Painting – Page 44 – Peter Maher

Merrickville

Posted on October 8, 2008

08. 10. 08. Wednesday. Just got back from the Studio Tour in Merrickville. I went up last weekend and then stayed with Martin and Beryl throughout the week. Not as many visitors as last year or the year before. In fact it has been declining every year but still I sold 3 paintings in total which was better than 07. Last Saturday morning was pretty discouraging as we didn’t have even one visitor but Martin and I chatted away so the time was not wasted. The first weekend Martin and Beryl had a full house with Fran and Clive, Veronica and Arthur and Alan and Lea. It was a bit quieter this weekend as Virginia only stayed Saturday night and then we drove back together on Sunday evening. We were out and about in the week with our mandatory visits to Costco and Wallacks. We also managed a lunch at Brigadoon and Martin and I toured the galleries in Ottawa on Friday. Will we do it again next year? We are thinking about it and will keep you posted. Inspite of the low attendance and low sales we did enjoy chatting to the visitors who seem to have become more interested and interesting each year which is a huge plus. I also saw Judith Moore and saw Le Terminus which she had sold and had framed – it looked great as did my framed monoprints which she is currently showing in her gallery
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I’m back in France now and am looking forward to getting back to work.

Journal London Painting Shows Travel

London Weekend

Posted on July 1, 2008

01. 07. 08. Tuesday. Flew to London for the weekend to see Julia and see some of the new exhibitions. Arrived Friday morning and was chez Julia at her new digs in West Ruislip (end of Central Line) by 12.45. Met Jules, dumped my stuff and headed back in town with her. She went to work and I went up to the RA Summer Show. Usual eclectic mix but the Tracy Emin room was a disappointment altho the video of a the lower half of a naked young woman doing the hula hoop with a circle of barbed wire was pretty hard to watch! Met Julia after work and we went to our favourite cheap fish restaurant near the Old Vic and then back to Ruislip. Saturday, out early, full English in Nottinghill Gate and then over to the Tate for the Cy Twombly show. Good show, altho more a retrospective than a showing of some of his better pieces but the audio commentary was excellent. Wandered up to the Strand for lunch and then on to the V&A where we went to the Blood on Paper show. This was a show of artist’s books ranging from early Miro to Anselm Keifer to Damien Hirst. Again interesting but unfocussed but still worth the visit. Went back home and had a wonderful homemade salad for dinner. Sunday, I spent the morning in the garden with the Sunday papers whilst Julia worked and then we went to Uxbridge to see Wanted, a film that normally would not be on my list to see and then back to Ruislip for a very good curry at the local Indian restaurant. Monday I went up to work with Julia and had my breakfast at the BBC before going on to the RA again, this time to see a show on Vilhelm Hammershoi. A late 19th century Danish painter who painted the most hauntingly, tranquil images of empty rooms, landscapes and people with their backs to the painter. Remarkable subtle colours without being at all depressing. This was the best show that I saw! Rented a deckchair in Green Park and had lunch and then caught the train to Chris at Stisted where I enjoyed wine in the garden, a very tasty dinner and then a drive to Stansted airport at 3.30 in the morning! Slept all the way to Montpellier then caught the bus and was back here by 11 this morning.

Journal Painting Shows

Summer Show

Posted on May 29, 2008

29. 05. 08. Thursday. I am part of the summer show at the Judith Moore Gallery in Merrickville (just outside Ottawa) which runs from 4 June until 3 August. The gallery is located at 639 St Lawrence Street, Merrickville, Ontario. 613. 269. 3760 and is open every day from noon until 5.00 pm. Also showing are Stuart Beaty, John Alexander Day, Alan Daniel, Marje Fletcher, Kate Green, Martin Green, Peggy Hughes, Dirk Mietzker, Debbie Milling, Don Munz and Jim Weller. Check it out.

Journal Painting

Odds and Ends

Posted on May 28, 2008

28. 05. 08. Wednesday. Just trying to clear a few things up now that I have my new camera. Here is the mat that I painted for my kitchen and also one of the big drawings that I have done using oil stick on foam insulation left over from the renovation. I had a great visit with Alan and Lea and despite the crappy weather we managed to do quite a lot and Alan and I even managed to do some painting. The whole visit was marred by Lea falling down the stairs this morning. She went by ambulance to Pezenas where they took x-rays and pronounced her OK, nothing broken but some bruising. The French health care system certainly lived up to its reputation and they still managed to catch their flight to Amsterdam this afternoon.

