Greg Long, Artist and Angler

Greg Long's Blog Posts have moved

2010-05-04T14:23:00.003+01:00

My blog has moved to it's new home here: http://greglongartist.blogspot.com/

2009-07-30T17:06:00.000+01:00

Here are two of my buzzer tyings for late summer evenings.

A successful Opening Day

2009-03-03T10:56:00.002Z

We had an enjoyable day on Sunday. The wind was a bit cold and quite blustery, but we still managed a few fish each. A lot of fish were coming short and turning away, and quite a few more were failing to hook up properly for some unknown reason...It may have been my striking was a little off or rusty, but other fish were well hooked so I don't think this was the reason.
It may have been due to the number of boats out trolling rather than fly-fishing, all that motoring often upsets the fish and makes them edgy.
It is to get very cold again this week, so I don't think I'll be out again for a few days.

Opening Day, Mark 2

2009-02-28T12:12:00.002Z

I didn't go to the west for the opening of the season, the weather prior to the 15th of February was not condusive to good fishing. Therefore my first day out will be tommorrow, March 1st, now that the season has opened locally. I am starting of by fishing Lough Lene near Collinstown in Westmeath. This beautiful little lough is a stocked fishery with both brown and rainbow trout in it and is a pleasant lake to fish and with it being small enough to motor all around it in one day it is easy to find feeding fish somewhere.

It is always nice to start off with a successful days fishing.

countdown time...

2009-01-27T15:08:00.000Z

Two weeks away from the new trout season......

The last fish of the season..

2008-10-14T20:07:00.004+01:00

I got this 6 lb 14 oz beauty on the final day of the season on lough sheelin.

It took a silver invicta on the point.

I moved one other fish for the day but it just followed the flies without taking. Later I increased the fly size to try to induce a take, and this fish followed the flies again. This time I stopped the retrieve and waited for a few seconds, then lifted the rod. Thankfully he had the fly in his mouth at the time. :)

Following on from my previous post...

2008-08-08T11:38:00.004+01:00

I didn't win the next Saturdays competition sadly :(
I did win the following competition though :) It was fished on the upper Liffey river.
I have had quite a bit of sucess this year, catching well even though most anglers are struggling with the conditions. The loughs have not fished well at all this year, and with all the rain we have had the rivers are often unfishable. I have only failed to catch once this year however and I must be averaging about 6 fish per day on the loughs, and probably about the same on the rivers.

two good days on the river...

2008-06-17T18:33:00.002+01:00

I fished two competitions last weekend, both on rivers. I won the club competition on Saturday with the best three fish (a 3 fish bag limit, I caught about 8 takeable fish in total).

On Sunday it was the provincial championships, where I came second on my beat behind the overall winner. He and the beat winners of the other 4 beats will represent the province later in the year. I ended up as first reserve, my points total being the highest runner-up out of all the beats. (In fact my points were higher than some of the other beat winners, but to allow each beat to provide more than one qualifier is unfair on those drawn on the poorer beats that cannot hope to compete against a better beat draw. )
I was happy with the result, the winner deserved his victory, and fished very hard for the day. I did not work nearly as hard, but just fished to catch and enjoy the day. I stopped and watched the eventual winner for about 15 minutes in the morning session, and knew he was going to do very well, his work rate was high and he had the right methods and flies for the day.
I had decided to fish a team of spider patterns and a gold-head nymph, rather than dry fly (the winner was fishing dry, and then covering the water again with goldhead nymphs!!) and perservered with the method. I caught a couple of good fish too, up to 35cm. I only caught one below the 20cm minimum size, so my techniques worked in that sense. My fishing was a lot more relaxed than would have been needed, but I wanted to enjoy the day, and with the company of my steward (umpire), who was extremely pleasant, I arrived back at the "weigh-in" (points tally- it was catch and release) feeling relaxed and happy with my day.
I was actually surprised to be top runner-up, because even though I knew I was 2nd on my beat I had thought others would have had more success on the other beats. I am looking forward to this Saturdays second leg of the club competition for the 'trout cup', I feel in the mood to repeat last weeks result and ensure I win it!

I really should fish the rivers more often...

Bohernabreena reservoirs.

2008-04-18T19:45:00.005+01:00

I had an enjoyable afternoons fishing Yesterday. I fished the two lakes up at Bohernabreena, where the river Dodder rises in the Dublin Mountains. I caught a few nice little brown trout in the upper lake, and then walked down to the lower lake and fished for the larger fish there, catching a few of them also.
I had plenty of fish without fishing hard, and found them to be hard fighting in the cold water.
It was a change from my recent hard fishing days. I have also realised, my expectations from a days fishing are very different from the average. I have been fishing on a couple of occaisions recently with someone who would consider themselves a fairly good angler, with a better than average catch rate. His catches have been consistently under 20% of mine.

I have been fishing against anglers of a similar standard to myself for so long it is easy to forget that what I would consider an average catch is for many a red-letter day. When I go with Noel, while he doesn't fish very competitively any more, the ability to catch fish is still there. Noel doesn't mind not catching these days....(I do!!), but he can always pull out a fish or two, even when the fishing is hard and would not be an 'average' angler. Most angling is done outside of the competitive arena, I can forget that on occaision. Even my mayfly time 'week away' is in the company of an ex-international competitor from England, and contains an element of friendly rivalry...
However, if you want an enjoyable few hours fly fishing in beautiful surroundings, just outside of Dublin City, the lakes at Bohernabreena are available to members of the Dodder angling club, annual memberships are available in all the tackle shops for 10 euro!... Small dark flies work best in the reservoirs, if you are thinking of going.

two competitions, two fish, two different results.

