Short Update...

I have been sick twice in the last month and also had some other more pressing distractions, including a wedding to attend etc, so painting has had to take a backseat for sometime along with the blog. I hope to get back on track over the next while...Jim

Connemara Paintings -- Ashleagh Waterfall Painting

Ashleagh Waterfall -- Connemara

This is my latest addition to the world of art, painted from a photo taken from my parents trip to Mayo and Galway last year. It is Ashleagh waterfall (Aasleigh also ) which is just outside the picturesque village of Leenane. Leenane was the village used in John B. Keane's film The Field and also this waterfall was used in the film too I believe. I used a combination of colours that I thought would add more interest to the scene and so they may not be exactly true to life, but I liked the combinations that I tried so went with them. Comments and criticisms are always welcome -- so feel free to leave them. This painting is for sale -- so if it doesn't sell before November / December I will probably try to sell it in Auction (if it is accepted) or Art Fair. Either way, if things keep going as they have all year, most of my paintings are selling within a few months. Fingers crossed that I can continue to build on this success. Thanks for all that follow the blog and tell others about my art! Until next post -- as they say in the States... Have a nice Day! Jim

Marine Painting -- Latest Work "Evening Harbour"

Evening Harbour

This is the latest painting I have been working on. This was a difficult subject due to all the shapes which I had to draw accurately and painting all the small parts with varied colours took a long time. I underpainted with scarlet before painting this painting. I did that after seeing another artist do this. I found it interesting to paint on the undercoat but not sure if I liked it so much. It helped see what was painted but beyond that it takes some getting used to. This is 16" x 12" on canvas. Painting this difficult subject has helped me get used to more intricate painting but it was definitely harder. I think it helps though in that I become less wary of attempting difficult compositions. Hence I should be able to paint more subject matter.

I took this image from the photo reference library of domain free photos on wet canvas and it is somewhere in Alaska / Canada. Not sure where. I hope it will appeal to anyone who has done a bit of sailing or likes boats in general. That's it for now, as always comments are welcome be they good or bad. That's how I will know if this is a hit or a miss. Thanks, until next post...

My Art is up for Auction at Nora Dunne Gallery Oct 4th

One of my recent paintings has been accepted into the Auction which Gormleys Fine Art are holding in the Nora Dunne Gallery on October 4th. Gormleys Fine Art have an online auction site which is showing all the paintings and you can bid on them in the days prior to the auction. Here is my painting, Howth Head from Portmarnock. Gormleys is a well established gallery chain, having two galleries in the north of Ireland and one in Dublin. They are renting the Auction Showroom from the Nora Dunne Gallery/Auctionhouse.

Croagh Patrick -- Paintings of Ireland

Croagh Patrick -- Finished Painting.

First step, I drew out the image, using a small paint brush and raw umber paint. Next step, I put in a sky of cerulean blue and white using large brushes. I can refine this later using smaller brushes, but for now it is fine. I mixed a variety of off-greens and semi-neutrals using ultramarine blue, cadmium yellow, and permanent mauve with lemon yellow. I also created dark browns using orange and ultramarine blue. I didn't use greens straight from the tube as I can vary the green colours easily by varying the proportions of the mixes. It makes for more varied colours, if I need them.
I created light grays in a bit of an unusual way but it worked out nicely. I mixed viridian green with permanent rose. I got a dark almost purple black and I used this on outlining the rocks. I mixed white with this to get a light gray for the side of the mountain. I didn't use any black in the painting. I might have used a little paynes grey in extreme dark areas.

Continuing on the rocks using the white grey colours.
It may look like there isn't so much happening at this stage but I have been working on the rocks to make them appear more natural and graduate the shadows from dark to lighter as they get further away. Also I have begun to green up the mountain using my ultramarine blue with cadmium yellow mix.