Journal Painting Travel

A Grand Day Out

Posted on April 25, 2008

25. 04. 08. Thursday. Beautiful day. Early start and drove to Claire’s in Montpellier. After a cup of tea we drove to the Villa Eugenie where we hi-jacked Claire’s first sculpture and then drove on to Sauve. We parked the car and went on a wonderful walk through La Mer des Rochers. The sun was warm and the air was full of the scents of thyme and broom. The path lead through the garrigue and what was once an old fortress and across a chaos of rocks. We had taken a picnic so stopped in some shade and had our baguettes and salad. Oddly enough where we stopped Sommiers we discovered a momento mori to a friend of Claire’s elder brother complete with engraved stone, the remains of his ashes and two old umbrellas. Returned to Sauve after lunch and then drove on to Sommières where we stopped at a café by the river and had Monacos and ice cream. On then to Baillargues where we met Jacques and saw his new expo and then back to Claire’s for tea once more before driving home to Clermont on the scooter.

Journal London Painting Travel

Last Day in London

Posted on April 9, 2008

08. 04. 08 Tuesday. Daisy and I went up to London today. Our first stop was the Sir John Soanes’ Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields where Daisy was convinced that the house is haunted particularly after discovering a skeleton and a life mask. The effect was also enhanced by the general low light and the large number of pieces of decorative antique stone in the place. We had our lunch in the square opposite and then took the tube to King’s Cross to the Gagosian Gallery on Britannia Street. This is a magnificent gallery in what seems to have been an old warehouse. Very cool with white walls and grey concrete floors and all the black attendants in dark suits. The show was new work by Howard Hodgkin which worked well in this environment. Hodgkin His lush, bright colours really sparkled against the white walls. I had never seen any of his big pieces before as I thought that he always worked in a pretty small format but here were some wonderful sumptious canvasses full of grand gestures. A great show. From here we took the tube to Old Street and on to the White Cube in Hoxton Square. We had already been to the White Cube in Mason’s Yark off Duke Street so this was a chance to visit the sister gallery. Again it seemed to be in a converted warehouse complete with interior white walls and grey concrete floor. This show curated by Harland Miller and was based on sending a number of artists various pieces by Edgar Allan Poe. The show was their reaction to the writing. Their were pieces by the usual suspects, Damian Hirst, Tracey Emin and Anselm Kiefer and a number of others whom I had never heard of. raven Interesting stuff ranging from a hot skull, to a beating heart to a lead coffin for Lord Usher. Part of the show was at the White Cube but far the more interesting pieces were in the basement of the Shoreditch Town Hall. This subterranean space was a maze of small rooms in various states of decomposition, quite dank and dark and a perfect site. Daisy was very impressed with the whole thing. Once out in the sunlight again we took the tube to Canada Water and Daisy bought a new riding hat at Decathlon. From there back to Waterloo and Windsor for tea.

Journal London Painting Shows

Peter Doig at the Tate

Posted on March 13, 2008

13. 03. 08 Thursday. Went up to Tate Britain today to see the Peter Doig expo. Very inspirational. First of all I was impressed at the size of his paintings – for some reason I had always thought that they were smaller. I liked the uneasiness of the work – they all have a certain haunting quality which makes you wonder about what happened or what might happen. Also, particularly in the earlier paintings, I really like the layers and textures of the actual paint which seems to give them a luminescent quality. I found I preferred the earlier paintings to the later ones. The later ones do not seem as interesting either from a painting point of view or from the point of view of subject. The one thing that I did find fascinating was the room with his studies and sketches – it was interesting to see where he was coming from and to see how the work evolved. I liked his painting of that tunnel on the DVP with the rainbow colours.

Friday 19. 12. 14 Artsy have asked me to share this link https://artsy.net/artist/peter-doig-2.

Journal Painting

Artist in Residence – Week 4

Posted on February 28, 2008

24. 02. 08. Sunday. A rather dull overcast morning but must press on. Did a sort of abstract landscape which I quite like –Pic St Loup yet again using very thin paint pushed around with brush, paper towel and fingers – works quite well. Did a couple of monoprints of Les Platanes and started a painting of the same. Also coloured two monoprints using very thin oils and turps . These both look quite good. I think I will colour one of the Platanes tomorrow. Am wondering how saleable coloured monoprints might be. Busy day but very satisfying.

