Exhibition : Graphics Unleashed

The image above is a new painting entitled, 'Conduidiot'. It's one of three pieces of mine which feature in an upcoming Blue Leaf Gallery show "Graphics Unleashed" at their project space at The Observatory Building, 7-11 Sir John Rogersons Quay, Dublin 2. The show itself will run March 15 - 25 (although unfortunately closed on Paddy's Day itself, I think?).

I'll be showing alongside a number of my IGI colleagues, including Una Gildea, Chris Judge and Steve Simpson. A round-up of some recent work from these and other IGI Members can be seen over here on the Scamp blog.

Poetry Bus : Weirdly Visions

This week's poetry bus prompt issued from NanU The Sciencegirl. Her prompt involved taking note of those nuggets of nonsense, blogger's own verification words - a linguistic mystic in its own right, which brought some great responses. So with a tip of the hat to Lear, Carroll, Milligan et al - here's my bus pass;

Odditty

In the still of morning
a-frabing I will go
along the banks of Sumet
down to the frozen shore

to search amidst the gravel
for gleaming diagoo
with rake and sieve and mopokip
my fortune I will gather

my freedom I will purchase
and return to Icitemo
to sip on silk and beermemp
and never more stir.


© P Nolan 2010



Speaking of Edward Lear, I wasn't aware until recently (University of Wikipedia) that he was also quite the accomplished artist and illustrator. His work as 'ornithological draughtsman' was favourably compared with Audubon, and he even briefly gave drawing lessons to Queen Victoria. Which allows me to segue sinuously to the image above, entitled 'Demon', my own 'demonological' contribution to a group exhibition by IGI members, launching this Thursday at the United Arts Club. I'm not sure if any of the illustrators on show have ever given lessons to royalty, but several (or rather, their art) have definitely appeared on stamps.

Your invitation to attend is hereby decreed.

South Studios : Roomful of Drawers

Lots happening at the moment. Not much time for blogging of late.

Looking forward to the upcoming dlr Poetry Now festival which kicks off this Thursday. Not, alas, contributing to the graphics this year - can't win them all - but the line-up is cracking, including this year's TS Eliot winner Philip Gross and The Man Muldoon (who was speaking on RTE Radio the other night).

Delighted to have landed a place in Vona Groarke's writing workshop! I very much enjoyed Groarke's recent-ish collection Juniper Street and her overall tone in general, so quite excited about hearing her read AND getting some tips (hopefully).

I'll be busy this Friday daytime, taking part in Drawers - an exciting collaboration between the Illustrators of Guild of Ireland and South Studios. Organised by IGI colleague Steve Doogan, this event sees a whole bunch of illustrators, artists, designers etc. coming together to customise a wee chest of drawers from IKEA. Not the same one, mind you - we'll do one each.

Friday evening, you are all invited to drop into South Studios for a beer and to check out what all these drawers look like after the creative frenzy. All (?) will be for sale - so this could be a chance to pick up a genuinely original piece of furniture for your bedroom, office, studio, friend etc. I'll have to dash off to Dún Laoghaire for the 6.30 reading, but my piece will be on show.

The drawers are on show/sale for one day only and should be well worth a look.

Winding Stair : Vintage Irish Book Covers

Anyone interested in retro book design, illustration or the history of Irish publishing would do well to check out this nice little show curated by Niall McCormack’s blog Hitone: Vintage Irish Book Covers.

“The good people in The Winding Stair Bookshop have been kind enough to ask me to put together a small exhibition of Irish book cover design. The exhibition, which will feature a small selection of books published between the thirties and seventies, will be on display in the shop for two weeks from Saturday 13th March. All of the books have been selected for their striking cover artwork. The Winding Stair Bookshop is at 40 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1.”

Details: Irish Book Cover Art 1930s – 1970s

March 13th – 27th, 2010

at The Winding Stair Bookshop

40 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1

Niall does a nice job of book cover and poster design himself - check out his work.

Via The Small Print.