2008-04-14T12:44:00.002+01:00

I have fished two competitions last weekend. It was hard work, and we had hail storms and cold northerly winds to contend with. I got two fish both days. On Saturday it was a four man team competition and we did not do well, only weighing in* (measuring, it is catch and release) 5 fish between the four of us, not nearly enough for success. I also lost a very good fish when it ran underneath the boat. I had to put too much pressure on it, and combined with a very small hook,a size 16 spider pattern I just pulled out of it. These things happen, and it's always the big ones you remember.... that cliche.....the one that got away.... lots of smaller ones do too, you just forget them.

On Sunday it was a club competition and I was pipped to the victory by another two fish bag with a lovely big trout in it, which put my two good fish into second place by an ounce or two. I was surprised that my two fish did so well though, as I expected a couple of four fish bags to be weighed in, but at the weigh-in there were only 11 fish above 33 cm recorded for the day with mainly fish below the size limit having been caught by most of the anglers. Conditions were hard on Sunday also. It was almost 5 hours in before I got my first fish, finally I got four in total but two were too small to count, so I had a busy final hour and a half as I missed another good sized fish. It shows how varying methods and flies pays dividends, along with changing location I eventually found where the fish were and how to entice them. Not missing the chances you get then results in success, well hopefully anyway. It also shows how perseverance pays dividends and that it is always worth struggling on when conditions are hard.

My next competition is in June, so I can relax and enjoy my fishing until then. Hopefully the weather will improve.

Duckfly time

2008-04-04T11:36:00.003+01:00

I have had a couple of days out in the last week. With the mild spell of the last couple of days the buzzer or duckfly have started hatching. The fish are actively feeding on them and I have had some good catches. We stayed out until dark last night on lough Lene, there were some good trout feeding well in the wind lanes. They were difficult to catch though, ignoring dry flies and emergers. I did manage to find a way to get them eventually, three small spider patterns (16's) fished sub surface on a slow to static retrieve. I only managed to land about 50% of the fish though, the small size hooks were pulling out of the larger fish, some also managed to throw the hook by summersaulting out of the water when hooked, tarpon style. It was fun, but not exactly productive!

I had a half day 'stockie-bashing' on Blessington reservoir too. It is fun for a short while, especially after a long winter. I did manage one good wild fish there too, about 3lbs weight. That was on a buzzer pattern too, after I'd grown tierd of catching stockies on lures.

Next week I'll have to start painting again though, and ease up on the fishing, but there again I need to practice for a competition on the 12th.

The season is well under way....

2008-03-29T09:56:00.002Z

I may take a trip down the country next week, but I have a couple of Fishing competitions in the next fortnight, so I will be busy with them. Of course I've had a couple of days out this week too..... sucessful ones on the lake. I am due to fish a river competition tomorrow, but with heavy rain yesterday, last night and more today, things are not looking good. The river will be high and coloured at best, in a full filthy flood at worst. This means the fishing will be extremely hard or a waste of time....mind you it will sort the men from the boys, only the boys will bother turning up! :lol:

Fishing for brown trout again...

2008-03-22T09:34:00.004Z

Iwas out fishing yesterday morning. It was the first time since my last post as the weather has been less than suitable. We had clear skys for a change yesterday, although with strong winds. The conditions were only just fishable with the fly rod. I did manage a few trout though. I hooked one fish about 1.5lbs, solidly in the root of the pectoral fin...I thought I had a big one on! The fish took a run of about 30 yards when I hooked it, then was able to kite across the waves when I tried to gain some line back.......ahh well, it fought like a six pounder. I left about 12.30, there were ominous dark clouds approaching. About 10 minutes after I got into the van to come home the heavens opened with heavy rain and sleet, driven by the strong winds. It pays to watch the weather, and a half days fishing was preferrable to half a days fishing and a drenching in icy conditions. For information on my Painting click here

Another successful day on the lough.

2008-03-02T21:39:00.002Z

I fished the opening day on lough Lene in Westmeath yesterday. Conditions were hard with the weather cold and with strong blustery winds. I did manage to get one good fish, just short of 2lb, and missed another couple, the main reason being that it was difficult to control the flies in the surface in the strong blustery wind. The Claret Dabbler worked again, although I'd tried half the flies in my fly box prior to getting a fish.

I don't expect to be out again for a while, we are due to have a cold snap with snow and strong winds. It won't be good fishing weather.

Time marches on....

2008-02-28T19:59:00.002Z

I am away fishing on Saturday, March 1st. It is the start of the season for the majority of trout fisheries. I will let you know how I got on.

Back from Lough Corrib

2008-02-18T14:41:00.003Z

I enjoyed my trip to the west. Lough Corrib fished quite well, I managed one trout and a Salmon Kelt, but I also hooked 5 other trout that failed to stay on. In all I rose about 12 fish, but most were either coming short or following the flies in. It seemed to be a problem with others I spoke to. Noel got a nice fish at the other end of the boat and missed one other. All the fish came to either a Golden olive bumble or a claret dabbler and they were up on the shallows. It was cold in a light south east to east wind, and there were no signs of fly life. I tried a drift over buzzer water first, but quickly realised that there was little or no chance of any buzzers hatching and decided to take a drift over a long shallow point, the winds angle allowed me to drift across it at an angle, giving me plenty of time to cover both drop-off edges and the shallow itself in one drift. Within minutes of setting up for the drift, Noel got his fish on a Claret dabbler and I rose four other fish including the Salmon kelt over the point.
We did the drift a further two times, I rose fish on each drift and caught my trout on the second drift across, by the third things had quietened down considerably, due possibly to the wind dropping almost to calm.
I did another drift then moving to 'Mollies rock' further out into the lake but a good drift over shallow water. I rose and hooked a good fish just off the rock, but again after a short run the hook pulled. We then decided to pull up on the shore for another cup of tea, we had stopped for one between the 1st drift and fishing the point, while boiling the kettle we realised time was against us and after tea we headed back towards home, intending to do one more drift closer to home, alas by the time we got there the wind was gone, so we decided to call it a day early. When we reached shore we found many had the same idea...but all in all, we both had fish and had seen quite a few. A good result for opening day.

