Sean Mc Donnell created this lovely image of his daughters

This image was featured on a 'change of address' card sent by my previous neighbours. I really like it and it is almost certainly created by Sean Mc Donnell who is the father of the three girls featured. They are the gorgeous Roma, the very refined Aelish and the delightful Grace. We were neighbours for about five or six years and the time just flew by. I really missed them when they moved to a bigger house locally about six months ago. I was very fond of them. I never got to see that much of Seans work as a fine art photographer but it must have been good - for instance I know that the Photographers Gallery in central London took some of his work on consignment a few years back which is an indicator or marker of sorts. I must contact them soon to see how they are getting on in their new home.

I am back online all the way from Scotland

It’s been a hard days night. And I really have been working like a dog!!

What a week (well nine -ten days) it has been. It just went on forever. Moving from London to Edinburgh definitely was very hard going but the absolute worst part was driving up in the car with C. at the wheel and me and the 2 cats, and loads of our other paraphernalia, in the car. Never again, never again.
The trauma, the wailing........... Finny escaping from his recently specially purchased 'cage' while we were on the motorway..............having to stop every now and again as they were getting too worked up. Of course I felt guilty for putting the poor craters through all this but we couldn’t leave them behind and well I just had to hope that the 'medication 'I got from the vets, for their eight-hour ordeal would have some beneficial effect. It really was not up to much though. Rendering them as per a couple of drunks who couldn’t walk properly but who otherwise just wouldn’t shut up and who insisted on having their voices raised.

Anyway we all survived and are still getting used to being in a different place. The house is probably a little larger than our previous one and apart from the traffic that runs by the back of our rear garden fence (the roads about 30 meters away) it;s pretty good. The noise isn’t a problem = its just a huge change for the fur-bees i.e., misters M. and F.

Finny, who is featured lower down in this blog looking terribly relaxed, is the more nervous of my two cats and is taking a little longer to acclimatize to his new environment that his brother Monty.

Above is an image from my recent batch of printmaking works that I find very calming - it seems very fitting for right now and is appropriately called 'Healing Chamber'. Click HERE  to link to my Flickr album,  if you would like to see the other prints in this series 'Traces on Wood'.

Los Angelina Carol Es

Los Angelina, Carol Es is a quirky idiosyncratic artist whose work I came across today for the second time and she strikes me as someone who has turned her life around after some dark times – check her out on her website at esart.

Artists Blog Webing -other artist's blogs

click on the heading 'Artists Blogs Webring to visit other artists blogs

Silent Witness art installation 2005

This is a partial view of an installation that was first shown at the Jersey Galleries in London, 2005.
The work was initially inspired by a longstanding desire to create a work that was/is homage to those who died in the 'Coffin Ships' that crossed the Atlantic Ocean. This being a consequence of the Famine in Ireland in the 1830's. Thousands died on board the ships and were buried at sea. The coffin forms are surfaced with intaglio embossed Aran patterns, which were what fishermen’s wives, knitted for their men folk in the event of their relatives being lost at sea. In the course of my research, along with the process of creating the work - the piece became a homage to all those refugees and emigrants who face death on their way to seeking a life where they can endeavour to reach their full potential. By clicking on the heading you can find more details and views of the entire installation which used intaglio, digital, plaser casts, and led light.

Something Fishy is going on in the Loo !!

If you are viewing this blog and you are dying to go to the toilet then click on the heading above for a fun visit to the loo. Or as it is sometimes called here in the UK - the bog.

Sannea Venhuis has Come out to See the Light

I thought it was high time that some of the wonderful artworks I have collected over this past year made their way out of the folder called 'My Little Art Gallery' to see the light of day. Given that I have been packing box after box and nothing much else these past few days I thought that this would be enjoyable, i.e., to 'hang some artworks on the 'walls' of my blog.
Dutch artist, Sannes Venhuis, is I think ,very talented and she makes installations + 2d artworks a plenty.
You can view quite a number of her works at exto.nl which has some excellent artists featured on it. Well worth a visit.

Her work depicts human and animal forms as well as hybrids that serve to express more complex emotions concerning what appears to be the psyche of the outsider. Perhaps the central character portrayed is that of the ‘self’ i.e., everyman – struggling though the dynamics of interpersonal relationships as well as that,with himself.

Through an intuitive use of space and placement Venhuis beautifully portrays her forms in sometimes innocent and often fragile states of play.

Christian John Olsen is alive and well on Flickr

I came across this image on Flickr. If you dont know Flickr then you ought to because its great. It's packed full of images uploaded by all sorts of people. I mainly look at the printmaking group on there, although I keep coming across other stuff e.g., ' retro kids book illustrations' and ...................

