tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105427242011-12-13T22:01:47.180-06:00God's Gift To Art Lives The Artist's Life (With Occasional Guidance From A Book Written By Paul Dorrell)Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.comBlogger711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1141079995590259142006-02-27T16:19:00.000-06:002006-09-20T02:43:18.990-05:00

Pythagoras, the little white dog from next door that annoys me so much, seems to be disliked by his owners even more. In the sub-freezing temperatures of late, he's been cast outside rather a lot, and knowing that I'm the sensitive artist type he chooses to shiver on my back step not his owners. Weak-willed I let him in. Mistake.Didn't you love it when you were a kid and drew pictures in the soil

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1140130119799859952006-02-16T17:10:00.000-06:002006-03-03T02:11:50.900-06:00

NOTE: On March 3, 2006 this offer was expanded to apply worldwide!250 copies of Living the Artist's Life are being given to bloggers for free it has been announced today by the publishers. And there are no particular requirements beyond simply being a blogger! On the author Paul Dorrell's blog there is a statement from Hillstead Publishing saying where to send your email and details of your blog:

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108247878490346992006-02-13T01:21:00.000-06:002006-02-28T13:12:59.656-06:00

Forgot to get a Valentine card? Don't want to give money to card companies? Think the celebration of Valentine's day is stupid? And yet you don't want to fall out with your other half? Let Hannibal Lecter show you how to keep your self-respect whilst treating the special person in your life as, well, special.Not far behind Picasso as an artistic influence for me, comes Jonathan Demme's

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1136556091713450512006-01-06T05:48:00.000-06:002006-01-06T08:26:58.523-06:00

In such extreme need of consuming scrambled eggs that I had a headache, I stopped off for milk. This being America, I purchased a gallon.As ususal it was unseasonable, this time unseasonably cold. On foot I walked over snow and ice for an hour. I did this to get to a store where I might look at all manner of non-essential retail products at knockdown prices. And I did it to feel human. But still

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1135125559217968542005-12-20T18:31:00.000-06:002006-01-26T01:05:27.850-06:00

Love, life, death, pain. They all drive me to paint. But ultimately you just paint because you can't not. That's why. However, what is it, that you paint? And are you honest about why themes recur? Really? This is what I paint:The Woman I Love These paintings are unfocused, abstracted, and she'd never know. Unless she's so intuitive that she knows every time you paint an apple you're painting her

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1134583618179921392005-12-14T11:52:00.000-06:002005-12-24T01:32:57.436-06:00

So Kong is finally here. The fourth part in The Lord of the Rings trilogy finally arrives, and it's pun festival time.Here then, in the Wet Can Dreams tradition of reverse order, is the build-up and arrival of King Kong, as seen through the headlines of the world.So Why All The Fuss?REVIEW: It turns out Peter Jackson's "King Kong" actually IS the Eighth Wonder of the WorldGiant ape, gay cowboys

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1133730683051702192005-12-04T15:11:00.000-06:002005-12-21T02:42:14.386-06:00

So the Gävle Goat has burned again. Why?The burning of a great log during the winter solstice is an ancient custom that many believe began with the Norsemen, and was carried over to the Christian celebration of Christmas. The word yule is thought to derive from the Norse word hweol, which means wheel and refers to the great wheel of the sun in its yearly cycle. But a Goat? Bear with me. I'll even

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1133665702202405422005-12-03T20:52:00.000-06:002005-12-24T01:55:02.763-06:00

Life here now is once again part of the great American tradition of the build up. It's what Midwesterners do. Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and especially, as of right now, Christmas - but also every little local and family event that occurs. Basically you build up and build up, you talk about it and commercialise it - right up until it's due to take place. And of course it

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1133335879083242622005-12-02T01:21:00.000-06:002005-12-24T02:15:40.426-06:00

Football legend George Best is to be buried in Belfast on Saturday after a funeral service at Stormont.Once upon a time, in a life long lost, George Best's name was the first footballer's name I sang. Because I grew up in the sixties and the seventies. And because of him.George Best's body will leave his father's home at Cregagh Road, East Belfast, at 10am on Saturday, December 3, 2005. The

