When working on a large painting, I always begin the bare bones in yellow. Though I generally paint in many layers, the yellow marks can still be seen and show how the painting has changed over time, as invariably it does.
Musings about art, writing, music, travel and food (life, the universe & everything...) by Lorraine Whelan
Wednesday, 24 February 2021
painting happily
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Year of the Ox
Kung Hei Fat Choy! I used to live near Chinatown in Toronto and always enjoyed the celebratory atmosphere in the darkness of winter, late Jan or early Feb. When we moved to Ireland we decided to appropriate the celebration of the lunar new year, certainly because evenings are still dark at this time of year, but also because we like having an excuse to celebrate with good food and learn something about another culture. We decorate the house, and adhere to certain rituals of cleaning and luck. I blogged here about the celebration we had with my Mum in 2016, before her death a few months later.
Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Sea of Roses
When I first moved to Ireland in the late 1980s, I lived with my parents in their house in the centre of Bray. My room for two years was the middle upstairs room and, unbelievably when I think of it now, it was also my studio. All of the work created for my first solo show in 1989 was drawn and/or painted on the floor between my bed and the fireplace! Sometimes, for very large pieces, I was allowed to take over the house's front room and work on the floor there. In 1989, after my exhibition, I wanted to work very large on an idea inspired by a dream. Sea of Roses, approx 140 cm square, oilstick, 1989.
Wednesday, 3 February 2021
new painting started!
As I mentioned in a previous post, my studio had descended into total chaos in the run-up to the holiday season, so I spent most of this month tidying, putting things away and reorganising my supplies. I had put up this pressed cloth, at least six months ago, earmarked for a new painting in my current series, Memory Is My Homeland, with the intention of painting my thoughts on the second house I lived at in Kerry in the mid-1990s, Knockeen.
Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Incognito 2021
I have taken part in the annual fundraiser for the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation for quite a number of years now. I first got involved with the charity when they hosted The Big Egg Hunt Dublin, where artists were given a giant egg to paint. The eggs were then displayed in various locations around Dublin around Easter time and later sold off at auction to raise funds for this very worthy cause. Mine was displayed outside the beautiful Chester Beatty Library and later sold to IBM Legal Services. I have previously blogged about that particular event here, here and here.
Although the following year there was a similar event with painted pigs (in which I did not take part), the subsequent fundraisers took the form of "incognito" events, which were both more straightforward and very successful. The premise was simple: artists were given three cards on which to make artwork, the artist would only sign works on the back, all cards cost the same price regardless of who the artist was, all proceeds would go to Jack and Jill CF. Last year, due to Covid19 the sale of work was completely online, widening the audience over the internet. There were two sale dates (as there was supposed to be an exhibition in Cork as well as Dublin) and both sold out within hours of becoming available. This year the sale is again going to be online and further details can be had here.
I blogged about the 2017 event here and here, and blogged about the 2019 event here. This year is the 5th year that the Incognito fundraiser has taken place, and I am participating again, as I have in all the previous four years.
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
getting organised...
If you saw last week's blog, here, you will know that I had to deal with the xmas chaos in my studio before I could even think about getting back to work. So this is the pressed cloth hanging in wait for me to begin - without all the boxes in front of it!
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
chaos!
Happy new year! Well, in order to get back to work, I first have to deal with the chaos of the past six weeks and get my studio back into working order. Even before I get in to my attic studio, I have to clear the stairs going up to it - the flat surfaces of the stairs have been brilliant repositories for all kinds of detritus to be dealt with "later". "Later" is now!