25. 02. 08. Monday. Dull drizzly morning. Met Erland, Elisabeth’s husband, in the supermarket. After getting back coloured in monoprint of Stones on a wall and the began a painting of Le pont sur la rue de la grenouille which I finished in the afternoon. Used very thin layers of paint thinned with turps brushed on with a fairly dry brush. The effect is enhanced but not priming the canvas with gesso. I just put a thin wash of ground colour which allows the canvas to be more porous and shows the brush strokes well too. Also finished painting of La platane – a strange composition but there is something I like about it. Also coloured a monoprint of La platane. I think that there is something about coloured monoprints that I like – an 18th century feel to them. I want to experiment with coloured pencils too with perhaps a wash. Lots to learn. Thinking of doing small monoprints (postcard size) but on heavier paper when I’m in the UK next month or I could just do the drawings there and print them when I get back to Clermont in April.

26. 02. 08. Tuesday. Did a drawing of the Chateau Montferrand – quite complex and detailed and then di a couple of monoprints from it – one using a brush and the other using only a Q tip which gives the drawing a lot more energy and vitality. Need to find some Chinese pens or something to make different sized marks. Had an e mail from Graham Pilsworth telling me about a Peter Doig show currently at the Tate. Hopefully it will still be on when I get over there. Jacques phones to say that he has and still has the flu which is I guess why I haven’t heard from him. Anyway he has set up a meeting for me with someone from Midi-Libre tomorrow morning so that should be interesting.

27. 02. 08. Wednesday. Sunny morning again at last! Dominique arrived at 9. Ex Parisienne who moved here a while ago does freelance stuff for Midi-Libre, the mairie, writes local history etc./ We chatted for about half an hour and I realized that it was going to be a general pieces rather than an arts review, which was fine. After she had left, drove into Montpellier to Claire’s place. After a cup of tea we went to several Decathlons checking out various step machines as Claire is interested in buying one. After lunch at Claire’s we went for a walk in the Parc Meric which is very close to where she lives. It was once the home of Frédéric Bazille the artist and his house is still there empty waiting for the town to turn it into a museum. We walked along the Lez which is where he often painted. Drove home after the walk and began a monoprint of Le Pic St Loup autour les vignes. In the evening had a long talk with Julia.

28. 02. 08. Thursday. Bought the Midi-Libre and read the piece on me. Not sure what it will mean but useful for the cv. Had an early phone call from Jacques inviting me to lunch. Printed monoprint of Le Pic St Loup autour des vignes and also drew another plate of a single vine. Picked up a bottle of wine and gassed up the scooter en route to Jacques’. Had a very civilized lunch with cold salmon, chicken and a dessert with mixed berries. I have now officially joined the Vendemiaires – 12 euros! Nicole asked me if I would be interested in a co-op artist thing with 5 or 6 other artists for 2 weeks at the end of September. Had to say I was busy (Merrickville), but e mailed Jon, Alan and Maryann to see if any of them would be interested. In the evening, went with Jacques to visit a sculptor called Robert Rocca – he had just won a commission for the town of Montpellier for a piece in bronze and steel which is 11 meters high. Interesting work – quite organic even Moore-ish with slightly eigious overtones – great house too which he had designed. Thinking abut doing some big paintings in the same style of the monoprints.

29. 02. 08 Friday. Up early as I had to do two trips back to Clermont, one for the clothes and painting stuff and the second for the paintings and prints. Left at 8 am the first time and was back in St Mathieu by 10. 30. Cleaned up the house and then Jacques came round and picked the monoprint of the Pic St Loup from the mairie for the municipal collection then I left at 12.30 again for Clermont with the second load. Spent the rest of the day doing washing and getting organized here.

Journal Painting

Artist in Residence – Week 3

Posted on February 20, 2008

16. 02. 08. Saturday. Drove over to Clermont in the morning. En route checked out the road where I think Elisabeth and her husband live. Did all the emails, no great news except that Judith has confirmed that she has sold 3 small paintings all to the same Ottawa couple. Spoke to all at Windsor – they seemed to have had a pretty good flight over. Poppy was already exploring 46 Fountain Gardens. Thinking about the legend of St Loup and wondering if I can do something with that, also thinking about monoprints of the vegetation specific to here – trees /vines etc.