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1132276475825024222005-11-17T19:13:00.000-06:002005-12-24T02:23:18.580-06:00

The dog next door doesn't get sick so much anymore, so I let it in to my house for the first time in months. Now if I was depressed the little dog would be black of course. However the dog is white, therefore I must be happy. Very happy, in fact. I wonder how little black dogs describe having a depression? Once upon a time, in a life long lost, I knew a girl who postulated that white dogs did

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1131944288983885272005-11-13T22:01:00.000-06:002005-12-24T02:26:46.816-06:00

I painted an Avocado. A fruit, you say, spotting my first mistake. You're wrong; my first mistake was painting it. And anyway according to RecipeGoldmine.com, an Avocado is a fruit treated as a vegetable. How do you treat your vegetables?Inspired by Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death I took my paints out. Well okay I didn't - they're always out. It was my intentions I took out. So to

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1131821731419695522005-11-12T12:23:00.000-06:002005-12-24T02:30:13.403-06:00

I was in London recently. Spent a couple of days in the Tate Modern. It was my last chance to see the current much-criticized curatorial arrangement. Next spring it's leaving behind its thematic arrangement and going to a more conventional chronological one. But as you know, I have an obsession with boxes, so I was rather pleased with what was currently in the Turbine Hall. And I was

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1131505941896925292005-11-08T21:00:00.000-06:002005-12-16T15:37:35.006-06:00

UPDATE: On Friday, November 18 Roy Keane has left Manchester United after twelve and a half years service, supposedly by mutual arrangement. However sources suggest Keane had a final heated argument with the manager after being told he wasn't wanted for a reserve game against West Brom last night. Keane was also told he was being stripped of the captaincy. As a former player almost put it, when

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1131252310019661372005-10-31T23:09:00.000-06:002005-12-24T02:42:41.046-06:00

And the demons that don't drive cry on my shoulder every day.Stag last weekend. Eight guys camping out eating tons of smoked ribs, brisket and drinking good beer. And of course, good eggs. And more besides. The Bash in the Bush was a gentle laid-back success of fireside contentment. Weather too good. Broken 80 a couple of times in last week or so. Presently in 70's. Will continue on 70 for next

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1122844590909286552005-09-24T08:17:00.000-05:002005-12-24T23:42:55.856-06:00

The holiday life has quietened down. Spotting a wasps' nest in my bedroom just above my bed I screamed for help and the preacher woman next door ran over and made the world a better place. I still have a hive of bees in the slab that is my porch and most nights I chase great big water beetles around with a fashion icon in my hand.Painting SporadicallyI am painting but it's hard. Am certainly

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1127257862799120442005-09-20T22:37:00.000-05:002005-12-16T15:43:40.710-06:00

Back in February we first started following the love story of Pete Doherty & Kate Moss as it first blossomed in the art of tabloid headlines. Part 2 picked up the story in April finishing up with blackmail charges against Pete being dropped. Are our friends still in love? Are they a still a couple? Are they still in the headlines? Let's have another little look at how Pete & Kate are living the

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1122843025419970612005-09-19T21:37:00.000-05:002005-12-25T01:19:23.336-06:00

Yesterday I got auto insurance, got the car inspected and tonight I hand over a check which is just the latest in a long endless line of tasks to waste one's life on related to motor vehicles.A Car Gets An OwnerBy tomorrow morning the car in the eyes of both states (for its ownership is crossing a State Line) will be mine. A 1987 big silver grey thing. Everything moves electrically - even my hair

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1133511663550670332005-08-15T01:47:00.000-05:002005-12-24T02:43:55.326-06:00

Here is a page listing all the entries on Wet Canvas Dreams that are based on News Headlines. Each entry is researched and manually crafted for maximum drama, and where possible humour, irony, etc. They are not simple software scrapings of a subject. They are, however, all legitimate actual news headlines. There would be no fun in making up such headlines - that would be too easy, and quite