Fishing and St. Valentine

2008-02-13T21:46:00.004Z

I have everything organised for tommorrow, flowers,card, dinner reservation.......it is Valentines Day.....
I am treating Christine as she deserves to be treated, she looks after me well..........

.........and I am dissapearing at 5 am the following morning, off to the West and fishing on Lough Corrib. She's not a bad wife at all.... Sometimes one has to make sacrifices, it would be a bit much to head down the day before!. I can only go for the one day also as I have to be in Dublin for an important meeting on Saturday.
Apart from that I still have to organise my fishing gear, most of the trout gear is still put away for the winter, and our trip to Amsterdam has meant that time has caught up on me. I will be busy tommorrow afternoon getting the Van loaded and ready for my trip. I need to get all my gear ready and checked in daylight.

3 days to go....counting down to the new season

2008-02-12T11:30:00.001Z

Three days away from the first trip of the trout season. We will be off to Lough Corrib for the 15th. I am hoping the mild spell continues, if it does we may get some fly life on the lough. The trip to Corrib on the 15th is always speculative though. It is more about getting out than getting fish. I still have to organise myself for the trip. I have been busy painting and travelling, details on my art-blog here .
I will fill you in on the trip on Sunday or Monday as I will not get a chance earlier. The next week or two are busy with Angling Club AGMs, it's that time of year with all getting ready for the main start of the season for eastern waters on March the first, followed by some on the 17th. It can be confusing, Here in Dublin the reservoir at the head of the Dodder river opens on the 1st of March, the river itself opens on the 17th. This may have something to do with the lakes at the top being fly only. I must get busy tying some flies now though.

2008-02-04T18:11:00.000Z

We have had poor weather for the last week, wet windy and cold. The forecast is for much of the same for this week too. I had to drive over to the midlands yesterday for a meeting and conditions on the road were poor, gusting gale force winds, sleet, rain & snow, air temperature at midday of 1 degree celcius. I was not looking forward to the trip home, but luckily I was able to leave early and I managed to get most of the way home before dark, and more importantly any frost or ice forming. Although I have not done a great deal of work since my last post, I have delivered two paintings, but I still need to get stuck in to another project that is fairly urgent at the moment. I need to get into town for a few art supplies too. I am going to need the break when I get to Amsterdam, but I am going to spend a full day in the Van Gogh museum..... mind you when I see his work up close and in the flesh it is excellent, clean clear wet on wet oil paint with no muddiness, a light brush touch casually placing paint down.......but it is quite depressing when you compare your own work to it. I'm sure I'll get to see some other art as well though, unless I need a couple of days in the VG.

2008-01-30T22:41:00.000Z

I am still working away at the commission pieces. I did find time to do a couple of small works also though, but I have two more works to do. I will try to finish them in the next week though.I am trying to get everything organised before I go away, but I have finished the main work that was needed for the end of the month. I will be busy next month with my trips because I have my fishing trip over in Galway for the opening of the trout season on the 15th, and my trip to the Van Gogh exhibition also. I know, it's a hard life... ....but someones go to do it.

I had an afternoons flyfishing for Pike yesterday, but had no luck. I am trying to get myself organised for our trip to Corrib too, I have my new fly lines loaded onto the reels. I have new spools of flourocarbon and monofilament too, I have hooks bought for tying flies, the only item I need to get now is new chest waders, as my old ones are taking in water, but they will do for the boat as wet gear, it is just a little damp fishing in rivers when wading, I think it is pin-prick holes or leaking seams. I am looking forward to starting the trout fishing again.

Happy New Year.

2008-01-05T00:33:00.001Z

Happy New Year, and tight Lines for 2008.
I haven't been posting since New Years Day, I have been a little busy painting. I am also in negotiations for a commission to design a number of concepts for promotion and packaging. It might be profitable. I have to start work on another commissioned work over the weekend too as the client wants it by the end of the month. I will have my work cut out for the next couple of weeks, but it is a good complaint. I still don't have anything to replace sold works on my website as what I had has all gone, and I have no other older works available than are already on it. I must try to create a few quicker works just to fill the site up again. Obviously I'm not going fishing for a while either.

2007-12-16T23:15:00.001Z

I am just back from our Christmas Pike competition. I failed to catch again...LOL!
Another years fishing over. We do have another comp on the 27th, but as it is DH's birthday, I tend not to fish that one.....
Merry Xmas all!

He's Back!

2007-10-31T09:58:00.001Z

Hello everyone again......I got my blog back...
Nothing to do with Blogger though, I accidently deleted the whole blog while trying to delete a spam comment..and thankyou blogger for sorting it out for me.
I have started a new Art-Painting blog here so I will probably just post my fishing exploits on this blog now....mind you it seems that it's mainly fishing on this blog anyway!

2007-08-09T10:13:00.000+01:00

Well, I am back from my marathon fishing sessions.... 5 days solid, not quite dawn...but into dusk, and I'm shattered. I did manage a few fish though. I am on my way to the studio now though. Time to get back to work.....hopefully it will go well. I have 3 weeks to get 'in the groove' before I head off to Tunisia again.

