoro Niles Oil, Acrylic and Glitter on Canvas 2016

The large paintings of Arcmanoro Niles are colourful and heartfelt testaments to his childhood growing up in Washington DC. Faces are beautifully rendered in the surreal surroundings but there is always a hint of violence in the form of a little gremlin-like figure either hiding just around a corner or at the bottom of the canvas wielding a knife. The notion of the national image is not always far away but is far from the truth.

In a corner of the Tall Gallery is Paul Stephen Benjamin’s video piece “God Bless America”. Multiple screens with alternating red and blue lights surround a looped and edited recording of Aretha Franklin singing “God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home” for Jimmy Carter’s inauguration in 1977. Notions of black patriotism, American political ideology and the ongoing black lives matter movement ring loud and are beautifully tense when positioned close in Benjamin’s work. The space almost became like a place of worship in the rhythmic repetitions of Franklin’s audio.

Where all the work in this group show didn’t strike a chord with me, it was the works of Benjamin, Michie and Niles that made me come back twice more and I hope to visit again before the show comes down in January 2020.

RDH: OCTOBER 2019

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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!

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.

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09/10/19

“Sress is the killer of creativity” - Jamian Juliano Villani

Good sketchbook session tonight.

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.

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Mask and orchard idea. Sucker for attempting old failures.

17/10/19

Placed…

The prodigal ipod returns after nearly a year missing.

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.

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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

“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!

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.

RDH: SEPTEMBER 2019

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01/09/19

More work done to “The Ferryman”. I think it’s lost any painterly charm.

More work done to “The Ferryman”. I think it’s lost any painterly charm.

02/09/19

‘Arena: Kusama Infinity’ - such a great artist!

“While the dead show dead art, living artists die.” - Yayoi Kusama

Hope springs eternal.

05/09/19

Great talk and workshop with Action Mental Health. Really positive and interesting feedback from the crowd.

Patrick Horan’s fantastic paintings in the Ards Art Centre’s Sunburst Gallery.

Patrick Horan’s fantastic paintings in the Ards Art Centre’s Sunburst Gallery.

Called into the Ards Art Centre for a quick chat and a little look at two shows opening; Gavin McCrea’s installation and Patrick Horan’s paintings.

Yusuke Asai’s amazing installation in the Golden Thread Gallery

Yusuke Asai’s amazing installation in the Golden Thread Gallery

At Late Night Art Mark McGreevy’s ‘Flop Sweat’ in the MAC is marvellous! Brilliant use of colour. ‘Knick Knacks and Whatnots’ by Cameron Morgan in University of Atypical is excellent. Blown away by the work on display in the Golden Thread’s “Noise of Silence: Japanese Art Now’ especially Yusuke Asai’s huge mud installations.

06/09/19

“Ferryman” is unusable.

07/09/19

Finally finished the middle panel from the originally conceived “Pioneer” triptych. Think it stands on it’s own merit.

More progress to the the ‘Cooley’ piece.

11/09/19

Sketchbook work tonight.

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12/09/19

Really enjoyed “Memory: The Origin of Alien” documentary.

“At the Mountains of Madness” by HP Lovecraft.

“What will humanity find when they look in the dark places?”

15/09/19

Studio work - some additions of spray paint to ‘Cooley’ piece. Walked away before digging too far.

Little panel piece, “The Horror! The Horror” Speed is it’s friend. Wooden supports are responsive to gestural work - less so with the charcoal marks - more layers needed to achieve tonal quality I’m after.

16/09/19

Wonderful article about my time up at Action Mental Health.

17/09/19

Increase in productivity lately. Could it be a confidence thing? I’m working no more or no less than the slump periods. Is it a case of a fine tuning of better judgement when more at peace with practice? Plenty to look forward to in the coming months.

19/09/19

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21/09/19

Notes: immediate drawing line combined with more deliberate painterly marks. Cross pollination.

“LW” = by removing the instrument of trauma can it be viewed in a miraculous or redemptive light?

Not spelling out the narrative - Great to sit down and chat about work and ideas with GM.

Visit to PS Squared and “How the Image Echos” show.

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Sea Holly Gallery is absolutely stunning and wonderful work on from the 545 pop up group show. So good to see elements of the much loved Orpheus building back in an artistic sense.

Craig Donald’s work alongside restored windows from the Orpheus building in the Sea Holly Gallery

Craig Donald’s work alongside restored windows from the Orpheus building in the Sea Holly Gallery

22/09/19

Finished little panel piece.

Finished little panel piece.

24/09/19

Quarantined.