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1122842937304989192005-07-31T15:43:00.000-05:002005-12-24T11:53:22.950-06:00

I am in an office where I am dressed in a pair of falling apart canvas trainers, a pair of shorts, and a light but loud Malaysian top. The exposed limbs have a strong golden tan, puntuated only by 38 rather itchy mosquito bites - the mass of dark hairs to be considered more of a texture than punctuation. The trainers were a gift from a woman with large feet and I have subsequently discovered them

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1119980260114607482005-06-28T12:36:00.000-05:002005-12-24T03:44:45.183-06:00

Saw an advertisement for Sears today. It said You May Never Paint Again. How do they know?Sometimes in life, there is no more.Paul Dorrell says:In my gallery, my artists and I usually split advertising expenses

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1119325893269877922005-06-20T22:41:00.000-05:002005-12-24T02:52:01.736-06:00

It was the the cheapest store for food I'd found since moving here. For all the previous fifty-cent packets of crackers and two-liter bottles of pop, she'd never spoken to me before.-So where've you been?-Sorry?-You haven't been in for a while. I haven't seen you.Before leaving the store clutching my one-dollar packet of Corn Flakes and my receipt I explained:-Oh, I've been lying low. And then

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1131512712019964382005-05-14T22:38:00.000-05:002005-12-17T12:56:33.333-06:00

My appetite for tedium is insatiable. It takes many forms. One is cooking. Or more properly, preparation. Show me a vegetable and I'll show you a long time. I see no need to build up nor employ techniques to cut up and chop vegetables efficiently. Taking time to slice and dice strikes me as the very point of the exercise. And then when you're done, you have all these little pieces of different

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1114852022194919962005-04-29T23:54:00.000-05:002005-12-17T13:01:11.646-06:00

So here we are again. Media event. Global mutterings. It's the latest and long-planned incarnation of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. But as ever here at Wet Canvas Dreams, we're fascinated not by the creation itself, but by the images and progress of the words that describe all things H2G2 in the build up and arrival. Here then for your galaxian and artistic pleasure, in headlines from

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1114664257410419572005-04-27T22:36:00.000-05:002005-12-24T01:26:18.050-06:00

The first time ever I saw her face, I knew. So I painted it.His picture was in the paper. His mother would be proud. All grown up, and listened to, a long time since he ploughed. His picture was in the paper. So I painted it.I bought it for the leaves. I knew that it would die. I love them and I water them but then I always get distracted. Before I forgot to water it, its leaves grew big and

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1114489561166021342005-04-26T00:08:00.000-05:002005-12-24T11:46:33.726-06:00

Six paintings I painted yesterday. They're not finished of course, but then they never are. There will be twelve paintings in this series whenever I do finish. Twenty-four appealed but then I thought that was just being silly.Beginning a PaintingYellow. Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue. That's all I've used. And the white space of the canvases. Representational. Blobby shapes and outlines. Like ghostly

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1114424499388875612005-04-25T05:19:00.000-05:002005-12-19T17:02:53.043-06:00

"It is part of the BBC1's DNA now, it's vital to the channel," says John Yorke, the BBC's Controller of Continuing Drama Series and Head of Independent Drama. He is speaking of the BBC's erstwhile flagship EastEnders. Over twenty years old and with viewing figures at its peak equalling half the actual population of the UK, it comprises a significant collection of the visual memories of a

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1114320002413676172005-04-23T23:13:00.000-05:002005-12-19T17:05:09.326-06:00

-A Great Dane.-Where?-Isn't that a portrait of Stephen and his Great Dane?-It’s Stephen and his not-so-great Dane.-You don’t like that kind of dog then?-I do like that kind of dog.-So why are you calling it not a Great Dane?-Because it’s not Great.-But it’s not subjective; you don’t get to choose whether or not the dog is great.-Indeed. And I’m not.-But you’re saying it’s not Great.-Because it’s