A lot of refining is going on at this stage - I have worked on smoothing out the sky brushstrokes and I have been going over the whole picture with alterations here and there to create a balanced look. What I actually do is a kind of instinctive thing, so difficult to describe, but it's mostly tweaking of colours and tones to make the sense of distance more apparent. Finally I put in the figures and signed the painting. The finished image is up the top of this post. Enjoy!

Past work -- Dust Stained Posse.

Today I am posting a painting I completed in 1996. I still think it's one of the best I've done. It has one drawback...the idea is not mine.
It was painted freehand by me from a picture reproduced in a book of the work of Frank McCarthy, an American artist. He painted such scenes and unfortunately died in 2002. This painting is on canvas 24" x 20" and I gave it as a gift to my sister and her husband. Frank's original, I am sure would be very expensive to buy, and this is almost an identical copy. He made limited edition prints of his version and they are all sold out. I am showing it here, as an example of the standard of work which really I should be getting towards more consistently, given time. The style here is not as loose as some of my more recent work, and I might try to veer back towards this somewhat. I really like the way this painting turned out, and it proved to me at the time that I could paint really well if I took the time. This painting took me five times the time it takes me to paint my 12"x16" paintings -- but I think I could be faster at painting it now. It also reinforces my belief that I should be aiming for quality as much as possible. No shortcuts!! Anyway it's here for you to enjoy, and hopefully I will paint something original soon which is equally as good! As they say...Watch this space!
In the next day or so I will post shots of what I have been painting over the last two weeks. So check back and see.

Nora Dunne Gallery Update

I went on the website of Ben Dunnes Gallery yesterday. I sent several paintings into the gallery earlier in the year, but now the gallery is closing as a gallery!! So I have been watching changes in the gallery operation for the past month or so. Originally the gallery space was to show art, but now it is becoming an auction house. This is not a bad thing and they could become very successful -- depending on how much Ben Dunne can drive the project. I am interested to see that they are uploading all entries to the gallery auctions on the website of an associate from Belfast Gormleys Fine Art. Gormleys appear to be a well organised operation and their site for auctions (Irish Art Sales ) allows viewing and bidding on the auction works in the days preceding the auction.
The above is an example of ideas I have been looking at for my next painting. This is a harbour in New Zealand taken from the reference image library on Wet Canvas. I went down to Howth Harbour on Saturday last and took around fifty photos of the boats. It was a dull overcast day and I would have preferred it to be brighter but sometimes that can add to the atmosphere of the images. Anyway I have two ideas to work on -- so will show them as they are progressed over the next while.

Finished Painting - "Lazy Afternoon"

Here is my finished painting of what I am calling "Lazy Afternoon". I took this photo in less than ideal conditions so colours are slightly off the reality but not too much. Since then I tweaked a few things but barely noticeable and because it was dark out I didn't take another photo. I just added tiny shadows on and under the decking and a few highlights on the tree on the left. I consider this painting as having worked out reasonably well but I have done better, and fellow artists will know what I mean when I say it was one where you just have to keep plugging away. Sometimes paintings are really enjoyable to do, and others are a chore. This was in-between but nearer to a chore. I am pleased with one thing though and that's that I am getting quicker. The size of this is 20" x 16" on canvas. I finished it over the course of 12 days. That's quick for me as I find it difficult to paint in long stretches - but that seems to be improving too. Sometimes it depends on the actual painting a lot too!

Tomorrow I may drive out to Howth to take some photos of the Marina. I want to paint some more scenes with items related to people in them, such as boats. I have noticed that the most popular selling paintings and the ones that all the auctioneer houses want are paintings involving people, things they use, make or are associated with such as boats, buildings etc. and scenes of local places. So far that seems to be what people are buying from my recent look at the market. Of course I could be wrong, but I am willing to explore the market for such paintings. Hence my last two paintings have had people in them.

Anyone enjoy that last posts poem?

10000 visitors since June last year...Sep 3rd

The blog has just hit the 10,000 mark!