17. 02. 08. Sunday. Drove back to St Mathieu – cold and misty drive – good to get back to central heating. Still thinking about the legend of St L. Watched a 2 hour special on a new film called Paris with Juliette Binoche. Parcel of books from Julia was here when I got back.

18. 02. 08. Monday.
Horrible morning, grey, overcast and drizzle. Spent morning finishing up Pic St Loup from D113 which I think works well. Also finished Falaise de Hortus though not sure about this one though – I’ll leave it for a couple of days and then revisit it. Finally found an internet café – will go there tomorrow to pick up e mails. There was a break in the weather so drove out of town and took some tight shots of vines. I also fell over and dropped the camera but it still seems to be working OK. Drew up a plate and changed the ground on a canvas in prep for tomorrow. Did small painting of Le crepuscule sur le pont de la rue de Grenouille.

19. 02. 08. Tuesday. Went over to the internet café at around 10 but it was closed. Started new series of monoprints on vines. Did a couple of pieces on vineyards and then 3 of just a single vine. Nothing quite worked – I had a vision of something but for some reason couldn’t quite make it work. This is the thing with monoprints – they are quite serendipitous, but with each one, one learns something new and that you can only control them up to a point. I was doing them too dark and was being too concerned about making a picture. Last one sort of works. Spoke to Julia and Alan and went over to internet café and it was actually open. Did e mails.

20. 02. 08. Wednesday.

Started painting of vineyard. Trying to work more slowly, paying more attention to brush strokes etc. Finished sky and blocked in vines. Also did a monoprint of stones on the back wall here which worked out rather well – lots of different textures. I need to find other mark-making tools to get more different textures. Am thinking about taking one of the current monoprints and doing a much larger version in modules ie breaking it up into 9 and then making each one of the 9 as big as the current print. Want to discover what happens and to be able to use bigger brushes etc however won’t be able to do this until I get back from the UK in April. Have to find some way of keeping this momentum going. Finally did a small painting of my mail box with its door hanging off.

21. 02. 08. Thursday.The sun was shining this morning – what a difference it makes! After the morning visit to the internet café drove up to Elisabeth’ house which is about 15 minutes from here on a dirt road off the main road to St Martin de Londres and Ganges. Wonderful, sprawling house that they have totally renovated from a ruin with no roof etc. Loads of paintings, great views of the Pic St Loup. Had a very civilized lunch with aperos out on the terrace before and then a tour of Elisabeth’s atelier and work afterwards. Elisabeth is very creative and prolific and works mainly in watercolours and printmaking, sometimes combining the two and she even paints the plates and frames them – all very interesting and I hope that I can stay in touch with them. Got home around 4.30 and did a drawing that may be the basis for an abstract painting, maybe. Spoke to Daisy and Julia. Daisy had had a great time riding in Windsor Great Park with Jason today.

22. 02. 08. Friday. Another warm sunny morning. Worked on Les Vignes. I am happy with everything except the sky which I will work on later. After lunch went into Montpellier to see a show at the Galerie Trintingnant where I saw a show by Anne Slacik which I had read about in this morning’s Midi-Libre. Her paintings looked a lot more interesting in the newspaper than the gallery! I think she actually prints on the canvas which I will try. Went to the art shop in St Gely du Fesc and bought some more paper and some acetate to use to transfer a monoprint on to a canvas. I tried this and it didn’t work with the ink so tried again with magic markers. I think it would work on untreated canvas that was not on a stretcher. In the evening watched the Cesars – same format as the Oscars but less bullshit.

23. 02. 08. Saturday. Beautiful sunny day again. Drove over to Clermont to take some stuff back and to check for mail etc. En route back stopped to pick up another 3 canvasses at St Gely. Very aware of how little time I have left here and I feel I have lots still to do.

Journal Painting Travel

Artist in Residence – Week 2

Posted on February 12, 2008

09. 02. 08 Saturday. Had a nice drive over to Clermont and checked e mails etc Spoke to Jason et al who were all at the Patrician having breakfast. In the afternoon came back here and painted the plate for a monoprint of the plateau just outside Caseveille. Watched France beat Ireland at rugby.