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1114065656242094772005-04-20T23:20:00.000-05:002005-12-19T17:23:20.700-06:00

Once upon a time a pyramid meant something. It meant less bricks at the top than at the bottom. That's how you built them. It's what defined them. Try building them a different way and they fall over, or you end up with a tower. Less at the top and more at the bottom. It's what differentiated a two-dimensional representation of a pyramid from your regular every-day triangle. However, this is

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1113626157655851802005-04-15T23:23:00.000-05:002005-12-24T01:21:16.516-06:00

I don’t really like people. And I stopped painting them closely because they’re stupid. It probably shouldn’t be a factor I know, but hey –I’m only human.-What are you painting?-This.-All I can see is brown.-Well, when you think about it, isn’t everything brown? -Is that supposed to be that over there? -Why don’t you put that tree in it? -My daughter is a great artist. -Did you mean to do that

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1113444113497785232005-04-13T19:54:00.000-05:002005-12-21T10:28:56.433-06:00

Pye was the first brand of music equipment in the home I grew up in. A mono record player. Eventually a grown up, who had forgotten how to listen to music, took pity on those of us who were having to wait half an hour for the record player to warm up before it would work, bought a turntable as a replacement. A stereo. Three boxes replaced the one. I think it was the touching of the older record

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1113331011729564332005-04-12T13:28:00.000-05:002005-11-08T21:52:25.066-06:00

We left Pete and Kate in early February after a whirlwind month of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. Never wanting to rest on our clichés we're now playing catch-up to see if Kate, and Pete especially, are still living the artist’s life. So here now is the most recent breathless month in the life of Doherty and Moss, curfews, water requirements, and basking sharks included.The art is more in the

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1113187617515085032005-04-10T21:25:00.000-05:002005-12-23T21:41:12.700-06:00

Being a hair fan I ignored her face after I'd sentenced it to plain-ness, and judged her hair style to be suitably plain. But the color. Yes, the color. Going away from brown towards a soft red. Another frill behind the counter. Like the red napkins under the cakes, and the dangling Coca-Cola ads. She doesn't always keep her hair like that. I wonder what it's like when she goes out. I thought of

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1113014387267863732005-04-08T21:23:00.000-05:002005-12-27T23:40:13.046-06:00

Judging from the headlines of the last month Carrie Ford certainly lives the life. And what will Ginger McCain do if Carrie Ford does win? I'll bare my backside to the wind, and let everyone kick itBut is it art?Mar 9 Grand AmbitionMar 13 All-Clear for Ford's Aintree BidMar 22 McCain: 'Women can't win National'Mar 22 McCain: woman rider can't win NationalMar 22 Forget Mrs Ford, says GingerMar 22

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1112924957266813262005-04-07T20:49:00.000-05:002005-12-24T23:52:18.930-06:00

So I sit at 2:30 in the morning looking at an empty pad and my pencils while I bite all my best nails trying to slow down the images in my head.A ford. And to think I mock the city. I was walking to a farm for a party. Well, it used to be a farm. A nice evening in pre-leafy suburbia. Then the converted barn. Were the music not so loud it might have been nice to meet people.-Excuse me, said the

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1112877650898112962005-04-06T06:35:00.000-05:002005-12-24T03:34:09.536-06:00

She sat on the island with her legs folded in front of her. A traffic island in the very center of a suburban nothingness. Cars, a bus, some pedestrians, and more cars. all commuters. Hundreds of them. She was alone on her island. Except for the pigeons. Dozens of them. In her lap was bread. She fed them all equally. Picked out whose turn it was to be fed. Perched on her legs. Her arms. Watching

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1112761416263650342005-04-05T22:21:00.000-05:002005-12-28T22:38:27.936-06:00

George Caleb Bingham - A kind of history. A kind of style. It's the stillness that warms me. Yes he plays with the light, but not like all those romantic sentimental myth-makers.Winslow Homer - Workmanlike and truthful? I'm not sure; it's the strong very deliberate compositions he employs together with his ease of execution that keeps me returning to his paintings.Thomas Eakins - odd combinations