Photos of current work are thrown in here amid the celebration!! (top photo was manipulated to contrast it a little as it was taken in sunlight and came out pale, but now is a little darker than my painting - other photo is lighter than the painting, reality is somewhere in between).

And here's a return to poetry corner to celebrate.

I sit beside the fire and dream of all that I have seen,
of meadow flowers and butterflies in summers that have been.
Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silversun and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be,
When winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things that I have never seen;
In every wood in every spring there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,
And people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.

Anyone like to tell me were they think that's from, well
it's easy find out, just google it... a very famous person...
Enjoy!

Painting Trees - Varied Sameness! Painting Demonstration continued...

The above is where I am at currently on this painting, having worked on the trees behind the lake and at the left side. While this looks reasonably simple to paint, it is actually quite difficult to get it right. What is needed is to paint what initially looks like all the same, but is really what I call "varied sameness". It is quite tricky to get it right and when it goes wrong you end up with just a green mess. To explain, you have to paint the trees in such a way that they have all the variations that occur in nature (obviously you have to simplify somewhat), and without having too much of one shade in any place, and at the same time keeping a consistent tone and pattern across the foliage. That mightn't be a good explaination, so I have a closeup of what I mean below. I have variations in the colour on the tree, but without any of the shades dominating another. I create all the shades in this picture using various mixes of ultramarine blue, viridian green, cadium yellow, paynes grey, lemon yellow and titanium white. You can experiment yourself, to get various shades. Other trees I have used other colours too, so there really is a lot of greens that you can achieve!

Looking at where I have got to above, I still need to do some more on the trees section of the painting as it dries further, to adjust and balance the tones a bit. I want them to appear natural and not standing out too much as they are just background to the main subject. I shall continue this online demonstration over the weekend or so...

Here is an example of "varied sameness" -- that sometimes elusive aspect of painting, and the reason why painting a forest of nothing but green can be so tricky...That's it for today, if you are enjoying the blog be sure to check back or link to it.

Oil Painting Online Demonstration August 2009

Well here in Ireland the weather has been quite showery over the last few weeks and with no sign of stopping I think that the types of paintings that might appeal to people could be those that show warm weather and places we would really like to experience. That's why I thought this scene would be an appealing candidate. I am working in oils on a 16" x 20" canvas. Here I have posted the progress shots of my undercoating stage, completed more or less in the above shot.
To transfer my drawing onto the canvas, I draw it out on parchment paper and I put a sheet of paper covered in charcoal under this face down onto the canvas. I then go over each line with a pen that no longer works. I put a book under the canvas to prevent damage from leaning too hard on it. The result is an outline drawing on the canvas in charcoal. Charcoal is ideal as pencil on canvas is hard to cover with some colours in oils, as I discovered to my cost. I sometimes draw over the charcoal as can be seen above with a light colour marker. This covers well with the oils. I might dispense with this in the future but for now I think it is a useful method.

As I don't have a lot of difficult drawing in this painting I only outlined part of it in marker. The rest I will draw in paint. To save time, I use a variety of brushes and I am finding that I can work faster if I begin to judge how much paint I need better, as I don't have to keep stopping to put out more! Also as this was the undercoating stage I worked as quickly as I could, not paying too much attention to detail at this stage.

Undercoating Stage

The main thing to establish in the underpainting is the feeling of light that you want to convey in the image. Is it warm or cold, bright or dark? Here, I am trying to have a reasonably warm day, but it is tricky as I don't have a lot of sky in the picture. So I will have to rely on getting the right tones in the rest of the picture.

I fill in all the areas with blocks of colour that I think are as close to the final colours needed. This allows me to see more easily if they will need to be varied at a later stage, but really I want to try to get things right first time. That's a good motto to have when painting -- get it right first time. Mostly a painting is an evolution of tweaking and changing the colours slightly but it pays to underpaint as close as possible as you can to what's needed. I used vermillion green, paynes grey and titanium white here for the background, along with cerulean blue with the white for the water, and ultramarine blue mixed with cadmium yellow for other parts of the background. I have used yellow ochre and naples yellow in the rushes and other places. I have used cadmium red and white and raw umber also.