2007-08-02T08:45:00.000+01:00

I have been a bad boy.....no posts for weeks. I have a good excuse, I've been very busy. Between renovating our bathroom and planning a talk. I have a friend coming over tomorrow for a weeks fishing. Noel and I were out last week. We had a good day on lough Owel. 9 fish between us and I lost another six, 3 threw the hook, 3 broke a 6lb leader. The weather is starting to improve at last, we have had a couple of days sunshine but the grey skies are back today. I am hoping the warmth will arrive so the sedges start hatching for the weekend. I am looking forward to the next few days fishing. I have to get stuck in and tile the bathroom walls after that though....no it's not finished yet!

I have been organised to give a talk on local government and the Arts from an Artist's viewpoint, to a group of local Government representitives later in the month. I have my talk outline composed and emailed off. All I need to do now is flesh the main points out, organise my powerpoint presentation and practise my lecture. Sadly it's not a case of turning up and talking, the preparation has to be done first. It is surprising how much preparation a lecture/talk can take....even more than a practicle class. The expected audience will be quite critical of a poor presentation so my homework is important.

I will scribble again next week...I promise, and let you know how the fishing went.

2007-07-06T09:42:00.000+01:00

I am back from the wedding, Yorkshire is a lovely area. We toured around north yorkshire (where the wedding was) and up into the lake district in Cumbria. I have a few jobs to catch up on now, including my blog, but I can't spend long on it today. The weather in Yorkshire was just like at home wet&windy.......and it's quite cool. What happened to global warming? we are freezing two weeks past midsummer. I want to be able to go out and paint, but for the last month I can't even get a break in the weather to mow the lawn...never mind work.

2007-06-25T09:51:00.001+01:00

Where has time gone?
It is two weeks since I posted....shock! horror!
I have been busy with meetings, work, (and a little fishing too) and trying to organise myself for a trip to a wedding this weekend. There are 3 concerts on in Marlay this week, Aerosmith were on last friday...I didn't get into the studio Friday or saturday though, someone else is on Wednesday....it might be the Kaiser chiefs, and the Who are playing saturday....I would have liked to see the Who, but I'll be at the wedding.

2007-06-11T19:12:00.000+01:00

I managed a half days work today. I came home for lunch fully intending to go go back out and finish a plien-air painting I had been working on this afternoon. Alas I ended up shopping and gardening instead. Tomorrow is another day....I did get a fair bit done on my commission piece in the studio earlier though and I did start quite early this morning. I will probably make large inroads into it tomorrow too, it is going well for me and I'm happy with the progress.

2007-06-11T00:28:00.000+01:00

Well in the last week I had two trips on Lough Owel, with no decent fish to show for it. Both days were bright sunshine and little wind. In fact on Saturday I nearly had a dose of sunstroke!
I managed 10 fish on saturday but not one measured over the 13 inch limit. I thought that by the laws of average I should have at least had one...but thats the way it goes. Obviously I didn't qualify for the National team... I am not going to be able to in the inter-pro either, it is due to be fished on September 1st. and I'll be on my way to Tunisia for the a.b.a.m. art festival, and I won't be able to fish it. The first reserve for the Leinster team is a friend of mine though, so at least he will benfit from my absence. I am looking forward to doing some painting this coming week after my lay-off due to the 'flu last week. Roll on tomorrow...

2007-06-04T19:48:00.000+01:00

Another week gone. I spent most of last week on my sick-bed, dying with the 'flu. I am just about over it, Christine has it now though. We put some fish into the garden pond, a case of needing to, it is full of mosquito larvae.....at least the fish will be well fed. I must get into the studio a couple of days this week, I have to do some work on a commission. I need to get a days practice in on lough Owel too, the Nationals are on Saturday. I haven't been out in ages, and I have only fished Owel once this season so I really could do with some. Conditions on Saturday are not going to be good either, hot, sunny and little or no wind. Whatever else it might prove interesting..

2007-05-28T23:07:00.000+01:00

I have to get back to business.... I need to focus on work....and the upcoming national qualifiers on June 9th. I may be lucky enough to qualify, I seem to be reaching top form again in the fishing even though I don't really try that hard. The fact that I don't put myself under so much pressure probably will help too. I will be going out to enjoy myself and qualify if I can, but I will not be working 100% to get the result. I will try to get one days practice, but I am not going to spend days flying around the lake looking for fish....if my boat partner has done that on the day....all well and good...but I'm not going to worry about it. I know the venue, and can usually find fish. If someone else finds more so be it.
I am in the middle of a couple of paintings, I will try to finish them this week.

2007-05-21T10:34:00.000+01:00

I didn't quite make the headlines yesterday...but thanks for a great photograph Mick! I'm a handsome devil by times...
I was out on Lough Lene with Noel and Eoin (Long Jnr.) yesterday. We caught plenty of fish but sadly we didn't get any big ones- they were all in the 3/4 to 1- 3/4 mark. I felt sure we would pick up a couple of bigger fish in the conditions, alas we didn't. Ah well back down to earth with a bump...I'm off to create some art now, my studio awaits. My public alas have departed, I'm yesterdays news...lol.

2007-05-17T11:01:00.000+01:00

I am just back from two days on lough Corrib. The conditions were hard with a flat calm on Tuesday and blustery wind and rain on Wednesday. The mayfly hatches were poor to non-existent. The poor weather during the hatches previous years seem to have affected the numbers of fly hatching. I did manage a few fish but none of any great size, I am glad I didn't go for the full week in a way, I am tired enough as it is. I'm off to work for a holiday!

2007-05-13T23:57:00.000+01:00

I am just back from Lough Ennell. I was right, there were only eight fish weighed in by 115 anglers. I just happened to have TWO of them :). Obviously I won, I also had the heaviest fish as well as the heaviest bag. My two fish were fractionally over 3lbs and 2 lbs each. It's nice to be provincial champion again, it's a few years since I have had the honour, and now I have won both the TAFI and ITFFA championships. I am feeling a little bit smug at the moment. I'm just off to glow....