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1112682773642331862005-04-04T23:21:00.000-05:002005-04-05T01:32:53.646-05:00

Earn thousands? For little or no work? Seems perfect for an artist. I think I'll sell my signature. Auction it off. Not the physical signature like an autograph, but the content.Right now a 31-year-old father of two is selling the naming right of his middle name on eBay. The "Buy It Now" price is $8,000. As of early Monday the high bid is already $2,175. Driven by a dislike of his middle name

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1112449379650835752005-04-02T06:55:00.000-06:002005-12-24T11:45:20.693-06:00

Nobody else around. A Belted Kingfisher flew in large circles just over the water. Beside me on the bank a large Canada Goose honked happily. Seconds later the noise bounced off the bridge. The concrete bridge was built in 1927 to replace the old steel toll bridge down nearer the lock where the old toll house is now a restaurant. Across the river were six swans along with some Canada Geese, a

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1112290104471549252005-03-31T10:52:00.000-06:002005-12-25T00:15:29.373-06:00

A gorgeous day yesterday so I walked to the restaurant. I'm lying of course; I was saving a dollar. And a most pleasant way to save a dollar it was too. An old man in front of me rummaging in a trash can. Long green coat. Hat and a stick. I remembered what it was like to be hungry. He found what he was looking for, and pulled out the newspaper from the trash can. Then he read it.It's Not Like

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1112128831864335712005-03-29T14:39:00.000-06:002005-03-29T14:47:25.653-06:00

I watched The Moderns with my tongue lolling in a tub of Peach Melba yogurt. A slow deliberate film it was a bit tedious as an art film, and perhaps pretentious, but we do have a limited selection of movies that fall even remotely in the art bracket. It did make me laugh though, being nicely droll and intentionally silly. But I imagine if you have no particular interest in Paris in the 1920's,

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1111870003464204252005-03-26T14:46:00.000-06:002005-12-24T11:50:09.190-06:00

I passed three young girls today. Aged ten at most. They were putting on voices.-Well, I cook his dinner but he's always drunk, she says rolling her eyes and gesticulating with her hand in a hopeless fashion.Her friend suggests giving him a glass of milk if he's always getting drunk.I think she was his mother. She pulled him towards her with one hand and smacked him on the back of his neck with

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1111774471906559772005-03-25T11:43:00.000-06:002005-12-27T23:21:42.260-06:00

Perhaps my most demoralizing of days. It seems I have finally stumbled upon the method of measurement to determine the quality of a city as a city. Drove the dozen or so blocks - for there is no public transport and on such a perfect day nobody walks - to the shopping experience called Town Center on the quaintly named 106th Street. It no more resembles a town than an indoor mall does, and among

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1111687372622483092005-03-24T11:44:00.000-06:002005-12-24T23:58:13.896-06:00

Five bands of blue. Each one is perfect. Perfect for me the artist, that is. Perfect accompanied by thin strips of cadmium red and orange. But not perfect when I use alizarin. Where to now, wise man? The green worked with the alizarin. When you had the green. But the blue, especially with the yellows and ochres, well that's paradise.Hey do you know what paradise is? It's alive, a fantasy

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1111535891435100152005-03-22T17:50:00.000-06:002005-12-24T17:08:53.500-06:00

Aside from an indulgence in art, part of the human condition that distinguishes us from other animals is our acknowledgement of anniversaries. Something about the anniversary of a death resonates with us far longer than that of a birth, as it has the power to invoke sorrow and loss all over again, or often for the first time. Fifty years ago today the painter Nicolas de Staël locked his studio,

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1111468443687454012005-03-21T22:48:00.000-06:002005-12-28T23:11:29.613-06:00

Being a believer in enhancing the world visually where city planners and society didn't quite get it right, I often spend weekends stuck in the environmental art of the seventies. This weekend however I found myself on the BBC, on 1Xtra to be exact. And I was watching an animation that was the first I've seen to feature London's gorgeous Gherkin. Every city should have one.Visual Drama Taggerz is

