Thursday, February 8, 2024

John Lavery Irish Painter (1856 - 1941)


Under the Cherry Tree, (previously known as On the Loing, An Afternoon Chat). 
(Photo Credit: National Museum, Northern Ireland)

John Lavery

An exhibition of the works of the Irish Artist, John Lavery, was held recently in the National Gallery of Ireland, here in my home city of Dublin.

I unfortunately missed getting to see it, as life was just so busy, but I decided to research his background and write a little about him here.



The First Wounded, London Hospital, August, 1914

He was an orphan, born in Belfast, March 20 1856. He moved to Scotland to live in Glasgow while still a child. He began his artistic training in Glasgow where he attended the Haldane Academy during the 1870's. He set up a studio which was destroyed by fire in 1878. He received an insurance payout which he used to attend the Heatherley School in London, where he spent a year, before going to further art study in Paris at the Academie Julian in the early 1880's.

He made visits to the artists' colony at Grez-Sur-Loing, near Fontainbleau. This was a picturesque village which encouraged him to paint en Plein-Air, a term used to describe painting in the open air. 'Under the Cherry Tree' is one of the larger and more ambitious works by him at that point in his career.

He married in 1889, but his wife died of TB. They had one daughter, Eileen, who he outlived. He remarried in 1909, to Hazel Martyn. She was an Irish-American.

He returned to Glasgow, and became part of the Glasgow Boys, a group of Scottish and Irish artists. His work had a sketch-like quality which often emphasised brushstrokes. This was a style similar to James McNeill Whistler. It was a reaction to the more traditional Victorian artists of that period.

He was commissioned to paint the state visit of Queen Victoria to the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1888, and this launched a career as a society portrait artist. He thus moved to London to pursue this.

He is best known for his portraiture work, and open-air paintings.

He died in Rossenarra House, near Kilmaganny, County Kilkenny on 10 January, 1941.

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Lavender Field

 



Lavender Field.    This is a shot of an acrylic on rolled canvas painting that I created from taking ideas from various sources. It is not an actual place. I am experimenting with colours to see what works best. Enjoy.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

The Serpent of Time and Unknown Realms My Books for Sale on Amazon

This post is an update on what I have been concentrating part of my focus on for the last two years. I have published two books and am working on a third book at the moment. 

The first book is a Fantasy novel. The genre is epic fantasy.

It tells the story of a small elf-girl called Ember Willowleaf, who is asked to join a quest for which she feels she is inadequately qualified, but her kingdom and family are in danger, so she relents and goes. The story is one of adventure, daring and excitement, in similar fashion to Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or The Hobbit. If you like any of those books, you will probably like this also. The story is a standalone tale, and is totally my own creation.

It was published on Amazon in July 2022. It is called    The Serpent of Time    and you can find it for sale in Kindle or read for free at Kindle Unlimited at the moment. You can also buy it in print. 

Here's the link:

THE SERPENT OF TIME

The second book is in the genre know as LitRPG which means literature of Role Playing Games. The character is a hero traversing a world that is controlled by game-like elements. It is a genre popular by those who enjoy the online dungeon and dragon type games.

The second book is called    Unknown Realms : The Eternal Challenge Book I.    It was published on Amazon in December 2023 and you can find it for sale in Kindle or read for free at Kindle Unlimited at the moment. You can also buy it in print. 

Here's the link: 

UNKNOWN REALMS



I am working on the continuation of this series, and the next book is more than forty per cent complete.

Anyway, that's it for today. I will try to post more often, as this blog has been dormant over several years, but it will be useful to display progress in my writing and art here again. 

I hope that anyone who likes fantasy and adventurous reads will enjoy giving my books a try. Thanks! Jim