sketchin in tracy's livin room

just before i went to belgium tracy let me sketch at a gig in her livin room. some guy from new york called xavier was doin a wee acoustic set and a local guy from omagh too (i think he was from omagh)
well the gig was good and fun and i reckon there was about 30 folk there. i did some alright sketchin too and sold most which is a bonus. people really seemed to enjoy me bein there doin this and some where like kids on xmas day.
this is good for my ego it must be said...when folk pay for your work it really makes a difference to me. there is just somethin more...sincere to it.

well this is one which noone went for...and in my opinion its the best. ah aesthetics hmmm? just look at the faces in the background...they're class. if only i was always this good...well i guess noone would buy then...eh?

zinneke 2010 with boite a clous

i was a lucky wee ducky and invited (well i kinda invited myself ) to brussels this May to make a puppet with phillipe evens and his crew then perform at their seriously awesome parade zinneke . in typical style i didn't document my input into this but did shoot a wee video of the main parade and the detective in you may indeed catch evidence of the puppet.which should be that wee link just below



...its a bit long and badly edited but HEY!!!!
i ain't no movie makin machine please and i'll blame the camera work cause it was the puppet doin it too so.

anyways in this video you will see the openin of the parade from our perspective. boite a clous the arts group who invited me over and their crazy metal death machines...then matteo's blob (he choreographed our italian performance last year) and then the parade finale. the entire event lasted about 2 to 3 hours so i only filmed a wee bit. the sun was shinin and the work was tirin (well for those in the parade...i just stood and waved and shouted) but i did my time at the partot in bologna last year....about 5 hours in the sun in a full puppet that time.

makin a puppet in 2 days is a funny challenge. its time enough but not time enough to go backwards. as it started to go skew wiff i had to go along with it...all in all. it was ok. a wiley coyote physhadelic pirate thing.

on the fri night we did a short parade through brussels centre. it really suited me as i could get in peoples faces and even though they were mainly french speakers i heard enough "what the fucks?!?" to know a job was well done. a universal term.

for the main event i was put up on a balcony with claire a great puppeteer i worked with 2 months ago at a caberet we did in brussels. she is great fun to work with and makes me laugh! she even dropped a crepe on some woman's head and from the look of her face it may as well have been a meatloaf cd.

it occured to me while i was out their that you must be doin somethin right in your life if you go on holiday only to have to work nonstop and still feel like it is a holiday. how many people feel the same about their job i wonder. i did manage a wee holiday in the middle to leuven with fantastic sunshine relaxation and festivals galore...polaroid memories

i have never quite had hospitality like this before (except for my mammy and daddy of course...oh wait and minnesota was pretty jamie accomodating as well) and i cannot even express my gratitude to the belgiums and italians for the joy and heartache they have caused

this is all good shite for a painter's fuel i tell you!!!

the hyena and other men

it seems fittin that as i'm movin back into my old studio i'll post the first pictures i did  2 years ago taken from the book "the hyena and other men"

also i love my new camera...how great are these photies?

glitter and sparkle

was meant to get a whole set to do portraits at this fabulous ball - leather sofa lamp, the works...but it never arrived...alas
it was a great job this. the thing about sketchin is it is quite paparazi in that you steal images from people without askin. there are all kinds of methods to use to decrease your chances of bein clocked but always there is a sense of voyeurism and slight perversion which makes me feel a little awkward,
for this however it was so different because people approached me to get the picture done. in a way it reversed things and i guess was quite like speed datin. i got such a buzz from this it was great just meetin complete strangers and chattin on like mad with no fear of...am i doin their head in should i leave...that kinda thoughts.
i don't pose people for a portrait i let them just sit and do whatever they feel like. the key for me is everyone is relaxed. over 15 minutes people tend to let their natural bodylanguage show so even if they think they are all posed i see somethin else entirely.
i only have one image from this night (as everyone bought them) and that is the one posted here of a performer.

she was my first portrait and i asked her to pose so i could warm up. the image is very sad and i think that shocked her as she was all dressed up as a showgirl and lookin very beautiful and glamourous. she didn't like it and left...but over half an hour she returned about 3 times drawn to the image. eventually she told me she was actually sad as she was just back from new york which is better than belfast in many ways. i wanted to give her the picture but she vanished at the end of the night. several people have offered to buy it off me but i want her to have it.

2 other interestin portraits were done that night. one couple just snogged  the whole way through and it was amazin just sittin a couple of feet away and watchin this...a real intimate moment and as the picture took 15 minutes maybe 20 i saw all kinds of odd body language goin on.

the third interestin one was another couple. when the woman came back for the image and looked at it she commented on how it looked like her boyfriend was talkin down to her in it and she looked...suppressed.

a little later she came back to me and said that's how the dynamic of their relationship truly was and mad how i captured that.
as i said the true body language shines through....it was truly a fascinatin project

carousel

carousel is a night of jammin in the black box. how it works is the musicians (about 20 or so) sit on the edge of the scene in a circle and then inside that are seats for the audience and then right in the centre of them are 2 artists who work inspired by the music and there work is videoed and projected as the visuals.
i love the idea of sketchin as performance and so was really excited to be invited.
lookin back on the images maybe not my best work but still some worthwhile stuff...maybe its a bit messy
the srtist i was paired with is the great helena hamilton
www.helenahamilton.com
she has had some great exhibitions recently i recomend checking her work out
it was an interestin pairing too as i reckon our work is completly opposite
where as i take my influence from the enviroment around me hers is very introspective.

afterwards she got tonnes of positive feedback and i got little...ah to be beautiful