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1111232807048177802005-03-18T23:35:00.000-06:002005-12-24T17:33:39.413-06:00

-So do you like the shirt I bought you?-Yeah. You were lucky, it's a nice shade of blue.-It's green.-Well, it's a nice shade of green then.Horizontal marks, however abstract, get converted into landscapes by the viewer. What would be converted into grass in the painting I'm currently working on is green; perhaps that's why. It doesn't matter that the sky is yellow, nor the road going across the

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1111067531455826562005-03-17T07:49:00.000-06:002005-12-23T22:06:44.626-06:00

She's about to be everywhere. On a day when much of the world is raising something because of a man with a large staff, we appreciate the relative calm of the month before the madness.As we stare into our green beers and green rivers (or projectile vomit one into the other), it is the cinema of the green screen that will be holding our attention only too shortly. Despite the pedigree of Rodriguez

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1110926496977120822005-03-15T16:12:00.000-06:002005-12-28T00:10:57.600-06:00

The landlord decided we could not hold onto the house so we would immediately seek another tenant and/or put it on the market for sale. This did not make me happy. Either way, last weekend it was all over. I had lost the house and I would be traveling home in a few weeks. So I picked up a paintbrush.Painting and PassionAnd I painted twelve solid hours through the night, and then I passionately

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1110731574799949952005-03-13T10:21:00.000-06:002005-03-13T10:32:54.803-06:00

My house is not the least impressive in the neighborhood. Come the good weather and I might paint it since I have the paint. It came with the house. White basically. A part of me wants to paint a large orange square on the outside of myhouse. And a smaller purple one. Might get a citation from the city though.Some paintings are up on my brightly painted walls. House becomes a home. Fridge

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1110590131793845092005-03-11T18:32:00.002-06:002005-12-27T23:32:03.030-06:00

Is it right to live your life, the life of an artist, according to one book, one philosophy? Probably not, but what has being right got to do with good art? Just how right was Mr. Pollock when he put his foot down on the accelerator? And Mr. van Gogh, that business with the ear - right or wrong? Right or left?Wanting to broaden my horizons - you'll recall I've already raised them - I have decided

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1110460714048832932005-03-10T02:04:00.000-06:002005-12-21T23:00:23.943-06:00

Having satisfactorily finished my medication and probably my career, I have taken to enjoying the small life I have built here. After sitting on my bed watching the lightning all night I jump up early, say seven or maybe eight. This is not early for the Midwest. I strut around my house, a small ball bouncing off my limbs, whilst I wait for the pan to warm.Then I sit down on my couch waiting for

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1110314640495588952005-03-08T14:17:00.001-06:002005-12-24T01:15:10.643-06:00

Crossing into the European Union from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia I paint flags in my head that nobody agrees with.Crossing from New York into New Jersey I leave something behind and I age every time. Crossing over the City Line I remark how very dark it is in this city, and how odd considering how much richer this city is in comparison with surrounding cities. Of course it isn’t

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1110173121437974702005-03-06T22:59:00.000-06:002005-12-28T22:27:55.043-06:00

If you take away the accompanying narrative, is it still art? Well, it’s not a pipe.Some people walk their name in maps. That is, they take a street atlas, mark out their name, and then walk the route as mapped by the letters of their name. Are the marked maps art? Even without the explanation? And before or after the actual walking? Even without the walk, the performance?I’ve painted maps. Not

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109979930824705522005-03-04T17:16:00.000-06:002005-12-23T21:13:59.216-06:00

Fouqueiria Splendens and Yucca Elata. Ocotillos and Soaptree Yuccas. Swimming around my brain. Shadows and forms. Their patterns of growth and foliage. Maybe a brilliant splash of a flower spike. Or two. Thing is, I wanted to paint grass. And grasses. Okay, and possibly some milo. But the desert never lets go.Figures in the GrassIn among my grasses I had figures planned. Vague figures. The