If I see that the colour is too dark or changing the feeling of the light then I need to stop and wipe it clean and try a variation or alternative. I kind of know what colour mixes I need now even before I use them. This comes from practice and although I often make mistakes, they are not disasters but just slow me up. Fortunately I have learnt to see most of these before I progress too far. If you need help with mixing colours, see my posts on learning to paint on the right of this blog, and also about aerial perspective etc. They should help you.

As I said earlier, there is little sky in this image, so that means the water will be the best in helping to show the bright sunlight. I choose cerulean blue for the water and lightened it with white. Anyway that's it for this online painting demonstration. I will be progressing on to the next painting layer soon, so will post more progress shots of that. Be sure and check back if you are interested in seeing the finished painting, most lightly at the end of this week.

Meanwhile I hope the weather improves here! We have the end of hurricane Bill here tomorrow!!

Paintings of Ireland -- Pontoon Bridge, Mayo.

This is the final photo of my Irish Landscape -- Pontoon Bridge, Mayo. I have used a lot of different colour mixes in this painting, using the colour theory I have learned over the last few months. I use Artists Grade oil paints so that the pigment levels are high in the paints. I have concentrated on creating the feeling of a warm summer day but with the every present changeability of the Irish weather. I paid special attention to tone as much as possible, so that the three dimensional feeling is as strong as possible. My darkest shadows are at the foreground and the highest contrasts also. I am very pleased with how this painting turned out. Comments and criticisms welcome. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the below progression shots. See the start of this painting by going to Pontoon Bridge - the beginning. Drop back in the next few days for to see further work...

Reasons to buy Original Art instead of a Print

It's a topic often discussed on the web and elsewhere. Is it better to buy an original fine art painting even though it costs much more or just settle for a print. What about an expensively framed limited edition print? Is it's value equivalent to that of an original work of art?

First you need to ask why you want to buy -- is it just to redecorate or fill a space, or do you also want an investment? If you are just space filling it seems the cheaper option of a print is what you may buy, unless you have money to splash.

But if budget is not so flash, should you invest in fine art? If I was not an artist I would still say yes to this question. However I would be asking several questions first. Is the artist emerging, established, widely respected, or one of a kind? What is their genre? Are they improving? If it is an emerging artist you are interested in, are they able to produce quality work with a style that will stand the test of time? Are they just a passing fad? Is their work truely based on honed technique or are they just chancing their arm? The price you are prepared to pay should be based on all these considerations.

From my limited experience of the market, I see three categories of buyer of art.

Low price range, below 400 euro or so.
Medium price range, 400-900 euro approx.

Upper price range, 1000 euro upwards.

The first group are looking for a fine art painting but are either unable or unwilling to spend a large amount relatively speaking. They look for emerging artists and hope to pick up a painting which really appeals to them, with the hope it increases in value. They will often buy scenes of local areas and popular views.

The middle group will have some knowledge of what artists are established but will not be able to afford the better names. They will look to buy a lesser work of established names or a work by an artist who is becoming more prominent. They will be unlikely to spend on an emerging artist unless it is an exceptional work whose subject has wide appeal.

The last group will be relying on professional advice most likely or will really know their stuff. They may be patrons of the well established professionals and the most popular artists, even if the technique of some of those artists is questionable. If the artist has a following they will feel safe in investing in their art, regardless of their ability. The quality of work of most artists selling at this level will have been well proven however.

If you are still unsure about fine art or print or what to buy if you do want to buy an original -- consider the following...

