meldrum art
I realise it is just important to paint or sketch every day. The other day was difficult because of my poor health but just doing a quick sketch makes such a difference to one’s day. Just a simple watercolour can lift the the greyest of days. I feel a lot better now which is great 🙂
Sketched on Saunders Waterford fine grain, 300g 28 x 19 cm
It is beautiful here in Brittany. I am staying at my mother in law’s house in Ploubazlanec which is not far from a Paimpol where I painted this plein air sketch. I come here every year and love it every time. The weather can be unstable but I am used to that growing up in Ireland. It is actually hard to create a successful watercolour when there is a blue sky, this is something I have learned over the years.
I was asked to do a painting of Ulf Ohlsson, Catch-Driver of the year 2017 back in January. The deadline was tight and I had 24 hrs to paint a watercolour and get it framed. I succeeded and the client was happy, ….but that is not the whole story. Because of the tight deadline I elected to paint 2 identical watercolours at the same time. This is the reserve, it’s smaller and I finally finished the last few touches the other day.
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Plien air painting with Daniel Luther and Pavel Pugachev earlier last week. We painted the view towards the parliament buildings here in Stockholm. It was fun meeting Pavel, he couldn’t speak much English and no Swedish, and my Russian sucks so we communicated through Google Translate. It worked most of the time!
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Kintaikyo bridge, Iwakuni, Japan. From my sketchbook. I added contrast yesterday. A lovely memory from when I visited my son.
Saunders Waterford sketchbook, 300g fine grain, 28 x 19 cm
I like to think of myself as a pacifist so it was interesting to visit the Army Museum here in Stockholm with my Urban Sketcher friends back in February. The Swedish Cavaliers are in reality mannequins on stuffed pantomime horses so it was a challenge to convey a sense of brutality. I am still against war and hope conflicts can be housed in museums forever.
This watercolour was sketched in my Saunders Waterford block 28 x 19 cm, 300g, fine grain.
The weekend is over but there are still 3 days left to see our exhibition. There have been so many visitors to the gallery, at least 600 on the opening day and a few hundred yesterday. I have sold a lot of paintings for a record amount which makes me very happy. I of course have to pay for the rent of the gallery, the drinks, the snacks – not to mention the framing costs of course. So I cover my costs and make a small profit and that makes me happy.
I think the real success is that I have had time to get to know Tina Thagesson and Daniel Luther, the two other artists in the exhibition. I have sold art to people who have bought my art before which is great but also people who don’t know me personally. The latter is a big step in my development as an artist because it is a lot harder to sell to strangers, my paintings are becoming more professional maybe! So, I am happy, it’s a lot of work but it has been worth it.
Yes, today is show time at Gallery Movitz here in Stockholm. Tina Thagesson, daniel Luther and I are having a joint exhibition. It’s really exciting and I am very happy to be in the company of such great artists. They have a lot of experience so I’m learning a lot from them. If you live in Stockholm please do drop by to Gallery Movitz, Hornsgatan 40. We open at 11.00 on the 17th of March. St. Patrick’s Day! You are very welcome.
This was a fun sketch to do. I didn’t take me long and I am happy with the result. I will definitely paint a finished version of it in the future. I am obsessed with capturing the light, I think there is nothing more beautiful than the rays of sunshine.
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