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109909602227123032005-03-04T00:49:00.000-06:002005-11-19T12:18:26.236-06:00

Feb 1 - Fossett ready for non-stop tourFeb 4 - Weather grounds flight for world recordFeb 8 - Jet stream delays launch of solo, non-stop trip around the worldFeb 20 - All eyes on Salina as historic flight nears takeoffFeb 22 - Fossett's attempt at world-record flight delayed againFeb 26 - Record-Setting Round-the-World Flight Could Start MondayFeb 27 - Record-Setting Flight Attempt Set for

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109907738527482382005-03-03T14:35:00.000-06:002005-12-27T23:24:45.220-06:00

On the threshold of greatness in the former Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson – or the UK qualifier Song Contest – is Jordan. Her name is little Katie Price. One month of Jordan's life in headlines.Feb 4 - Jordan's Euro dreamFeb 4 - Jordan hopes to fly Eurovision flag for UKFeb 4 - Eurovision or bust for JordanFeb 5 - Jordan hopes for Eurovision gloryFeb 13 - Jordan hopes to make it to the

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109762536604792322005-03-02T05:10:00.000-06:002005-03-02T05:52:06.293-06:00

The sketch lacked details. Due to the cold I'd economized in drawing, but now I needed a train. Flex the fingers. Whistle blows. This should only take a moment.An image search for trains quickly take me to examples of graffiti. A site advises to not paint trains because of the danger of sparks in tunnels, silently moving trains and cars being bumped. It lists three experienced graffiti artists

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109572507979237732005-02-28T00:23:00.000-06:002005-03-01T02:31:44.623-06:00

There’s something about the landscapes of Gustav Klimt that’s dramatic. More correctly there’s a couple of things that he does visually that jars the eyes. The placement of the horizon, and the shape of the canvas.Klimt’s landscapes have been in my head for months, with their very high horizons and their square canvases. The high horizons I can recreate by looking down as I walk. But I needed

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109332305385754272005-02-25T04:52:00.000-06:002005-12-25T00:31:39.130-06:00

Is it art for art's sake when you paint a picture nobody can see? Is it not wonderfully unpretentious to paint a picture believing that nobody will ever see it no matter what? Is it not simply brilliant to paint it in such a way as you the artist not being able to see it either, not even when you are painting it?Paul Bahn, the independent archaeologist, believes that the motivation for some of

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109171251520537602005-02-23T08:03:00.000-06:002005-11-18T10:32:27.533-06:00

They never heard of him. If you gained their confidence they might admit remembering his name being whispered by their parents or his family being pitied. He was a triple failure. He failed to take over the family shop, he failed at the law his family made him study, and he failed in his own quest - to paint.Growing up in a region without galleries or museums he most likely never saw an oil

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1109023860741735602005-02-21T15:23:00.000-06:002005-03-01T01:42:07.966-06:00

If a Francis Bacon painting is sold in France a percentage of the sale goes to Mr. Bacon's heir, but if a painting by Matisse is sold in the UK, Henri's heirs receive nothing. This is because to date France has a "Droit de Suite" for artists, and the UK has not. Note that it is unfortunate rather than relevant that both artists in the example are dead.However, benefitting the producers of

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108892920633158122005-02-20T03:18:00.000-06:002005-12-24T03:15:34.313-06:00

The first time I saw Ms. Okonedo was not the first time I saw Sophie. She was an Augustus John painting defaced by Roy Lichtenstein. Falling in love with a two-dimensional character is not without its problems. Mostly it’s the obvious; you miss the third dimension, but that’s often a good thing. Best of all though, are the primary colors.Sophie Okonedo was born in London of a Nigerian father and

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108769581966215842005-02-18T15:51:00.000-06:002005-03-01T01:43:31.153-06:00

From the most ancient time the artist has been expected to perpetuate the values of his contemporaries. The record is mainly one of frustration, sadism, superstition, and the will to power. The anxious find comfort in the confusion of those artists who would walk beside them. The values involved however permit no peace, and mutual resentment is deep when it is discovered that salvation cannot be