Hello again...

2007-05-11T17:21:00.000+01:00

I have been conspicuous by my absence.....I have just been occupied on other things.
It can be hard to make time to post on the blog. I am barely able to keep check of my emails at the moment. It takes time to wade through all the spam....I considered getting a spam filter, but I think it discourages casual enquiries, and the last time I had one on I was missing emails that were being sent, so I was having to wade through the spam anyway!
I am due to fish the Leinsters on Sunday, but I haven't had a chance to get out and practice, but the competition is on Lough Ennell so I think it's going to be a bit of a lottery anyway, there won't be too many fish weighed in. It will be a case of if you get a chance and take it you will have a good chance of qualifying. One fish is likely to do it, the last time they had to draw a couple of places. I like Ennell for the competitions though, I invariably pick up a fish when needed, but saying that I also fail to catch on a fairly regular basis as do most anglers on Ennell.
Wish me luck...

2007-05-01T08:25:00.000+01:00

Time is flying by...
I have little to report, I have been doing some plien air painting, in fact I will shortly be going out again to work on one I had started last week. The sunshine is keeping me outside.

2007-04-22T10:56:00.000+01:00

I have been out fishing twice this week. On Tuesday I drove down to Lough Lene to meet someone delivering a new club boat for the lough. Obviously I had to road test it after delivery...Noel and I had a pleasant days fishing, I managed to get ten trout to 2.5lb (2kg+).
I was back to lough Lene yesterday fishing a team competition. Sadly I didn't catch as many, I did manage to catch 3 'keepers'(the competition was catch and release) and a couple of small fish that didn't make the measure. The rod average was about 2.5 fish so it wasn't too bad a result. The team (6 anglers) ended up with 20 fish, which was the third highest total, but our size average was lower and we ended up in 7th place. The days fishing was hard work, but my boat partner was a pleasant companion and we had an enjoyable day on the lake. I can't give you the successful flies because if you include the undersized fish we caught ten in the boat we both had three to measure and two undersized, all fish were on different flies! Yes, it was one of those days when you really had to work for your fish. To be honest though you feel good after the day when you manage to get a few in hard conditions. The team competitions mean you work that little bit harder too so you don't let your team members down. With the team competition you need to catch at least the average so that if one member does well you don't pull his score down, and try to catch above the average yourself to pull other members up. Therefor even one fish is important, every point counts.

2007-04-16T10:10:00.000+01:00

I was out fishing yesterday. We fished a competition on Lough Owel. Noel managed to come third, I didn't! I had a good day though, my problem was all bar one of the fish I landed were just under the size, 5 between 12 and 12.75 inches with a 13 inch limit......aaaaaaaarrrrrggghhhh!
c'est la vie! I lost a good fish early on too...I am off to lough Lene on Tuesday, I have to meet a delivery man with a new boat coming from Galway in the midlands and direct him to the berthing point....I may even have to fish a little when trying the boat out..:)
I will be back on lough Lene again on Saturday fishing the Lexus team competition..we might do well there are 5 very good anglers fishing on the six man team....just recently I'm not sure about me...lol., but the competition will be stiff.
My garden pond is coming along nicely, I need edging bricks for the top of the raised wall now. I won't be doing much today though as I am off to the studio to do some painting today.

2007-04-13T23:00:00.000+01:00

Here I am, Two weeks after my last post......Time has flown by! I have been busy with the Easter weekend and rebuilding my garden pond. I even played with a mini digger...lol....
The pond is not finished yet but it is almost there. I need to do some finishing and some planting. I will probably put fish in next week. Talking of fishing I have been, last week I took a trip locally and then up to the upper liffey. I have not done much painting, but I have been taking gallons of water out of my studio with two de-humidifiers, about 2 gallons every 30 hours.....I didn't realise my studio was so damp!, I am still getting the same amount two weeks later. The weather for the last two weeks has been glorious, sunny and warm. It is forecast that this will continue for another week too. I am enjoying it while it lasts, although the garden renewal is stopping me sunbathing......
I will try to post a little more often again, hopefully I will get back to normal soon.

2007-03-31T23:45:00.000+01:00

I am in dire need of a DAYS FISHING! I managed to get the flyfishing kits for the kids prizes but have done little else since my last post. I pulled a muscle and haven't been able to do much.
I hope to get to the studio tomorrow, and probably will try to organise a days fishing during the week. Lots to do, and no time to do it. I need to learn to manage my time better...I seem to be totally dis-organised, I suppose that is one of the problems of working in isolation, you try to cover everything and manage nothing.
In any event I need to try and organise a few exhibitions in the near future.

2007-03-28T23:14:00.000+01:00

I was up in the studio today, working away doing some small studies. After the day I am tired. I have an early start in the morning, a local shop has some fly rod & reel combos for sale at 39 euro, complete with line etc. I want to buy a few of them as prizes for the kids angling competitions. Most of the Kids fish bait or spinners in the competitions it will be nice to start them off flyfishing and at under 40 euro the club can afford to give the flyfishing kits away as prizes. The downside is if I don't get up early the rods could be sold out before I get them...oh well, no lay-in in the morning. I still did not get out fishing yet...
I want to work in the studio again tomorrow. I may get an hour or two's fishing in on Friday, but I have meetings on saturday so I will get nothing done.

Spring is back....for a while a least.

