One from the archives

Still life painted at a workshop given by artist Gemma Guihan a couple of years ago.

Still life - Oil on paper - 20 x 16 inches

Plein air watercolour Salmon Leap Castletown

This mornings watercolour & ink sketch is of the recently finished stepped Salmon Ladder and weir at Castletown. It rained while painting so the picture is not as finished as I would like. Still I saw a salmon running the new ladder so it was a worthwhile morning.

Salmon Leap, Castletown - Watercolour - 20 X 16 inches

Plein air watercolour sketch of the Mill at Castletown

Here is a watercolour view of the Mill at Castletown painted in about one and a half hours yesterday afternoon. It was bright when I started painting though the light faded quickly. Still, it is lovely weather for the beginning of November.

Mill at Castletown - Approx 20 X 16 inches

Pencil sketch of the Poet's Cottage Camross

This plein air pencil sketch of the Poet's cottage in Camross village was completed over a couple of sessions. It took about two and a half hours in total (most of the time was spent drawing the stone work). I might add watercolour or ink washes to it if the mood takes me then again perhaps its best to leave well enough alone.

The Poet's Cottage Camross - A4 size

Jack - Commission

This is a commissioned painting of Jack. He is placid horse who loves a nice apple. The painting shall reside in the window of Jack's stable so has been given a good few coats of varnish to protect it from the weather.

Jack - Acrylic on ply - 23 X 35 inches

Jack in his new home

Monty & Roly - Commissions

These are Monty & Roly, two commissioned oil paintings of champion Irish Springer Spaniels just finished today. The paint will need to dry for a week or two longer, hence the bad photos trying to avoid glare from the wet oil paint.

Monty - Oil on canvas - 16 X 20 inches

Roly - Oil on canvas - 16 X 20 inches

Hotchpotch from my sketch books

Once again, here are a random selection of drawings from my sketch books (some good, some bad). Nearly all drawings were completed in 25 minutes or less. Various mediums were used - charcoal, colour pencil, graphite, ink and watercolour. The drawings are on cartridge paper no greater than A4 size, with the exception of the charcoal still life which is A3 on newsprint paper. Some of these drawings are unfinished and shall remain so.

A perfect Commission

This stylized painting is a commissioned piece for Rahanni Healer Liz Phelan. A while ago Liz asked me would I be interested in taking on a commission which she would be giving as a gift to her fellow Healer Mags Harrison. Liz warned that the piece could be radically different in style from my  usual work.

Intrigued, I accepted the brief and we began to discuss concepts for the painting. I painted a watercolour sketch for Liz with my interpretation of our initial discussions. As the actual painting began to progress we consulted as to which elements needed to be added or modified to reflect the spirit of Mags.

As to the mechanics of the painting, my usual colour palette went flying out of the window on this piece. When would I normally use a hot orange pigment or even fluorescent or metallic paints? Still I learned a lot working on this piece, most importantly, listen to your client. All in all this is the perfect example of how a commission should work. I hope both Liz and Mags are pleased with the end result and my thanks to them both.

Angel - Acrylic on canvas - 50cm X 70cm 

Unfinished portrait detail

If you have an idea that you might be interested in commissioning to a finished painting please email me at the address above to discuss. I promise I don't bite!

Plein air for Culture Night

Thanks to Laois Arts office for hosting a Plein Air afternoon at the Rock of Dunamaise last Friday 18th September as part of the Culture Night events, lead by artist Jock Nichol. A lot of the gang that took part in the Plein Air week at Stradbally in July were back again plus a few new faces. I used watercolours as we were limited to an hour and a half painting time.

Jock on the Rock

View from the fort entrance gate

The same view in watercolour (Size - 42cm x 30cm)

Monica O'Meara working overtime

I could have done another pass of watercolour washes across my work but  I was too busy talking to be concerned by that. Still it was great to catch up with everyone and I am sure everyone really enjoyed the Plein Air afternoon.

Lacca Church again

Here is an other view of Lacca church painted last Sunday. The photo is a bit washed out I am afraid.

Lacca Church - W&N Cotman CP Watercolour paper - 14 x 10 inches

Detail

Recent watercolours

Here are two watercolour sketches done during the month of August. Both are 14 x 10 inches on W&N Cotman 140lbs cold pressed paper.

Lacca Church

Reminds me of the song- By the shores of Lough Ree

Oil sketch - Nymph of the garden

This is an oil sketch of a statue in our garden with comfrey growing around the base. I enjoyed sitting under the birch trees painting this, but I am still dealing with the after effects of the insect bites. Nothing much is resolved in this picture but I had fun lashing on the paint.

Garden Nymph - Oil on canvas - 40cm x 40cm