The Artist Statement..a fear

It is very hard to sit down and write ‘what my art is about’. I never really get it right! that’s true for years!.. So every now and again I try to re-write my artist statement with the hope I’m understood that bit better..

‘Eltanin’
Oil on Canvas
80cm x 80cm x 4cm
SOLD

Lots of things come to mind when I paint and for lots of reasons I have the need to paint. Making art is the best way for me to express what I can’t put into words or sometimes even understand.. We live in a small corner of a small planet in a tiny universe.. where there are infinite galaxies and beyond, beyond, beyond… space is continuously expanding too by the way..

In any case.. the link here is a small indication and the rest is up to you the viewer.

I want you to interpret my art your way because it is also for you! 🙂

I paint because I have to

I see it I paint it

I feel it I paint it

I dream it I paint it

Eltanin, Oil on Canvas, 80cm x 80cm

I hear it I paint it

I want it I paint it

I don’t want it I paint it

I love it I paint it

Eltanin, close up detail
  • Eltanin, close up detail
  • Eltanin, close up detail

I hate it I paint it

I am it I paint it

I am not it I paint it

I paint it I don’t paint it

Sometimes or Always?

Standing back after an intense session of painting and trying to work out where it’s going I can sometimes see parts of the chaos in my mind. Usually on a day where I finally tackle my fears, the what, why, when, how, but, all shower down in a deafening noise. Then I stop and I can begin to make sense of something.. sometimes.

This work in progress is perhaps another of those..

From Crone

Looking out from Crone woods over Powerscourt and Djouce woods.

Trails and Waterfalls

A Hike on Scarr Mountain

This came about on the top of Scarr mountain a few days ago. Looking out over the valley and onto the distant hills and forests. I followed the line of trails with my eye like a virtual map in front of me. Trying to work out my surroundings and where I was in relation to what I saw.

Plein air drawing in charcoal on cotton rag paper.

Valley
Charcoal and Pencil on Cotton Rag 30cm x 30cm

My trails, my ventures, my paths, my presence. It calls to mind a sense of living and where I’ve been in life up until now. Time has no presence, its hard to comprehend sometimes.

Plein air drawing is something I am doing a lot more of lately. It has no comparison to drawing in the studio. I get a sense of place in the studio and I work from memory. The studio forces me in to draw without a subject in the room and work from memory. When I draw out in the open, something else happens. It allows me to connect in the moment and respond there and then when something that catches my eye. In the studio I recall those moments but to bring back an image of my interpretation unlike a captured photographic image, reinforces a strong connection to the landscape and how I see it.

From the foot of Scarr Mountain, Co. Wicklow
iPhone photo

Work 7

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I am thrilled to have my work photographed and now posted to my website here in Work 7. This work came about so fast and is continuing into the next pieces with a small change in direction. I am looking at opening the space more in the work as per my post last week. I am excited with whats happening right now in my painting. The need to be out more in the open sketching plein air seems to be really helping too.

Kandinsky’s Dance, Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

Oil on Paper

New from the studio, oil and beeswax on stretched paper. The surface of the paper is primed with PVA and layers of gesso. I began with the drawing in charcoal and pencil with thin layers of paint ade transparent to reveal the under drawing detail. I also used oils mixed with cold wax to push and drag over the surface.

Inspired by the surroundings of large boulders and rocks on a walk near Scar mountain a few weeks back.