2007-03-25T13:35:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a lovely spring day, warm, sunny, almost balmy. Today is overcast again but the temperature is still up from last week. I am having a lazy day today, I was partying last night and as a result I don't feel very energetic.
I will probably look after my plants in the conservatory later though, they are looking a bit neglected. I am still getting new strelitzia plants germinating, and I have only lost two of those transplanted which is very good considering I am having to transplant the seedlings before they get true leaves ( I planted the seeds in shallow starter trays). Next time I will sow the seeds in paper or peat based plugs that can be put into larger pots without disturbing the seedlings. I have one strelitzia in bloom, and 6 flower stems still forming on the plant so I should have some seeds for next year too.
I have been busy painting some small studies this week. They went quite well. I should be fishing today, but I was not really fit to travel this morning, between the late night and the clocks going forward last night. I would probably have failed a breathalyzer test if I had driven so I erred on the side of caution.

2007-03-21T16:34:00.000Z

It has got a bit milder today, but that is the only upside. It is grey and damp now.
I haven't been able to get the studio yet today, and as it is 4.40pm I will not get there now. It has been one of those days, little errands cropping up, go to do one and end up with another......I have to get some art supplies too, but I will leave that until the morning now also. I think I will have a lazy evening, I am tired now. I will finish posting here, check my emails and then settle down in front of the TV to while away the evening. I will have to go out with the dog later but apart from that I don't intend to be very energetic. I'm off to make a cup of tea....

Winter bites back.

2007-03-19T13:06:00.000Z

So much for the spring warmth....we have had snow for the last two days.
The St.Patricks day festival fireworks had to be cancelled due to the high winds, as were ferry sailings. It is freezing cold.
Bah! Humbug....

Spring time is here...

2007-03-18T09:34:00.000Z

Another week gone by, time is flying.
Tuesday's fishing was a bit disapointing....very disapointing in fact, we fished Blessington/Poulaphouca reservoir. There was not a sign of a trout. We did a bit of trolling for Pike too, but with no success.
I have not really done much painting in my studio, It really needed tidying up so I got stuck in to that. I was watching the rugby yesterday, the Irish team threw away the championship, that after throwing away the French match for the grand-slam earlier, it is a pity as the team were probably the best of the championships. Ireland beat Pakistan in the Cricket yesterday!!!
miracles do happen! but the team played well to get the win, not bad for the minnows of the competition.

I am feeling guilty for not doing any work, so I will probably be in the studio today. I need to keep working to keep the momentum up. Hopefully it will be a productive day.

I am looking out of the window at trees in blossom,Forsythia, cherry, acacia and magnolias. while in my ear the birds are singing away...spring is definitely here...I hope the warmth comes with it soon.

2007-03-12T15:32:00.000Z

I have been busy enough in my studio, I have packed my painting ready to ship to the exhibition in Museu da Chapelaria, S. Joao De Madiera, Portugal. I will be shipping it off later. I have discovered that one inch thick aeroboard sheeting they pack around appliances such as washing machines and fridges is excellent for packing up canvases....and free to collect from electrical shops...

The weather has improved slightly, I hope it warms up soon though, I am really looking forward to travelling and painting around the country. Perversely this also makes painting other art difficult because your mindset is looking in other areas.. I have met with the local authorities arts officer, with a view to organising an international artist exchange programme based around Marlay Park, it may take quite a while, some things move slowly....

I am about to head off to the studio to do some more work now, I have sent some paintings off this morning, hopefully they will sell well and the gallery will be looking for more. I need to keep things ticking over as I am not looking for a Solo show until next year, and earning an income tends to help when trying to pay bills... I need a rich Patron or a few sales, I think the sales are the more likely to happen. I want to finish off a piece this afternoon as I intend going fishing tomorrow.....it's been a while since I have been.....

I still cant read blogspot blogs but here's hoping everyone else can

2007-03-05T22:02:00.000Z

Blogspot still has issues with access for some areas.........hopefully not for much longer and I know my posts are loading.

I have been busy working in my studio, I have a painting almost finished and another progressing nicely. I am finding it easier to work at the moment, my creative juices are flowing and the work is going well. The switch back to oil paints has helped too. I love the feel of them although the drying time is a drag sometimes. I have photos taken but I have not uploaded them into my computor and I'm using a notebook at the moment with no programme to take the photo from my phone. I will show them later. I will be in the studio again tomorrow....I can't wait to get back to the painting I am working on at the moment, hopefully it will continue to go well. I may start another in the afternoon, if the other two are unworkable, but I have to organise myself for a meeting on wednesday morning, so I may not get the time.
It is great to find the works progressing easily (relatively) again. I have been struggling for such a long while...I am due a few easy ones I think..I am hoping it continues for a while, and, I am still happy with them next week...:lol:

I hope this is uploading..

2007-03-04T15:02:00.000Z

I have problems viewing any blogs on Blogger/blogspot.com so I am just hoping that this and my last post are visible to others. I have been up in the studio painting away yesterday but I have had a lazy day today....nothing but TV and couch. The weather is atrocious again today, there was a fishing competition but that was cancelled due to weather conditions.....and that was from a bank not a boat!! I think this must be the wettest windiest year yet..

I need to go out to look at a commission, but getting weather conditions for it is proving difficult...hopefully it will improve soon and with a little luck it will be a good spring and summer. I really want to get some plien air studies done around the country this year.

The Trout season is open again

2007-03-02T17:28:00.000Z

I fished the Upper reaches of the river Liffey today....the season opened yesterday, but I was busy and did not get out. I did manage today though, and the weather decided to make life cold and wet. Heavy rain, cold winds, not condusive to an enjoyable day. I did enjoy it though managing to catch nine fish to 14 inches. I missed others, but I think they were small fish. I caught them on spider patterns, fished quite deep using a small bead-headed nymph on the point to pull the flies down.
It was nice to catch a few fish.
I am ready to go back to work now though, and wait for more clement weather.
I have a painting done of the pond in marlay again, I captured the wet grey day quite well. I painted it in oils, it was nice to get back to them again after using the acrylics..