Go to a gallery and look at the real thing. Look at the colours, the texture and the feel of the painting. Then look again. There really is no comparison to a print. Prints are at best a poor imitation and in my opinion can never capture all the subtle beauty that the artist conveys in the original work. The brushstrokes are lost and the shades and colour variations will never be as vibrant no matter what the quality of the print. Artist grade pigments far exceed the best of giclee ink in their vibrancy and intensity, when viewed up close. There is an energy in an original work of art that is totally lost in the best of prints. You feel this energy every time you look at the original. Living with an original painting enriches the owners life every single day. Also there is a special feeling knowing you have a unique once off original. So for me there really is no competition. If you can afford it, buy originals first. Save up and buy if you must, but don't settle for second best!

Howth Head from Portmarnock Beach Finished Painting

The final upload of this painting demonstration. I have used the same colours as before and worked as previously on creating realistic ripples, shadows and movement in the water, and reflections on the beach. I also reworked the people although they were quite small as the painting is only 16" x 12". There's not much more to say except enjoy! And let me know your feedback, if this picture appeals to anyone. Thanks for stopping by, and check back again to see my next work very soon. I may start another online painting demonstration this week.

Next Update -- Current Work almost complete

This post shows the almost finished painting, Howth Head from Portmarnock Beach. I have worked on the detail of the ripples and beach and repainted the child in the water. I have some work to do on the other boy and the dog, and on some of the sand. Also to put in some small highlights on the water. I want to keep the image fairly light generally so am reworking the darker areas a bit. I will post the final picture either later today or tomorrow most likely. Failing this it will be Monday....

Further painting progress -- Art Demonstration continued.

The painting is progressing at a slow but steady pace. I have introduced Prussian blue into the palette and worked on increasing the detail in the waves and ripples. The different is slight between shots at first glance, but I have spent around two hours between this and the last photo. I used Prussian blue with Raw umber to create one shade of dark and with ultramarine with the raw umber to create another. I also added white into both these mixes and sometimes combined all four colours. This created a large variety of colours and these I use to create variety in the ripple areas. I used a small round brush as opposed to the filbert I normally use. I also used a wider brush for the large sand area.

Croagh Patrick, Connemara Ireland

Last weekend, it was the last Sunday in July. This is the traditional day to climb Croagh Patrick in Connemara, which is seen as the holy mountain of St. Patrick. I climbed it many years ago. This year 18,000 people made the trek up the 2500 foot mountain, some in bare feet. It is seen as a pilgrimage and for some a penance! At the top of the mountain a small church exists, and there is a flat area around the size of a small football field. Mass is held there on the pilgrimage Sunday. The above photo is taken from an image library, www.wetcanvas.com, and looks similar to Croagh Patrick in shape but appears smaller. I don't think it is Croagh Patrick but gives an idea of what the mountain is like. Croagh Patrick is more of an exact triangle shape, and has a steep drop on the front side down to Clew bay, so the route of climbing approaches from the side and then the back. One section of the climb is steep scree and quite difficult in parts, but mostly it's just a slog. Connemara is also one of the wetter parts of Ireland, receiving a lot of rain from the Atlantic -- so that makes even small mountains in Ireland difficult. I have climbed to 14,000 feet in other drier countries but failed to climb some mountains of 2-3000 feet in Ireland, due to the weather! This is what catches a lot of people unawares in hiking in this country. Anyway hope you enjoyed this little glimpse of Ireland, and check back to see more updates of my oil painting.

Further Progress Shot -- Current Work.

Here is the next shot of my current painting, an hour and a half of work later than yesterday. I have completed the next layer of painting of the water, as can be seen on the left. I also started using a small brush to work on the distant waves behind the boy and the dog on the right. I am refining the brush strokes and trying to get the final detail in this layer. I may have to revisit parts as they dry but the stage is all about getting as close to the finished look as possible. I will continue across the painting with the small brush. I have added touches of viridian to the mixes I am using on the water, along with the cerulean blue, french ultramarine, raw umber and white.
That's it for today, until next post...take care.