Christians image was recently uploaded onto the printmaking 'pool' and as I am a member too, I go and look to see what other people have been up to, every now and again.

He is studying for his first degree at a University in Wales and has made other artworks which I think are excellent too.

I first came across his work on an online and actual exhibition that we were both in, based in Southampton. It was called 'Post It' and was organised by a chap called .....................

He got people on the internet to submit artworks in response to a list of artworks that the museum in Southampton already held.

Printmaking at the Edge

This shows the exhibition as it looked when installed at the Winston Salem Gallery North Carolina.

The invitations to artists to be featured in the book, 'Printmaking at the Edge' which is published by A & C Black of London, were extended by the author Richard Noyce way back in 2005. It has to be said that this a very well written book, focussing more on trends in terms of subject matter and directions rather than on technical information although these are mentioned. Richard has written other books on Contemporary art mainly focusing on Easter Europe previously.

International Portfolio Exchange Exhibition

Participating artists Aine Scannell, Naoji Ishiyama, Betz Scott , Adriane Herman, Alicia Candiani, Arunas Gelunas, Barbara Balfour, Barbara Zeigler, Beauvais Lyons, Brian Reeves, Cecilia Bakker, Chang-Soo Kim, Chila Kumari Burman, Daryl Vocat, Dave Best, Davida Kidd, Dorothy Krause, Egidijus Rudinskas, Grzegorz Banaszkiewicz, Hanna Haska, Hugh Merrill, Ingrid Ledent, Iwona Abrams, Jim Gislason, John Graham, John Hitchcock, Joris Martens Kestutis Vasiliunas, Koichi Kiyono, Konstantin Khudyakov, Laura Berman, Lisa Bulawsky, Maria Anna Parolin, Marjan Eggermont, Michael Schneider, Michiko Suzuki, Modhir Ahmed, Monika Lozinska-Lee, Patricia Villalobos Echeverria, Pete Williams, Philip Garrett, Rebecca Beardmore , Redas Dirzys, Valgerdur Hauksdottir, Wayne Eastcott and Yuan Goang-Ming,

Following on from the recently published book by Richard Noyce "Printmaking at the Edge' the artists featured ( of which I was one) collaborated in the production of this portfolio, each creating an edition of 40 prints. The portfolio is set to travel to other venues in other locations in the USA and to Europe. The portfolio was co ordinated by Scott Betz.
Here is a link to the website of the writer Richard Noyce if you would like to find out more about him. RICHARD NOYCE

BIMPE IV, 2006 - international printmaking exhib.

This is the web site where I found my old buddy - Angelo Evelyn's artwork. I quite like this one as there's a serious side as well as humour. Knowing his preferred techniques, it may be litho or possibly screenprint. When I know for sure I will enter the data here. There were loads of other stimulating and excellent artworks on view - but I could only feature a few here.

The second image which you see on your left, is by Georgina Arce, called "Maria" . It seems she came third place in the previous Bimpe(III) competition.

The third image which is to your left, is the winner of Bimpe 2006 by





Mikolaj Smolinski

I really love this one !! It is intaglio and I like the way the stringyness 'sculpts' the form of the wee beasty. Well just the whole look/feel of the thing.

it's called "Roped Boar"

BIMPE 2006 - I found my old buddy Angelo Evelyn

I was going through some files/jpgs trying to locate a particular image ( yes it's a nightmare trying to find things although shortly ie once our house move is over we are hoping to buy something called Extensis Portfolio 8, which will enable me to very easily find my images. Well thats the plan anyway!! Honestly the jargon these people use , I mean those types in the IT world- 'assets managment'.




Anyway I digress !! Yep there I was looking for some images when I came across my old pals Angelo Evelyns artwork images. We were in an exhibition together which I initiated in Ireland. It was at the Triskel Gallery in Cork. I had seen it when I visited a couple of years earlier at Christmas time.

So I "Googled' Angelo , as we have kind of not kept up contact and lo and behold I found an image of his which is created from this year i.e., 2006. The above two artworks are earlier pieces by Angelo. The one with the key icon was done while we were both post graduate students at Wimbledon School of Art in London in 1999.

'Ring a Ring a Rosies' .....contextual Statement

1

Finny the Cat....... shows us all how to Chill !!!

Time for a silly one.......here is a photo taken a couple of days ago when the lads ( Finny and Monty (my sibling four year old felines) were languishing it out on the planchest in the front bedroom. Occassionally watching the world go by. It was/is unusual that they should both be sleeping on there at the same time as they each like to pretend that the other guy does not really exist. Although this delusion comes crashing down, when they go into 'fisty cuffs' with one another (and the rest!!).
He does look very sweet and oh so .......... relaxed.