United Arts Club : Life Drawing Exhibition

I've spoken before about the Thursday Life Drawing group at the United Arts Club, which I attend as regularly as possible. This Thursday, March 11th, sees the launch of our annual exhibition of drawings at that venue. It's always a fun evening - an enjoyable and interesting opportunity to view (and purchase) a selection of drawings by a wide variety of artists. Consider yourself invited!

The show launches at 8pm and runs until March 29th - viewing Monday to Saturday from 5.30pm (as the UAC bar / gallery only currently opens only during the evening).

The piece above is one of two drawings that I'm exhibiting, and there'll also be work by Comhghall Casey, PJ Lynch, Aisling Dolan, Michael McWilliams, Eoin Coveney and many, many more talented people, including Brian Gallagher, who runs this drawing group.

Brian also has an interesting solo show launching next week at the Signal Arts Centre in Bray.

** UPDATE ** My IGI colleague Mario Sughi has posted some photos of the life drawing exhibition launch here.

Help Haiti : United Arts Club Drawings

The United Arts Club, 3 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2 hosts regular life drawing sessions each Wednesday and Thursday evening. This Thursday, members of both drawing groups are coming together to raise funds for the victims of the Earthquake in Haiti.

A portfolio of unframed life drawings, donated by members of both groups, will be available to view in the UAC bar for ONE WEEK ONLY - from 9pm Thursday 4th February until 8.30 pm Thursday 11th February (the UAC Bar opens at 5pm each evening). Members, guests and visitors may select and purchase drawings to take away on the spot. As all drawings will be presented unframed, prices will be very affordable (maximum price 50 euro!). If people wish to donate more than the purchase price, that's fine too.

I'm a (sometimes) regular at the Thursday evening session, run by IGI colleague Brian Gallagher. The slideshow above shows my drawings, all A3 in size, which will be available for 20 euro each.

This is a great chance to pick up some really nice original drawings, from a wide selection of artists (including some well-known names) at very reasonable prices. So, do drop in for a look if you're around Dublin 2 any evening during those dates - but don't dither - 'hot cakes' and all that!

Springalingaling : Wakey Wakey!

Hey! Hello! Hoopla! (....sounds of tumbleweeds dustily bouncing down one deserted backroad of the interweb).

Where'd January go? Between winter blues, landscapes white and deadlines aglow, the month - or at least the will to blog - kinda got away from me there. For a while there I wasn't even sure if I'd keep it going here - but then, what the hell. The sap is rising and stuff, so here I am again.

I haven't been wasting my time though - lots done (with more, as ever, to do). First finished painting of the year up top. Entitled 'formburn', it's a small canvas - 195mm x 150mm - and will be for sale in The Little Picture Show, a fund-raising exhibition for the Crow Gallery in Temple Bar. The show features loads of small works from artists including Brian Gallagher, Aisling Dolan, John Nolan and many, many more, all at very affordable prices. Opening 6pm this Thursday, 4th February.

OFFSET : IGI Group exhibition

Busy, busy at the mo. I'm putting finishing touches to the artwork for the Deansgrange Writers Group anthology 'Crossroads' , of which more anon.

Went into town on Monday to crack a bottle across the bow of OFFSET, a week of celebration, debate and inspiration among the creative community at large. The opening event was the launch of Peepshow, which sees the walls of the intimate Monster Truck Gallery filled with images exploring dark, erotic, sexy thoughts and weird fetishes. Be warned - this is a strictly over 18 show and not for the faint-hearted. Wellll, its not that dangerous really - there's a lot of humour and some beautiful, smart imagery. Only running until Sunday November 8th - so get in there! My own piece is firmly in the humour category - sort of. If you're up for it, you can see it here. No Freudians please.

The image above is my contribution to another OFFSET gig - a group exhibition by members of the Illustrators Guild of Ireland. This opens tonight, Wednesday 4th November at SOLAS Bar on Wexford Street, Dublin 2 at 7pm and will also run until Sunday 8th of November. If you're in Dublin, why not come on in - should be a fun night! What else would you be doing on a chilly November Wednesday?