Art Demonstration continued...Beach Painting

Here is my latest couple of hours work on the Howth Head from Portmarnock beach painting. I am working at a slower pace these days due to other demands on my time, but I am still managing to fit in an hour here or there. The top photo was taken outdoors with a brighter sun than the later one, hence some colour variation. The lower photo is probably more representative of the colours in normal light. I added a new colour to those already in the painting, ultramarine blue. Mixing this with the raw umber helped give the darker beach colour. I use various combinations of the blues with white and umber to acheive the variation in the beach. It's important to have plenty of interest and tonal variations to create interest. I usually rely on an instinctive approach, where I keeping creating this variety until I feel it's enough. Obviously this extent of shading variation and approach will differ from artist to artist. That's what defines our style. From the amount of painting I've done in the past while, I am feeling that I am developing a more consistent style, and one I feel comfortable with...so far. That's not to say I can't work on improving...there's always room for that. So hope to finish this painting this week or soon.

Howth Head Painting -- Day 4

Today I worked for around two and a half hours on the painting, concentrating on the sky and the land in the distance. I have used six colours in this painting so far, viridian green, lemon yellow, naples yellow, raw umber, cerulean blue and titanium white. For the sky I used various mixes of the latter two. For the land in the distance I used raw umber with the blue, and adding white to this as needed to give various shades of shadows on the hill. Then I used lemon yellow with the blue and small touch of viridian to paint some of the green specks of lighter areas. Finally I have used washes of the blue and raw umber to further enhance the bluish haze of the distance. I also worked on the sea just below the land a little, but haven't really got stuck into it yet...check back again in a day or three as I am likely to be busy tomorrow. That's it for now and thanks for stopping by.

Howth Head Painting Progress -- Day 3, Harry Patch RIP

Here is a couple more steps down the road for this painting...just about the undercoating stage finished. As can be seen I mostly used the same colours as before, Cerulean Blue and Titanium White, with some Raw Umber mixed into the blue for the distant penninsula of Howth, and the small shadows from the dog, the waves and the children. I could have used a few more colours but decided to keep it rather simple for now. I am mostly trying to establish the light and dark of the image at this stage, not that there is much dark in this one. I'm painting a little each day at the moment, not more than two hours at a time. I have other things to do as usual. Still, progress may be slow but steady. I have a few more ideas I may get up and running and progress in tandem with this painting, so check back as usual and see their updates.

Now I want to pay my respects to Harry Patch (pictured here) and Henry Allingham, the last survivors of the First World War who both died this week past. Harry died last Saturday, aged 111 and Henry about a week before aged 113. Henry was the oldest man in the world at the time of his death, after the previous holder, Tomoshi Tanabe died not so long ago. With their passing, the last first hand accounts of the sacrifices made by their generation are now gone. May they rest in peace. I will write more about them another time. Here is a link of interest, Harry Patch Biography.

Howth Head Painting Progress - Day 2

This is the second progress shot from my painting -- Howth Head from Portmarnock Beach, showing the undercoat painted for the sky. I used Cerulean Blue and Titanium White, and also tried something I hadn't before, Liquin impasto for to thicken the paint a little. It gives a thicker feel to the paint, and lessens the transparent look of undercoat painting. The paints I use are Artists Oil Colour grade, so have the most intense pigments. I think it shows in the final paintings, so I am glad I invested the extra when I bought them, although they were costly at the time. I bought twelve or so colours (spaced equally around the colour wheel) at the time I replaced my old paints, about two years ago. I didn't have so much time today to work on painting, so this is it for now. As the underpainting progresses, the main thing I want is to build the feeling of a certain type of light into the painting and to create the feeling of depth and distance. For me, as for most people, this is an ongoing learning curve. However, I do feel I am making some progress in that department. So comments welcome, as I post more shots of this painting's progress.

That's it for now, if you like my art, check out my other work. Click art slide show. I have prints available for many of the paintings shown and also sell originals as and when I have some available, so send me an email, jimsartemail@hotmail.com if you see something you like. Thanks for stopping by, and catch you again soon!