Semantica - exhibition in Spain

This is a picture of my most recent installation which was shown at an exhibition called 'Semantica' in Mieres,Asturias, Spain.
The whole project came about through a Spanish artist, Jaime Rodriguez, seeing my work on the internet and contacting me to find out if I wanted to be in an exhibition, he was organising. That was about 18 months ago !!
The show just finished. If you click on the link you can find out more about the entire project and see the other artists who were showing also. It's all in Spanish though but there's lots of pretty pictures !!

For more information about this installation itself, you can click here to connect with my website on Mac.com where I will be loading up a folio of images with details of this installation. It measures about 140 x 200 cm. Its a combination of digital print and intaglio and uses net and metallic card and wool.

Art by Denise Walker

How about this extraordinary Woodcut by Denise Walker

THE ARTISTS ORG

the artist org - huge website with loads of info and some lovely works for sale by people like Clemente. I saw one of his which I was tempted to buy. It was just over five hundred pounds. If my finances were more like their usual healthy selves, as it were, I would seriously consider buying it.

This monotype which I then worked into using chalk pastel and pencil pastels began to reflect on that feeling of psychological zones. The red being the lifeblood or animalistic - the blue being the spiritual or intellectual and then the beige representing a more grounded aspect to the self. The main figure I suppose might be self-representational. But it certainly appears as if it is going on a journey. Within it’s parameters, are objects that it owns or that are important.
There is also a sense of there being another figure which perhaps is like a ‘guardian angel’ - this was a huge 'magical' concept in my evolving imagination as a child, who was reared in the Catholic Ireland.

I also feel that the little figure on the left (who has appeared in other artworks) is that child who was me - looking on and not having a clue as to what was going on. At the same time she is ‘awe struck’ and curious to know more, see more, touch more – to find my way into that 'special' place. That special place was/is the imagination. And really it was my own imagination - that is, which has kept me going……… all of my life. Without it I am nothing……there would be no point. I often refer to it pictorially, in various artworks where I depict a sense of a quest of searching and looking.

Here is an image from moleiro dot com where you can see all of the Liebana Beatus Manuscripts - very inspiring. Ranging, from about the mid seventh to mid twelfth century these works are highly animated, richly coloured and cosmilogical in their depictions of realms of good and evil. I think that that their difference or remarkability is most probably down to the fact that they were influenced by the Mozarabic, Islamic and Carolingian visual cultures.

After I came back from Spain following the completion of my masters degree, say by, about 1995 - I definitly was influenced by these manuscripts, in terms of my own output artistically.

Birna Matthiasdottir
Here is the only other image of Birna's which is viewable on the internet. Both pieces are monotypes.
A very talented artist is Birna and if you want to see some of her artwork in the flesh, in the UK, at the moment you can check out this show 'Looking out to Sea' which is an artists residency/exhibition project initiated by artist printmaker Sarah James.which is on at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth.until Dec 1st.

Update (25th January 2012) I have found another link to a site where you can see about eight of Birna's intaglio works ..............  http://www.thecoldpress.com/store/artist/birna-matthiasdottir

Phone Call from Iceland - this was a very pleasant surprise i.e., to hear from my very good friend Birna Matthiasdottir.

I met her originally in Barcelona, on the Masters Fine Art, course which was hosted there by Winchester School of Art. I believe the course is no longer running these days - a failed experiment perhaps !! I can not say that I thought it worked well, particularly where the socio-cultural integration was concerned. I would have thought that, that in itself would have been the most important objective of the course!!!......... but hey-------- what would I know ---------- I'm no pedagogue !!!
This work is from a couple of images, of Birna 's, on show at Galleria Fold's website , which is located in Reykjavik.

I included some teardrops in this one which I used from a screen-print that I made at London Print studio in June/ July of this year. I cannot remember if I was making it for any particular project ah yes now I remember I had done a course there last autumn. This being in an effort to improve my practice in that area. I used two stencils it was pink and navy blue. I will try to locate that edition (only about 7 in the end, were b.a.t.) after all that work and expense - it darn well nearly breaks your heart. Paul Dewis the technician there, was quite helpful but ultimately I am quite a desperado there, in that workshop - trying to manage to do stuff, what with the problems I have with my back and leg pain - but hey I gave it a go - I tried !!

