Archive for April 2010

Card: Tiger Lily

It was the mother’s birthday recently, so I did a small painting of a tiger lily from the garden and called it a card. It was painted using just a knife (well, 2 knives).

Like a lot of the small paintings I’ve done in the last couple of years, it’s about 22cm x 17cm (which is [...]

Photo: Bedford Tower, Dublin Castle

This is Bedford Tower of Dublin Castle, as seen from Christchurch Place to the west. I like that wall where Werburgh Street comes out at Castle Street, but a little bit of a tower livens things up.
My feet aren’t very happy these days, but Christchurch Place is a fine place to rest them.

click to enlarge
More [...]

How I Sell Paintings Online

To date I estimate I’ve sold about 300 paintings with 95% of those sales being online. This post is for people who miss out on certain paintings and sales, and for those interested in selling paintings, be they fellow artists or those in marketing.
It should give you an understanding of how you can find [...]

Photo: Pat in his Hat

These days I never seem to have money when I walk past Pat Ingoldsby. When I did, in a time before the monster that is Temple Bar did whatever it did to Moran’s Ha’penny Bridge Inn, there was one evening we both sat all night, pen in hand, glancing at each other under our hats [...]

Card: Stripey Donkey

The boxes and sketchbooks in my studio are littered with unfinished cards I’ve been making since I stopped buying them about 25 yrs ago. Although I try to not think of them as paintings, so that I can produce them much quicker than paintings, I find once the brush/knife/pen hits the paper everything slows down.
Every [...]

Photo: Kids, Croke Park

The great thing about having a camera with you in a yogurt tub is that it gives you an excuse to just stop and rest when you’re walking around Dublin with a sore foot.
Not that I need a reason myself but experience has taught me that just stopping to look at things without a [...]

Studio: Washing the Art Tent Roof

The scaffolding on my studio I’m told is coming down. Apart from using it as an extended balcony, I found another use for it.
The reason I first erected the art tent inside my studio was due to a combination of paranoia about leaks after my Donegal experience and for protection from permanently falling plaster from [...]

Photo: Blue Graffiti, Orange Bag

This piece of graffiti is on the route that the dog chooses, the odd day I relent and let her pick.
You know how I feel about walls, but also, I do like an orange bag.

click to enlarge
More Photos
   • Graffiti Doors of Dublin Lanes
   • Dublin Walls, A Photo Essay
   • Graffiti, Genoa
   • Loads of Photos

Drawing: Outside a Dublin Pub

Much as I like sketching people in pubs, staring at them, even stealing a series of glances, can cause problems. Alcohol tends not to help - either party.
This drawing of outside a Dublin pub is from across the road, at a bus-stop.

click to enlarge
Some Other Drawings:
   • Neil Gaiman: Left-Handed Drawing
   • Genoa, A Sketch
   • Opposite [...]

Photo: Great Drying Weather

When I lived in the heat of America, I really missed clothes lines.
The colours and shapes of clothes drying on washing lines has been a source of beauty for me wherever I’ve been in the world - from historic Italian cities to Himalayan villages. Everywhere but America, that is. For aesthetic and prudish reasons [...]