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108660777239038122005-02-17T11:08:00.000-06:002005-12-24T01:22:20.793-06:00

I believe Canaletto never really left Venice. I believe Chris Offili trained elephants to poop on his paintings. I believe Picasso, when he was 12, could draw like Raphael; I believe I could draw like Picasso when I was 12. I believe Salvador Dali had shorter teeth and a longer leash than his ocelot. I believe Christina was happy in her world. I believe Balthus was interested in little girls,

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108546548554532652005-02-16T02:20:00.000-06:002005-12-27T23:19:39.876-06:00

-Can I borrow your Mirror? he said, waking me up. I took my head off my newspaper pillow.-It's the Independent, I replied groggily, referring to the wrong London newspaper. He walked away. I remade my pillow with the magazine Flash Art on top. Half an hour later I woke and peeled my now blue, hand and ear, from the magazine.It was Euston station, London, in the early hours. He had asked me for a

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108455807551452402005-02-15T00:12:00.000-06:002005-12-24T01:14:06.866-06:00

With Padma Lakshmi bearing the names of three gods, it's not surprising to see a headline Brand-Name Goddess Basks in the Moment. And it's easy to imagine Salman Rushdie, upon first reading of Padma Lakshmi in a magazine, thinking, That'll do nicely.Reportedly to see Padma Lakshmi is to be in pain, according to Richard Dreyfuss. Abstract Expressionism I hear you say, but wait. Let's look at Ms.

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108111998370947692005-02-11T01:31:00.000-06:002005-03-01T01:48:05.383-06:00

7,500 gates. Each one is 16 feet high with widths varying from 5 and a half to 18 feet. Spaced at 12 foot intervals, they follow the edges of footpaths in Central Park for 23 miles. Saffron fabric hanging down to 7 feet above the ground and waving towards the next gate. In leafless February they can be seen from every direction.Twenty-four hours before opening, it is now almost three weeks since

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1108011831902671212005-02-09T22:05:00.000-06:002005-12-27T23:17:13.436-06:00

The Freedom of Information Act has established that Vettriano, Scotland's most commercially successful artist, has been excluded from the National Galleries not because of snobbery, nor because of his immense popularity. No, Jack Hogan, as his mother knew him, has been ignored because curators believe he isn't very good. Vettriano himself has railed against these "snobby academics", believing

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1107898710583993992005-02-08T15:01:00.000-06:002005-12-27T23:15:50.936-06:00

Every time I look at a print by Hokusai I can smell the hair of a former girlfriend. It's the mountain. Thirty-six views of Fuji. Red Fuji. One hundred views of Fuji. Rendered by Hokusai Fujiyama is the most mathematical of manga mountains, the perfect graph of our relationship. Exponentially it rises up from nothing, dances up there in the clouds for a brief period, then inevitably drops you

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1107641394349823642005-02-05T15:41:00.000-06:002007-01-04T15:08:38.620-06:00

I've Found Love With Kate MossWell I haven't really, at least not the kind of love you're thinking of. Ex-Libertine, current shambolic Babyshamble, and Tony Hancock fan, Pete Doherty supposedly found that kind of love with Ms Moss. Or so proclaimed the NME on Jan 25. Wondering if this was how Pete was Living the Artist's Life it prompted me to have a look at the news headlines for the last month

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10542724.post-1107229674072464592005-01-31T21:03:00.000-06:002005-03-01T01:58:35.666-06:00

Before depositing my check I endorsed it intentionally with the wrong signature. She would spot the mistake and I would be forced to proclaim that I am an artist.-I'm sorry, force of habit, I used my artist's signature.-But that isn't your name.-It is my name; it's my name as an artist.-I'm sorry sir, but it's not the name on your account.-But's it's me.-Sir, the check is not made out to that

Eolaí gan Fhéilenoreply@blogger.com2