Another calico print in development that again features the Russian collage text house (children’s story). This time I have included an image of a small toddler who was found in a displaced persons camp. Hence the label around his neck. I wonder whatever happened to that child? I also printed out onto silk some skeleton images of babies that I found from a site to do with an ossuary in Palermo Italy. These were then stitched onto the calico. Then I did some watercolor washes on watercolor paper that I scanned in and layered onto this calico ground. I was working to the theme of refugee, which was for a print portfolio for PNP based in Australia. I did not opt for any of these works in the end deciding instead to go with a new work I made, which became part of the 'Traces on Wood' series.

Just thought I would load up some jpgs of printmaking work I have been doing over the past few months - these are all non-finalized. This batch is all based around the use of calico as a ground. I printed out a collage I made from Irish Gaelic biblical text and another from a Russian children’s story. This one in fact uses the Russian story. It also includes a collograph element I made a while ago and some tiny bird elements , that I did a drawing of, from my book about the Beatus manuscripts of Liebana, Catalonia, Spain. I went to see these manuscripts myself, well a facsimile of them, at the University Library in Barcelona. This was while I was doing my Masters degree there in 1994.

We are moving house - we move out on the 12 th of December !!!

Pussy cat Pussy cat I love you...yes I do...

Just came across this lovely website well its great for those of us who love cats http://www.themoggy.com

Various images of art objects including top left "Anonymosus Hero' which was made for the 6 " x 6 " for Ireland exhibition held at the 411 Galleries in China which was founded and is run by James Ryan. That was in 2005 - I am still waiting for James to send the catalogue to me.!!

Centre left: is "Dukka" which is a monoprint onto a large ceramic plate ( diameter is about 45 cm ) I used Lazertran to get the thing to work. By the way "Dukka" is Icelandic for doll

Lower left: "Give us this day our daily bread......." digital print and loaf of bread 10 x 22 x 6 cm. I first showed this in an exhibition jointly organised by the PM gallery ( Hosting Venue) and the Printmakers Council (UK) called "Lifesize" 2002.  Sad to say there is no documentation of this exhibition on their pages on Ealing Council's website.  Its not even listed as having taken place and it was an excellent exhibition with lots of great work to see.  There were people like Elizabeth Peer, for example this bookart piece:  See also her website , which is well worth a visit.  http://www.lizzieart.co.uk/
also

Getting back to the image sheet of my own artworks above -

Top right: "Queen of my House" photograph of a lovely model called Roma, with house made of human hair (her own) adorning her glorious crown. photo size: 20 x 29 cm

Lower right: "Heaven Scent" soap and digital print created for an exhibition in Germany on the theme of Soap. 2001

Motschmann Type Infant - Bookart

Motschman Type Infant bookart exhibited in 'Bankside Browser' 1999 Tate Gallery, exhibition project
This shows the outer casing of my bookart work for this project.

UPDATE

Here is a link to further info about that TATE Gallery project

This LINK may still be functional - its an album of images on the Other People Pixels website I used to have and that still appears to be on line.

I have mentioned BOOKART in the links section of this page and so I thought I would include some examples of bookart projects.
The image on the left, shows my entry on the tate gallery website database for a project called 'Bankside Browser'. curated by by Andrew Renton and Kitty Scott. It was a fantastic project which had all the artworks in archival drop down boxes of the same size. I will show a photo of it subsequent to this posting. There were some excellent artists in the project which was located in St Christophers house which is near to the Tate Modern on Bankside London.

This is a photo of Aine Scannell, the host of this blog.

Artist on Line
http://www.pnp.org.au

Using the internet means that one finds oneself darting all over the place like some deranged grasshopper. For example this morning I opened the computer (the downstairs one) to find an email from a fellow called Brian Sherwin who is a contributing editor to the My Art Space dot com/ blog which I came across through having put my own artwork onto my art space.
Note this website is slow to start up it has a long intro but there is a lot of good stuff on there and it's pretty cool if you can sit it through to past 'that gatepost.

Who would have thought that while on there (where I went after reading Brian's email) that I would end up, sort of defending, as it were, the honour of Damien Hirst ?! Well ,well ....you just never know where the spiders web will take you ha ha.

And whilst on the subject ( yes I can just about retain focus despite the tangled web about me ) of dots.....I thought It was high time that I post up another image to this blog. I knew it was a bad idea in a way, I mean having a blog) but I wanted to have a blog, at the same time. I mean...the thing with blogs is that they take time to develop and nourish and as can be seen ( it's the same with house plants) I'm a hopless 'waterer' so ho hum....all we can ever do in this world is to try to do better !!!

Getting back to the image I'm posting - its a recently finished print made for an international portfolio exchange project, with the theme of 'Refugee', organised by an artists organisation called PNP

testing testing ....one...two...three