2007-02-26T10:07:00.000Z

Here a photos of the two 'Burren' paintings. I have left them aside, and I will consider them for a while. The blue is causing me concern although I like the luminescence of the paintings. The upper work is 30 by 20 inches, the lower 24 by 18.

I'm off up to my studio now, and I am looking forward to working away for the day.......Hopefully on something productive.

2007-02-21T15:01:00.000Z

I am not going into the studio today. I am suffering from backache. It is not condusive to creating art.
I did quite a lot yesterday..I have taken photo's but I haven't downloaded them yet, and I am on the wrong computor to do it. I may get it done later. However I am happy enough with the progress so far. The works are very blue, which I am unsure of....mainly because they are not my usual palette. The colours are suitable to the landscape though, the cold limestone flags of the Burren in Co. Clare. Beautiful in summer with the abundant flowers, but very cold in winter with the exposed rock. I have made the sky a deep cobalt blue at the moment but it will change. I over-painted the existing sky because it did not work. I am as yet unsure of what I want to do with it so I have just given myself a blank area to work with, but one that sits in with the landscape.
I really wanted to get stuck in again today, but I had a bit of back-ache yesterday and it's worse today so I really need to rest it a bit. I also have the AGM of the angling club tonight...I hope my seat is comfortable enough....

2007-02-19T18:20:00.000Z

I didn't get fishing, but I got quite a lot of work done in the studio last week. I was away for the weekend and I travelled up to Northern Ireland to have dental work done today so I have been busy all this week/weekend. I am hoping to get to the studio tomorrow again, I have a painting on the easel I want to get back to. Our angling club AGM. is this week and I am in charge of running this months club competition on Sunday so I am going to be busy this week too. The competition is our start of season Pike competition, the first of the year, just prior to the start of the trout season and our trout competitions. I hope the weather will be pleasant for it. The weather was quite good up until today, but it has been grey, wet and windy today, the trip up North and back was dreary and unpleasant, spray everywhere and poor driving conditions so I am tired. I was tired before I started though...a lot of driving and long hours over the weekend in conjunction with little sleep, plus an early start today...

Opening day blues...

2007-02-13T12:04:00.000Z

I checked the weather forecast for Thursday, it is to be wet and windy, strong winds from the west.....That has put an end to any ideas about travelling over to Lough Corrib for the opening day. I have gone every year for years, but after last year (conditions similar) I realise it is too much of a trip just for the sake of going out when conditions are bad. It works out quite expensive too by the time deisel, boat hire, incidentals (meals etc.) are all taken into account, so to spend the money and 7 or 8 hours return journey driving just to get onto the lough and hide in shelter for the day is just not feasible anymore.....Old age catching up on us! realistically though it will be better if we go later in the year when fishing is more comfortable and more productive.
I am busy on friday with meetings too, and down in Wexford all weekend so the long drive and back would have been felt by Monday.. ...it is probably for the best.
.....I might pop out for a few hours on Thursday anyway, to one of the Rainbow fisheries close to home.

2007-02-08T13:20:00.000Z

here is the promised picture of my self portrait. The photograph is not a bad representation of the finished painting.

I went fishing yesterday, well I went visiting a few venues......everywhere we looked was frozen over, we ended up fishing the liffey above Leixlip for an hour, but with no success...and the cold caused us to give up quickly.

We had little faith in fishing the area we were, it was the last place to try for open water as it was running. We probably should have gone straight to a river after the first case of frozen venue, that way we could have fished either the Barrow or the Suck...we travelled far enough going from area to area to do the trips anyway.

I was in the studio today, but it is too cold and miserable so I did not stay. I was also aware of the fact that the snow we have falling at the moment might make driving home difficult later. Ergo I am about to do some work on the computor.

I have been busy painting

2007-02-06T18:23:00.000Z

I have been working away, painting a few studies.
They have been quite loose and I have enjoyed painting them.
I have been away here and there as well during the week, added to the fact that I potted up the 40 odd strelitzia (bird of paradise) seedlings that have started growing it has been a fruitful week.

I will endeavor to put photo's on the blog during the week, I need to download from my phone and upload the pics from the PC....I am using the laptop at the moment and it does not connect to my cameraphone. I also need to take quality photos of the portrait to send to Portugal.

Roscommon Pike

2007-01-31T17:53:00.000Z

I had a good day out yesterday. Apart from the fact I took the wrong key with me and couldn't get into the cottage.........which is still in one piece. We fished Lough Skean for a couple of hours with no luck. After that we visited the cottage, looked at lough Mealagh but didn't fish it due to awkward access, tried the Boyle river, again with no success. By then it was almost 1pm, so we moved down the road to a small lake and recast our baits before boiling the Kettle for our tea.
By the time the kettle boiled I'd had two pike on the deadbaits...it's worth being mobile when fishing. I got another fish over 10lb in the next hour but then struggled, eventually getting a jack on a spoon. I lost a fish earlier on a plug too. Noel got one fish on a spoon. Four fish was a nice result for 3 and a half hours though, and it shows the value of the van, allowing fast movement from venue to venue with rods set up and ready to go.

Today I finished off my portrait, so I am tired but happy. I am too tired to sort out a photo of it though, maybe tomorrow.....

My portrait as of today...

2007-01-29T20:21:00.000Z

I need to work on my clothing, but the base needs to dry....and it is slow. Hopefully it will be dry by wednesday, I'm off up to sligo tomorrow to visit our cottage. I will do some pike fishing too while I am up there, Noel is coming with me. Two birds with one stone and all that.....I was going to go fishing anyway and since the pike fishing close to home has been so poor I decided to travel further afield and since I haven't seen the cottage since before all our storms I needed to do that anyway.
I spent time today doing a couple of small acrylics, these are below.

