print blogSEVEN family

I am getting older and less important to my family,a 45 year old man is an important person at 55 less so and maybe at 65 is irrelevant 

this is a gray faded version of a bright and colourful painting I did 10 years ago

Aoiffe and John have got engaged

WALTER my Chihuahua

Natasha has left home and Chip the dog has died

most of Picasso,s work is of his family, his wives, children and lovers

when he works to a brief as he did for this Korean massacre the result looks klunky and insincere   

print blog SIX live prints

An etching Whistler did on the spot in Venice

I have done a series of prints where I have done the wood cut, etching or lithograph directly from life. I read Whistler brought prepared etching plates to Venice and did scenes from life with no preparatory drawing this appealed to me. This is what I did

A lithograph of the lithograph studio the drawing took 10 minuets, if I spent any longer it would have been overworked. I only did it because I was cross being kept waiting for acetone to do a photo transfer.  I hate waiting around, if your constantly doing stuff you can only improve. 

A woodcut done in life class, the model had her hair done up like Amy Whitehouse. It gave her a 1950,s look so I made it look kitschy and put in a le Corbusier chaise long 

this was a cold day, no one could find a heater so the model kept her cloths on. Because of my position in the rooms her boots were prominent in the composition. This made her like like a boy and the wood cut made her look Victorian I was thinking of a young Brunel so I put engineering and geometry stuff in the background. The whole composition was due to chance of weather, lack of a heater and a boyhood interest in Victorian engineering

This is a wood cut I did during a crit

Two etchings done in a life class

print blog FIVE Carmina Burana by Orff

This is a small selection from my collection of early prints and books 

I went to a concert, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. It was written in 1937 he was German (and a bit of a Nazi). Its a coral piece based on 13th century poems. The one that caught my fancy was Once I lived on lakes, once I was beautiful when I was a swan. Misery me! Now black and roasting fiercely It's about a  swan who ends up as dinner.I have a large collection of original prints and books from 1490 to late 1600's I referred to these. I was also thinking of expressionist german artists of the 1920 and 30's. The piece being German and full of angst

Kirchner wood cut, one of his more cheerful ones

print blog FOUR Abstract Expressionests and Women

It's  a woodcut of a pretty 1950,s woman who looks as if she is asleep but she is dead after jumping from a high building and landing on a car. Her dress is a de Kooning painting applied as chincollage. I tried a Pollock but de Kooning uses prettier colours.  I chose an abstract expressionist because they were American, from the 1950's and were mean to woman 

pollock,ugly

de Kooning,pretty

I included this just because I like the print. It's an etching I did from a photo I took of a girl singing on a street in Paris last year. I thought it must be wonderful to be so young and so pretty and to live in Paris
  

print blogTHREE Auschwitz and Ulster

We had a brief on protest. I dont feel the need to protest about anything but I dont like violence it can intrude into your life and ruin it. I dont ask anything of others, I'm self sufficient. I'm sure there were many like me in Ulster in the 19060,s and Poland in 1939 then others came and took their families and lives from them. And many of those that did the taking are still living happily.
  I remember Ulster I had recently moved from England and had an English accent I was punched a couple of times as a result.
  I wouldn't felt any right to comment on Auschwitz except I visited it with my youngest daughter. It's defiantly the weirdest place I've ever been to. Funnily enough it was a lovely summers day when we went and the camp buildings are attractive in themselves.

the artists I was looking at were Brain Cook who did nice screen prints for 1930's travel guides and Auschwitz was and still is a travel destination  

I did screen prints of the great piles of childrens shoes. Andy Warhol did screen prints of shoes and came from eastern europe 

22

This wood cut is from a photo of soilders attacking woman. I have altered it to make the womans poses more sumissive and sexually vunerable and i have left it ambiguous as to whether the men are soilders or republicans. I think when men take the law into their own hands all sorts of bad things happen

the artist I was looking at was Robert Ballagh the pose and subject are similar.Also he is an Irish artist working at the time of the troubles To be honest I only made the connection after doing the cut and was surprised by the similarity. If I had looked it up  before doing my print I would be too influenced. I think this is one of the problems with doing reaserch  

these 2 woodcuts are of 2 soilders who were dragged out of their car and beaten to death

print blogTWO I have nothing to say, sorry

I painted this late one night

The little boy on platform is me as a child

I don't generally consciously plan pictures but I fnd ,looking back, my pictures are either purely illustrations, landscapes  or still lifes or pictures about me and my immediate family. If I look at  bigger social or political issues the work, to me anyway looks false, a pastiche

all pictures have a story. This is my nephew, oisin striding out confidently in his new hometown of Tilberg, Holland. It isn't necessary for the viewer to know the whole story. It,s enough that the emotional charge put in by the artist comes through. If it does the picture resonates with the viewer and it works as art,If it doesn't then no amount of written explanation will help