Evidence Art project

Evidence  Art project

Here is my finished art peace called Evidence. 

It was painted a few years ago as a college assignment and although it  is a few years old now, I didn't get to completely finish it the way I wanted to at the time. So today I took it down from my loft were it was exposed to extremes of temperature of cold in the winter and boiling hot in the summer. So I am sure you can imagine that it is not in the best of shape.

My idea at the time was to paint a picture of myself looking into a window and each section of window was to be painted in a different style or colour. However, my tutor at the time, was not really happy with this idea, although to be honest, I think I just didn't explain my idea properly.

So instead, I created this as a series of self portraits that I painted in the negative over an eight day period. As you can see the first one or two portraits were not so good, but each day I did a painting, I started to get better and more confident with my brush work. I have to say, my favourite one is the top right painting as the brush strokes are loose and getting more confident. I painted the portraits as negatives, as I felt at the time unhappy about my art and to be honest I still do to a degree.  The frame of this painting is covered with photos of family and ancesters as well as copies of census forms that recorded my great grand parents.

To finish this peace, all I really needed to do was put some of the wood features of the window in and that's it. Not sure if it adds to the art, however, this was taken before I coloured the frames white, so at this stage it looks out of place.

Anyway, that my finished Evidence painting

The sculptural part of this project was the Evidence chair that I featured on this blog before, but here is a photo anyway.

Until next time, thank you for reading my blog and please feel free to make a comment.

Second Viking shield FINISHED

Second Viking shield FINISHED

I am glad to say that I have finished my second Viking shield and it turned out quite good. Typical of me, that I am not 100% happy with it, but then again I never am happy with my work. But that's me in a nut shell I suppose.

So this is the finished Viking shield, that has been aged and ready to be hung on the wall.

It took me ages to paint the design and when it was almost finished I realised it looked more Roman than Viking. I then looked at a few books on my bookshelf and decided that a few Celtic designs from the Book of Kells would look good in the medallions and I am hoping that it looks more Viking now.

I used natural earth colours like burnt umber and yellow ochre as these colours would have been available a thousand years ago. The green colour was made up with yellow ochre and some copper oxide. Once I was reasonably happy with the painting, I then aged it and put a few coats of wax over it all. There is a slight brown colour to the wax which gives it a rough antique finish which is what I was looking for.

I then pined and nailed the boss on to the shield before putting the handle on the back. I decided to pad the boss with some of the jute webbing as I feel this gives it the look and feel of a real usable Viking shield. This shield was however made and designed as an art piece, but I am confident enough that it would work well as a re-enactment Viking shield, although I am sure it would get destroyed in battle.

Over all, I am happy with this project and am fighting the urge to build another few shields. I think my next project will be to finish a self portrait piece that I made when I was in college a few years ago. The portrait is called Evidence and although I got a distinction for it, I never got round to putting a few final finishing touches to the piece.

So until next time, thank you for reading my blog and please comment if you wish.

Second Viking shield part 1

Second Viking shield part 1

After finishing my first Viking shield art project, I decided to make another one as I had found more timber up in my loft. So I started building it, but then realised I just did not have enough wood. As you may remember, this timber was used for the blind carving and my Viking shield. It came from a large industrial pallet that I took apart and put up in my loft over ten years ago.  The timber was warped, cracked and really rough, but I always knew I would use it for something other than cutting it up for firewood. 

Anyway, as I was saying, after starting to second shield, I now find I just do not have enough wood and also some it is just not usable. So I went down to the nearest DIY store and bought the cheapest cladding wood I could find and now have enough to also make a third shield as well.  As this new shield will be covered in canvas or linen and painted, as some original Viking shields would have been made, I went down to the local curtain shop and bought some large curtain liner cloth as this will do the job at a fraction of the cost, as linen and canvas is expensive. When the Vikings made this kind of cloth covered shield, they would then paint it with Viking / Celtic designs. This is what I intend to do once this shield is complete.

 

 So here are some of the construction processes that go into making my shield.

I did the edging the same way the Vikings would have done it, but used jute webbing instead of raw hide, as I just can not afford to buy raw hide. I feel the jute webbing looks every bit as good and as it is a sculptural art project and not going to be used for battle, I feel the jute works and looks authentic.

I have to say that putting the edging on the shield took me about 5 or 6 hours as it is made up from individual over lapping pieces that are nailed and sown on. After a few hours of working, I gradually found my rhythm when it was half way finished. Then it only took about an hour to complete the rest. 

I recon if I make this again, I will complete the edging in 1 ½ hours instead of 5 or 6.

So this photo shows the comparison between pre and post ageing. Also as you can see, I have temperately put a boss in the center of the edged shield, to give an indication what the finished piece will look like.    By the way, the two photographs were taken at different times of day and also by different cameras. 

Now all I have to do is research and create a Viking / Celtic design that I will then paint on, using natural earth colours like burnt sienna, red and orange ochre and colours that would have been available a thousand years ago.

So once again, thank you for reading my blog and I will show the completed shield in my next post.

Did a days work

On the dole hay?

I actually did a days work for my younger brother (didn’t get paid though)

My younger brother Arren (not his real name but sounds like it and starts with a D) is a carpenter and is doing work for the SEI - Sustainable Energy Ireland scheme.  Which means he goes to peoples homes and insolates there attics, water tanks, pipes and hot water tanks. He also draft proofs there windows and doors and gives the customer energy efficient bulbs for the house. Sounds great doesn’t it? The only catch is he has to travel halfway down the country to do this. You would think there would be more than enough work in Dublin to sustain business, but no!  It seems some other company has got all the work in Dublin. He spends 6 to 8 hours travelling each day.

 I have to admit it was a wee bit of a shock getting up early to go to work. But at 5.30am, I think most people would feel the same. I have to say 5.30am on a May morning is beautiful as long as the weather is good, and it was.

The day went like this

5.30am get up, wash, let dog out, coffee, breakfast (bowl of muesli with natural yogurt) let dog back in again.

6.05 got into car and drove to Arren’s house

6.30 arrived at Arrens house and we got into his van and drove to the supply yard.

7.20 arrived at supply yard and loaded up van with insulation products and Arren went into office to find out what jobs he would have for next few days.

7.50am left supply yard and went to petrol station to put diesel in the van.€75 per day

8.00am on the road to South Tipperary (it’s a long way to Tipperary. And it is!)

11.55am finally get to destination to start insolating customer’s house. And once this job is done we are on the road again to the next customers house. Normally two houses a day. And so on until we arrive back at Arren’s house for the 10 o’clock news. And he does this 5 or 6 days a week.

Anyway, I’m sure you all get the picture.  Most of the time was driving too and from the destination. Seems silly really when you think about it as he is working for the Sustainable Energy Ireland scheme and has to drive so far each day. Fare play to Arren as he really works very hard to bring in a small crust and pay his mortgage.

I suppose it wasn’t that long ago when I used to leave the house at 8.10am to cycle the 10 miles to do a full days physical work (cabinet making) with only one 30 minute break and then probably do the overtime and cycle back the 10 miles in time for the 10oclock news. The thing is, I used to love the cycle and was really fit then and also I was saving up for a deposit for a house. I’m sure if I did a few days with Arren a week, I would start to loose the weight. I really miss not having a job with a wage packet each week so I can pay all my bills and mortgage. I think the thing I miss the most is not having a purpose and goal to work towards. Being on the dole is not easy and in many ways it is almost like being in hibernation.