Latest Painting -- Portmarnock , Initial Sketch

This is the initial sketch I have done for my next painting. It is a view from Portmarnock beach of Howth Head. Howth Head is a penninsula on the edge of Dublin city. The beach is a long strand which is north of the penninsula, and a popular place for getting a breather from city life. I am working from a photo I took on my birthday. I drew the above onto the canvas, but only drew the cloud shapes in charcoal. I learnt from the last painting that the waterproof marker I used here is hard to cover when used in the sky. So hopefully I can progress this further during the week, as I have other time demands too this week. Check back tomorrow or the next few days to see a slight bit of progress or perhaps more...

Seascape in Donegal -- Last Photo

As promised here is another shot of painting progress of the sky from my seascape, Crohy Head. Unfortunately before I sold this painting I forgot to take any further shots of it, so this is the final one I have to show. Nevertheless my technique for painting is to gradually work on the clouds and sky shapes in a similar fashion to my previous demonstration -- see Snowy Track from last year. It's a gradual working up of colour and shape until I begin to feel that it is close to what's needed. Hope you can enjoy seeing some of my progress shots. That's it for another short post. Better to post little and often than not at all....

Oil Painting Demonstration -- Seascape of Donegal

The following are photos of progress on a painting which I reprised recently, Crohy Head in Donegal. It was painted over approx. 20 hours, in May. I drew out the drawing using a watercolour marker which can be painted over easily. The above shows progress at about 5 hours, one of painting and four of preparation.

Each of the photos here is approximately one or two hours apart.

The above is about halfway stage of the painting and the below is about completion stage of the sea and rocks. I will post some more shots of the sky progress in the next day or so. So feel free to check back in to see it...also if you like my art, why not tell your friends to visit the site. I will be posting new art as and when I can. I am now able to offer A4 inkjet prints for sale -- price 12 euro, alongside A3 size laser prints (price -- 10 euro) of many of my most popular paintings. So if you like a painting you can send me an email regarding availability in print to jimsartemail@hotmail.com

I'm going to try to raise the profile of this site, by posting on a more frequent basis as much as possible, as I have been finding an increased interest in my work from visitors to the blog. So that is encouraging. As a result, and due to the increasingly difficult environment of recession hit Ireland, I am going to concentrate on the potential market available through this medium. So far this year, I have sold almost every painting I have done, within a short period of time, approximately 2-3 months. So I must be doing something right. Apart from that, I also find that posting frequently encourages me to paint more frequently too.

Finally Cosyheart are launching their beautiful range of wall heaters featuring various artists work, including my own this August, so visit http://www.cosyheart.com/ to see them.

A4 Prints are now available....

This is just a quick post to say that this week I have purchased a printer. I am now able to offer A4 size prints of some of my paintings. The price will be euro 12 (approx.16 dollars). I have several of my paintings photographed and ready to print -- so if you see a painting on site that you would like me to make a print of, send an email to jimsartemail@hotmail.com

A review of my art progress from blogging.

The blog is just a little over a year old. Happy Birthday! So it's time for a review!

What has it achieved in that time? I have a counter on the bottom of the page and it is now reading 8450 or so, but I reckon several hundred of them are mine. So perhaps 7500 people have viewed the blog in that time. That's an average performance as I haven't pushed it too much. As expected the english speaking countries have predominated. I haven't been the most prolific blogger in the recent months but have managed to keep the blog going. However the real value of the blog has been that I have used it as a reference point to refer people to it, who want to view my art. It has helped me to license my art, and it has been responsible for some sales. All in all, it has been enjoyable and worthwhile and I don't see myself losing interest in it in the immediate future. So I look forward to creating more art and improving as much as possible. I am very pleased with how the last few months have gone. Despite the recession, I have managed to sell pretty much everything that I have painted this year! So the future looks more than positive!