OFFSET culminates in a weekend conference at Liberty Hall, with presentations by some seriously inspirational names from the Irish and international creative communities. I'll be chairing one of the break-out sessions, a panel discussion about the illustration scene in Ireland and beyond. (Gulp) Big topic!

Ciao fer now!

As The Crow Flew : Temple Bar and beyond

Well, the Crow Gallery show was a resounding success! A great turnout for the launch itself, with plenty of interested bodies through the gallery over the course of the exhibition. It was a real treat to get the work in front of a new audience - and the paintings got a great response all round. I sold about 70% of the work - which is remarkable given the CEC™ (current economic climate). Huge thanks to all those who purchased, attended, sent good wishes etc. It's been memorable!

I also had the opportunity to attend 2 really excellent exhibition launches last thursday; Comhghall Casey at the Merrion Hotel, courtesy of Solomon Fine Art, and Joe Dunne at Ib Jorgensen - two serious painters in fine fettle and full flow at the mo.

Also, due to being in town, I got a chance to take some photos of those Edward Delaney sculptures I mentioned earlier- that's them up top - epic work!

I missed TFE's poetry bus this week - but hope to have something for next monday's challenge. Should be a good one.

Off to the Crow Gallery again tonight, for the launch of Cloudburst - new paintings by Helen McNulty, also curated by my colleague Tony Strickland. Looking forward to this one - the work should be good, and I'll be off-duty :-)

The Crow Show : Up the Walls

So, the stuff is stuffed, the deed is done, the walls may not be altogether plumb, but then neither is my head. Finished hanging Ecotones last night and it's looking decent, if I may say so. Launch tonight at 6pm - feel free to drop in. Should be fun - maybe moreso if the rain that's bucketing down on Dublin today goes away for a while.

I've been a bit hectic between this, that and the other - so didn't get to post my Monday poem yesterday - so here it is now. Reacting (not quite sure how, though) to Totalfeckineejit's photo prompts, resulted in something a little different, voicewise;


Sage

Tell once again the strange tale of the talking dog
how one day he raised his head and said

"I've only been quiet all this time
because I've been so busy watching you all
and couldn't believe my eyes."

think back to the various expressions of surprise
among the small gathering who happened to be there

to witness the burble of unbelief, self-doubt, fear
then finally the growing chorus of blame

and how that dog ducked and spun through a forest of legs
avoiding most of the blows, until finally disappearing from view

obscured by the dust of the disturbance
leaving behind a streaked crop of twist-legged hunched backs

scouring down into the settling dust, sweating, grumbling
finally meeting each other's eyes and seeing there

accusation, defeat, suspicion, confusion at the supernatural occurrence
that nobody really believed had taken place anyway

until the silhouette on a nearby hill
howled

© P Nolan 2009

Culture Night : Dublin Dreaming

Well that was fun. A beautiful evening, begun with the sinking sun creating a gorgeous glow over the city outskirts as I bussed into town.

Then off the bus into a pleasant Friday evening bustle, which built as the night went on. Spirits were high all round town, a very positive vibe. I started off dipping into Temple Bar for the buskers and the buzz, dropping into the Original Print Gallery to see a great selection of small works on sale for only 50 euro each! Well worth a look. They were busy getting messy in there, kids and adults making prints with great gusto. Swung up to the Gallery of Photography for a nice show by Eoin O Conaill.

A duck and a dive over Capel Street Bridge to visit the artists of New Art Studios, open for the evening. Nice work. Nice People. Chilled out on the bridge on the way back to watch changing animations on Liberty Hall as the night deepened. This worked really well from many vantage points, a beacon for the surrounding activities.