28/09/19

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Studio work and “Dress Rehearsal Study” is getting there. It’s weird how every time I paint children they end up completely terrifying.

Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’ is utterly amazing. Beautifully filmed and will stay with me for a long time.

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30/09/19

Collection of work for “Bardo” show tomorrow morning.

Collection of work for “Bardo” show tomorrow morning.

RDH: JUNE 2019

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01/06/19

Almost a disaster. Too hung up on certain elements and it is holding the piece back. So the notion of blurring the background and having the foreground sharply in focus works. Execution at the moment is lacking sadly. Need to figure out how to fix the mesh fence but will need to redo all the good work from today. Lesson Learnt.

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02/06/19

Essentially yesterday was a pure slug fest in the studio.

Action is better than inaction. Working out grid for fence work.

Action is better than inaction. Working out grid for fence work.

07/06/19

Great to meet up with folks today.

GOLDEN THREAD GALLERY VISIT:

THE MAC VISIT:

Solo show by John McMacken

Solo show by John McMacken

Belfast School of Art Degree Shows were great. Some outstanding work. Nina Johnston’s tree installation on level 6 is amazing. Regardless of levels/grades that many of the graduates are embarking on that’s the really exciting part.

Looking back, I adored my time in university but detested my degree show. All but one piece has been destroyed and it was the start of a huge, and still ongoing learning curve that’s led my practice to where it is.

Meeting in the evening went really well. Some good feedback and ideas for an upcoming project.

08/06/19

Little break from the studio today to recharge from the overload of art from yesterday.

11/06/19

“Frank Bowling - What do Artists Do All Day?”

12/06/19

The beginnings of planning an exhibition layout.

The beginnings of planning an exhibition layout.

“Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is a strength”

Katy Grannan

“Dana Shutz: How Do You Depict A Feeling?”

15/06/19

Detail of the removal process.

Detail of the removal process.

Bit of start and stop in the studio but fixative giveth and fixative taketh away!

Just spied Grace McMurray’s piece in the Royal Academy documentary.

16/06/19

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“Paula Rego: Secrets and Stories” - Great way to start the day!

“Depression is like a crown of thorns”

Paula Rego

Dander down to the river with the dogs.

More pushing back on “Sack Race” although I could have easily got sucked into working on tiny details and not looked at the whole picture.

sackrace-progress-detail

Treat every painting as a study.

17/06/19

Glazing, Hatching, Cross Hatching, Direct, Sfumato, Painterly, Impasto, Staining, Dripping, Gestural, Broken Strokes, Dotting, A La Prima, Patches, Feathers, Scumbling, Washes, Bravara, Directional.

Sketchbook work.

Sketchbook work.

19/06/19

Knowledge / Creativity / Inspiration

Beginnings / Liberation

21/06/19

the-bogland-sackrace-work-in-progress

Summer Solstice. Pleased with how mesh fence is coming.

22/06/19

Need to let go of aiming to get the little things perfect in the work. Ultimately its holding up the process. Obviously not saying to go full ‘Sloppy Joe’ on it but recognising when things get knit picky - take a step back and reassess time spent on something inconsequential.

fence-work

Perfection is an illusion.

23/06/19

Little break day. Sophia Campbell on “Sky’s PAOTY 2019”.

24/06/19

There’s no sugar coating it. Intrusive thoughts bombarding for practically 8 straight hours.

Embarrassing, frustrating but mainly just terrifying. I don’t want them anymore.

25/06/19

It will take time to get to grips with what is going on.

27/06/19

Currently going through potential imagery. I think its good to scan through images from time to time to build up ideas.

30/06/19

Getting to grips with terms and conditions and sorting out a plan of action together.

RDH: 01/11/18 - 30/11/18

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02/11/18

… all but done…

03/11/18

Do I need a foreign colour? “Afore the Stoop” went in a slightly different direction than first thought. I think I had that quote by Helen Johnson still ringing in my ears about imagery possessing different surface qualities and being on different registers on the same picture plane.

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The buzzard is still; hovering overhead while the still-life is in flux. Melting in on itself. To not just merge separate imagery on the one canvas but to treat them differently via technique. I’ve done this regularly in the past but never to this extent before and definitely not on this scale. There’s loads going on: blocked areas, melting, washes and burning/corroding of the surface for texture.

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“Confessional” is a different beast altogether. It’s going to be a slower process - building up washes of colour, drawing elements back in followed by more washes until it comes to an end or a crossroads. So far so good. It’s not really a colliding of images. It’s the notion of what a negative of a pattern could do to another image.

