Yet more pictures from the past, again they’re not chronological.
Some artists may be quite apprehensive about showing passed paintings, but my thoughts are that these are as true as anything, slices of my mind. My technique may have improved in terms of capturing what I see, ( as much as that is possible ) but what I felt at the time hopefully comes through even if there’s some choices that I my not take now, weather for taste or technical reasons. One of my teachers Charles H Cecil used to say “Progress doesn’t exist there’s only change” he was talking about human culture generally though I don’t completely agree, it’s not not true. Recently I’ve thought that some of my ideas from the past, that for the last couple of years I had written off as naive flutterings of youth, have come back to me as something, not sure what something yet but certainly ideas that have some form/kind of merit.
The artists I usually admired are those who bravely show one what they honestly think about existence at that point in time, even if that deep truth that seemed so ardent may change in their next piece.
I’ve a mild form of OCD, and so it’s an act of continually re-evaluating what I think, turning the same ideas over again and again, learning things then telling myself that I’ve not understood and repeating. I’ve a lot more typical symptoms, but the ones I mentioned above are the ones that effect my work. Something I could certainly do without, but it’s a part of me and I’m sure it has some effects on the pictures.
And also a thought I imagine a lot of people trying to create, and people more generally have…is how I’m doing things, is it the best, correct or truthful way of getting to the outcomes I desire? I’ve certainly done this too much myself, but such is the condition.
Here’s some more segments of my passed experiences, hope it offers some insights into my process.
Flowers to the Sea
This picture was done two summers back, it’s a view looking out over the harbour from my home town. There’s two forts in Kinsale, on the right you can see James Fort. I liked designing this one, I’ve tried to use the hue and chroma of the flowers to direct the viewer’s eye to the focal point – the exit out to sea.
Beside the Lee
View from the banks of the river Lee, cargo loading machine in the distance. I’ve played about with the perspective of the path for the design purposes, thought it worked at the time and I’m still quite happy with it now.
Amphitheatre
There’s a theatre near my studio that’s modelled on the Globe theatre, it was build by permaculture students in the grounds of a local college. I’ve painted it many a time, both inside and out. This one’s a view from the entrance completed three summers back.
Wooden O theatre
The second picture from when the beast from the east came to visit. Enjoyed designing the figures, those souls who braved the cold though some were added back in the studio from memory and the smaller picture which you can see in:http: //kitfrenchartist.com/miscellaneous/
Walk to the Spaniard (Mid-day)
Another painting from a series that are in the link above. A motif that I’ve returned to many a time over the years, I’m doing another similar view at the moment.
Be Happy
Done very recently, the Christmas period was rather inclement and so I was stuck in the studio a fair bit. A challenging excise in picture making without using any references. Who’s to say where some of this came from.
Courtmacsherry woods
Courtmacsherry woods are most interesting to walk through, many paintings to be painted there. The trees seem to bend and twist in fascinating ways, like old men of the forest contorting.
Winter’s Hill
Lane I’ve liked to paint through the seasons, did this one rather quickly as the snow was melting. A simple motif and one that I’ll be returning to for many years to come.
St Fin Barre’s Cathedral (Doors)
Small sketch of the doors of Fin Barre’s cathedral. This was done as sketch for a larger picture which was never started. I recall having fun painting the saints surrounding the door.
Some thoughts on an early attempt at a large scale landscape painting..many moons ago.
I lived for a wee time in the Cork and wanted to do a large scale painting at dusk of one of the more interesting parks of the city, so I’d walk everyday with this rather large canvas on my back, quite the endeavour. Painting into the effect, 15mins of painting each evening. It would take 35mins there and back every day, I was always worried that I might take-off on the journey home. While working on this picture, in Fitzgerald’s park, I got talking to many of security guards, but one in particular. He would come stand next to me and discuss the politics between him and the other security personal, gardeners and his home life…the pub he like to drink at on the weekends, the barmaid he never had the confidence to ask out…and just musing about life generally. Sometimes he would asked about my life and the painting, but mostly he kept conversation to him. It was a little distracting, especially as I only had a short period of time for the effect I was trying to capture and I was rather tired from heaving the canvas to the park, I tried to entertain him as much as I could. For a couple of year’s after, whenever I was near the park I would pop in and say hello, I did invite him to the studio, but he never took me up on invitation, it was a context dependent relationship…he would mention that if he saw me in a bar he wouldn’t talk to me, so an honest man.
He would allow me to stay till just before the park closed. I would hear him shacking and shouting at the bushes, as there were generally some characters that would hide with their cans hoping not to be disturbed, locals trying to find a quiet place to stay for the evening; he would know most by name, and so it was like some kind odd play acted out every evening.
Fitzgerald’s Park (Dusk)
As for the painting itself, I’ve just looked at it over the last couple of days, it’s been prompt in a corner of my studio for eight or so years. There’s things that I wouldn’t do again in terms of design and paint application though as I mention at the start of this blog these choices seemed truthful to me at the time. I’ve lowered the tree line, I can’t recall why, but I would think that I was trying to bring a higher percentage of light into the picture.
There’s more to come from the past, I’ve found these Miscellaneous blogs great for many reasons, not least as it forces me to look and document old pictures which then inform the pictures I’m working on currently.
If you’ve any questions about any of pictures, please feel free to contact me.