Read more »

Flying Solo : The Crow Show



Just back from the framers to check details on a few paintings for 'Ecotones', a solo exhibition that I'm having at the Crow Gallery in Temple Bar in a couple of weeks. It's only a small show, about 16 pieces - all at very affordable prices ;-). The launch is Tues 6th Oct - consider yourself invited - and the paintings will be on show thereafter from 1-6pm until Sat 10th Oct. I'll be invigilating Thursday and Friday, so feel free to drop in then to say Hi if you can't make the launch.

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, and the work is ready - so... Kablooey! The right honourable Tony Strickland is curating - a helpful and experienced collaborator.

FYI, an Ecotone is a transitional area containing a density of diverse elements from bordering environments; the so-called Edge Effect. Seems about right.

Stanley Kubrick : Taming Light



Curated by film critic John Maguire, this exhibition marks the tenth(!) anniversary of Kubrick's death and will feature work from Irish and international artists, including the incredible, hugely inspirational (for me, anyway) Polish poster artist Leszek Zebrowski!

Also exhibiting are my IGI colleagues Chris Judge, Steve Doogan, graffiti artists Maser and 2Cents, photographers David Cleary, Conor Horgan and Cliodhna O'Flaherty among many, many interesting others.

My own piece (above) is entitled 'Essenzseltsamliebe', (Essence of Strangelove) and features the good Doktor himself, caught in self-delusional, mid-apocalyptic erotic reverie. Or something.

Kubrick, of course, is one of those artists whose imagery has become part of the popular visual vernacular. He also retains a devoted, feverish following among other artists, right across the spectrum, far beyond the world of cinema alone. It's great to be part of this inspired tribute - thanks John - and judging by the people involved, this show should be a real smorgasbord of creativity.

There's a website due here. The show opens on October 1st - so get thee(ahem) To The Light House!

Twisted Visions : Social Scenery

The Social (previously MASH) - hit a new level last Sunday. The addition of the UV 'glow' factor, a couple of new additions to the ranks of doodlers and an influx of bank holiday party animals made for a real zippy evening as the crowd (and graphics) jostled for space in the Twisted Pepper. Being an auld fella, I sloped off around 1 am, just as a whole other level was kicking in. A pleasant stroll back through mild, busy, but good-natured Dublin streets and a chatty taxi trip home wrapped up an evening that started out catching up with a couple of old artschool buddies. Earlier in the day, I'd been to see Coraline (absolutely beautiful, BTW!) in the company of several very excitable seven and eight year olds, all of which made this a bizarrely 'indoors', yet hugely enjoyable bank holiday sunday. More Social pics here.

RHA Annual Exhibition : White Smoke, Daddio!



I'm chuffed! Just got word back from the RHA that two of my submitted paintings have been selected for the 179th Annual Exhibition. Yay!

The third painting almost got there too - making it into the 'possible' category, before losing out in the second round selection. For me, this is A Very Cool Thing. To have one piece selected would be cool enough - two feels like some kind of objective vote of confidence - that this work is speaking to an audience.

Cardamom III above, is one of the pieces selected. It's only a wee thing - about 210 x 150mm, (framed in a double window mount under glass). The other selected piece is Cardamom II.

So, if you make your way to Ely Place between 26 May - 25 July this year, you can play 'Hunt-The-Nolan' along the gem-packed walls of the RHA Galleries. You can see more of my paintings here.

Synth Eastwood : Cycles

Synth Eastwood are currently gearing up for their next show, on the theme 'cycles'. Nice open theme, which should make for an interesting mix of perspectives - looking forward to seeing it all on Friday 24th October at a few venues in Temple Bar, Dublin ; Filmbase, The Button Factory & Meeting House Square. Here's a sneakpeek at my submission (here's hoping it makes the cut).

This guy is The Right Honorable Lord Gustaf Lesley 'Les' Augtrom 1799 - 1864. Leading ethnopharmacologist of his time and last recorded Cyclops of the modern era. Members of the Swedish royal family are believed to carry his monocular gene to this day. Or something.

Synth Eastwood is a creative collective that's been putting some interesting multimedia shows on for quite a while now. Well worth checking out! This is an image I submitted for their recent flags & anthems show.