Refreshing to see organisations opening doors. The model is being altered.

04/11/18

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Kept hearing the shrieking of a buzzard every time I went to work on “Afore the Stoop”. When I looked it was perched on top of the tallest tree at the end of the lane and then glided off.

06/11/18

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Some sketchbook work. Not a lot of time but that’s my fault.

09/11/18

HELP!

10/11/18

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For studio work: cautious steps or daring leaps? Annoyingly close to finishing “ATS”.

Submission writing hurts my head.

11/11/18

Films to watch:

‘Deer Hunter’

‘Inland Empire’

‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’

’Kill List’

‘Enemy’

‘Fruitvale Station’

‘Green Room’

‘Silence’

Finished “ATS”. Still bits that annoy but for the sake of not destroying it entirely, I don’t mind the imperfections.

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Help has been indispensable.

12/11/18

Still waiting on magazine.

13/11/18

Egon Shiele Documentary - transcending the idea of the body as beauty.

15/11/18

Nothing.

16/11/18

Belfast bound for curator talks but looking forward to visiting some galleries first.

Jane McCormick’s “Not Half Right” at the University of Atypical was absolutely amazing. Insanely strong drawing and sculptural elements.

Jane McCormick’s “Not Half Right” at the University of Atypical was absolutely amazing. Insanely strong drawing and sculptural elements.

Ali Cherri in the MAC International 2018. His work was the stand out work for me.

Ali Cherri in the MAC International 2018. His work was the stand out work for me.

Curator talks as part of Belfast Open Studios from Visual Artists Ireland offices. Speaking at the event: Nora Hickey from CCI in Paris, Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka from CCA Warsaw, Dean Brierley from Caustic Coastel in Manchester and Anna Ciabach - for…

Curator talks as part of Belfast Open Studios from Visual Artists Ireland offices. Speaking at the event: Nora Hickey from CCI in Paris, Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka from CCA Warsaw, Dean Brierley from Caustic Coastel in Manchester and Anna Ciabach - formally of Monopol Gallery in Warsaw.

17/11/18

Work is being used as an example to show other artists about finding your own voice. Chuffed.

…someone has been keeping an eye on my progress and that is something!

Another trip to Belfast for more galleries and then a Speed Curating event.

Gerard Carson’s “Submersible Extractions” in Platform.

Gerard Carson’s “Submersible Extractions” in Platform.

Still of Barbara Hammer’s work at the Golden Thread Gallery exhibition.

Still of Barbara Hammer’s work at the Golden Thread Gallery exhibition.

Layout of the ‘Speed Curating’ event by VAI held in Belfast Exposed.

Layout of the ‘Speed Curating’ event by VAI held in Belfast Exposed.

18/11/18

It has been a hectic but brilliant few days. Yesterday I called into Platform to see Gerard Carson’s “Submersible Extractions” and a solo show by Dryden Wilson. I followed this up by a quick look at the Barbara Hammer exhibition and Patrick Colhoun’s project space work in the Golden Thread Gallery. Then it was time for the speed curating event at Belfast Exposed.


… do research. What artists i admire….

…Strange. Nothing negative. Just nothing.

A lot of information. A real painter?

19/11/18

“In Defence of Representation” essay by Tristan Garcia.
In western philosophy the representational object is either a copy, a sign or a duplex.

“… according to the semiotic model, there is no representation without signification, that is to say without interpretation.” - Tristan Garcia

20/11/18

“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” - Screen (1973)

“The Victim” - Saul Bellow

21/11/18

Tried sketchbook work - failed miserably.

23/11/18

Projection onto fog screen.

24/11/18

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Thunderchild?

Line of connection between viewer and work - GO’H

Ask the question: what do you see?

25/11/18

Yesterday I eventually got painting around lunchtime - back and forth with ‘Confessional’ but progress made.  Great talk with GO’H about ‘the gaze’.

Leaf blowing.

27/11/18

Need to select paintings for Framewerk Christmas show.

28/11/18

“The Trouble with Painting” - ICA (YouTube)

“What you’re interested in in the world will feed back into what you are interested in as an artist.” - Alison Pilkington

…speaking about dreams, a quote from Alison Pilkington’s drawing seminar from the RHA really stuck out.  I’m paraphrasing here but the guts of it is this:  talking to people about why you make the work you do (or about your inspirations for that matter) is like talking to people about your dreams.  People aren’t overly interested when someone else describes a dream.  It’s subjective and personal and it’s all but impossible to get the experience across properly.

Sketchbook work.

Sketchbook work.

29/11/18

A difficult few weeks to come.