10. 02. 08. Sunday. Woke up this morning and decided that actually what I was doing was documenting life in St Mathieu or at least around it and somehow this has become my project. Decided that I should expand this a bit and not just do quaint, old villages but also try and do box stores, zone artisanals etc à la Hamilton drawings. Quite excited about this and am hoping that this might lead to more abstract landscapes. Drove around town to see if I could find something but couldn’t find what I was looking for but believe it is around here somewhere. Claire came by around 10. 30 and after a cup of tea we drove up to Caseveille, parked the car and started out on our hike to the top of the Pic St Loup. A lot steeper and more rugged than we thought, however, the view from the top was superb. Had a picnic lunch at the summit and then came back down. Claire went back to Montpellier and I watched the last half of the England vs Italy rugby match. England won 23 – 19. Printed yesterday’s monoprint which looks great – quite loose. After dinner watched Midsummer Murders in French – bizarre!

11. 02. 08 Monday. Went walking into town to try and find some industrial sites but again couldn’t find anything very inspirational.Shot some pics of the roadworks and the Pic St Loup from the mairie. Did monoprints in the afternoon of both of the them – Pic St Loup OK but roadworks didn’t work. Also did a small painting of a man burning wood on his allotment which I quite like. Repainted the plate of the plateau near Caseveille – this time the right way round with a darker sky. I have been thinking of buying some heavier paper and re doing the whole series once I get back to Clermont and then see if I can’t get a show somewhere.
6.30 Nicole and Jacques showed up with wine and food for the party and by about 7. 30 I had a house full of about 20 people. It was great – I went into French overdrive and thoroughly enjoyed myself – such a change from my normal monastic life! Met several interesting people. Camille my neighbour with the big house – she has invited me to go and paint over there, Gerard (www.gerard-bru.com) a painter of abstact landscapes who lives nearby, and Elisabeth a printmaker with a press! I am going over to Gerard’s place on Thursday morning to see his paintings and am hoping to go with Elisabeth to a vernisage at a printmaking co-op in Montpellier later this week. It was a very successful altho exhausting evening with lots of compliments on my work – I’m starting to feel part of something here. Printed the darker monoprint and it works quite well, wondering about starting to do stuff in colour.

12. 02. 08. Tuesday.
Had a restless night filled with new ideas. Wondering about doing prints in colour. Drove over to Claire’s in the morning – bright and sunny. After getting back, finished larger version of La maison de mon voisin. it was very satisfying to be able to take longer on a painting than usual. I should try and do a similar one of Camille’s house. Elisabeth confirmed the printmaking vernisage on Thursday in Montpellier.

13. 02. 08. Wednesday. Spent the morning finishing up La rue de la Grenouille and am quite happy with it. Took some other photos this afternoon and started on a new panting of the Pic St Loup from the D113. Had a call from Gerard saying he couldn’t make it tomorrow morning but could I come now so hopped on the bike and drove over. Fantastic house, very modern, architect designed, pool etc. Very minimalist. He is a very prolific painter and has an agent in the UK to whom he pays 45% commission. He also sells on the net. Very convivial visit and he and his wife Michelle are very welcoming. Great studio. He gave me the address of another maision des artistes in Brittany where he is going in March. I will definitely apply. He also told me of a cheaper art store in Montpellier. Interestingly he used to be a figurative artist before he went more abstract.

14. 02. 08. Thursday.
Today thought that I would try more abstract landscapes. Drove over to art store in St Gely du Fesc to pick up some more canvasses. Painted new grounds on these and started on a new painting Les fallaises de Hortus. Started with a Prussian blue ground which I drew into with turps which seems to work OK. Went back and changed the sky in La maison de mon voisin and also redid the sky for the Pic St Loup – which is coming along quite well. Finally did a small abstract and a monoprint of the Pic St Loup from the D113. Elisabeth picked me up at 6.30 and we wnet off to the vernisage. Interesting atelier – previously an old garage. Was not very keen on the xpo but the event was interesting – lots of people of all ages including children – lots of food, wine and punch. Surprisingly the place only has one press, however, they do do workshops which might be interesting. Elisabeth (http://elisabeth-keh-chalas.midiblogs.com)has invited me to lunch next Thursday and also to see her work.

15. 02. 08. Friday. Picked up some watersoluble markers at the supermarket to try for some coloured monoprints. On my return met Jacques Pourlain from Orleans who is the artist in res for March. He was just checking out the place. After luch worked on a coloured monoprint for the Pic St Loup from D113. Takes quite a long time to do as one has to build up the colours. The print is a bit odd colourwise and has a strange pointilistic aspect. Did another one which didn’t work as well. I will try one using watercolours later on meanwhile did another black and white monoprint. Thinking of doing a collage of several different views of the Pic St Loup.