1 Donegal, near Malin, eight by ten inches
2. Benbulbin, across Sligo Bay eight by eight inches. I like them.

2007-01-24T22:25:00.000Z

I have repainted my portrait twice since I last posted. I was not happy with it. I am still not totally happy with it. I have not done any work behind the portrait yet either.
I find the fact that I need to finish this painting in the next week or so is creating pressure as such. If it is not just right I need to rethink my approach. I was intending to look at a hat shop window as a subject, but when I went to the shop I found it has closed down.

I must get a few materials this week too, I'm short of paint, I need some unstretched canvas to build a large one. I may invest in some brushes too since the ones I have are getting the worse for wear again. My spare ones were used for acrylics, and surprisingly the acrylics seem to damage the bristles more than the oils, consequently I need new ones now. I hate using worn down brushes, and I tend to use long filberts for much of my work. I have no sables left either, I use these for fine details in oil paint, and that destroys them, leaving me with none for watercolours....I must get a few artist WC tubes too, the box of pans don't really give a strong colour. ..........I must make a few bob to pay for all this!
Until then I will probably just buy the necessities..

2007-01-21T09:20:00.000Z

I went down to Cork for a few days. I took a wander around the lough, but saw nop carp, just two large eels and a LOT of ducks etc..A nice relaxing time was had, followed by a few hours Cod fishing on the way home, in the rain....It hasn't stopped all week!, the cod fishing was fun. I caught a few including a couple of four or five pounds which I kept for the table. (I put the others back). When the tide slackened off I was in-undated with crabs, stripping the bait in minutes so I quit and set off home early.
Yesterday I went into the studio and had another look at my portrait. It wasn't good. I have had to repaint the nose and mouth, alter the face line and do other remedial work. I don't know how I missed it earlier...I won't post a pic yet...I haven't taken one.
The weather is now improving, the high winds have dropped, the sun is out and the temperature is falling. We have had so much wind and rain since autumn it must be a record.
There hasn't been much chance of plien air painting anyway!

A work in progress...Narcisus at work again..

2007-01-16T19:17:00.000Z

I have started my piece for the Portugeese exhibition, The subject is to be hats or shoes. I decided to paint my own Hat....in situ! Not that I am a Narcisus or anything. I just like painting portraits occaissionally....and I'm a very cheap model!!

The painting is 30 inches by 24 Oil on Canvas. It is coming along quite nicely. The photo is quite poor though as it was taken under artificial light without a flash, but it gives the general idea.

I purposely did not do any work on the background or my clothing, this is because I am not sure wether I want to put my studio in or just frame my hat with a suitable colour. Added to the fact that until I decide this I do not want to paint my clothing and then have to repaint it due to the colours I was wearing. I may try to get more work done tomorrow, but I have quite a bit of running around to do before I go away thursday morning (at 3.00 am). This includes getting some bait for a bit of Codling fishing....I hope to do some Friday night before coming back to Dublin.

2007-01-13T00:49:00.000Z

I did some shopping today. I dropped into Kennedy's on Harcourt st and bought a few canvases and some paint to keep me going. Sadly my painting was still on the wall of the exhibition, with no red stickers in sight. It looked like the exhibition had been poor sales wise all round though. This evening I booked my flights to Tunisia for the festival in September. I now have to get busy on work for the exhibition in Portugal. I will be working in the studio tomorrow...
I was busy today though. I disposed of the tree that had blown down in the garden....3 trips in the van did the job. JOBS.... It never ends, there are always things needing to be done ... interfering with work and keeping me busy.
I wouldn't mind but I'm not even fishing!

Mind you I'm off to Cork for a couple of days next week...weather permitting I might do a nights Cod fishing for a change.

time is flying by.

2007-01-09T19:43:00.000Z

I can't believe it's the 9th already!
I have nothing done as such yet this year. I have an appointment for a medical checkup tomorrow but apart from that I have nothing organised yet. Although I was in the studio a couple of times I havent started painting anything yet....I havent even finished tidying the studio yet.

The strelitzia/birdofparadise seeds I planted just before Christmas have started sprouting up..I have over twenty seedlings so far. Not bad for my own seed, artificially fertilised in the conservatory last summer.
I will try to post later in the week when I have a bit more news, or at least maybe a painting or two to show you.

Happy New Year...

2007-01-01T18:34:00.000Z

it's 2007 already! Another year is over. It was an interesting, and somewhat successful year for me. My art did quite well, bringing more international recognition.
As someone I'd consider just an ordinary 'joe', I have done well. I have represented my country at international level both artistically (work) and as an angler (competitively). Yet I don't believe I am truly deserving, I have a tendency to self doubt artistically.....like most artists.
For the coming year I am going to have to try to use my success to increase my earnings a little more, the business end is sadly lagging behind the recognition of my work....
....buy now! while you can afford me!....

looking forward to 2007.

2006-12-28T10:40:00.000Z

I had a great Christmas. The 'flu eventually went away. I am now about to venture out to my studio again, I need to do a little spring cleaning.
I recieved my official invite back to the art festival in Tunisia, and I'm looking forward to it. I have already emailed my acceptance.
I have been outlining my goals for next year. I have decided I need to do some Irish landscapes for the American market. When I have some done I will try to organise another show in the US. I enjoyed my last one, and hopefully it will be profitable too. I want to work on a few ideas between now and the spring, but come spring I'm going to make a few trips around the country to paint a few plien air studies to work from. I also want to organise an exhibition of my african works this year so I'll have to work on that also. I'm looking forward to the new year. I think it will be a good one for me. I am going to try to keep my painting simple this year and not over analyze it. The quick simple Tunisian paintings worked well. My still life works always do and I keep them simple, so why am I having such difficulty elsewhere....I'm trying to achieve something I'm not ready for..I'm getting too 'arty' instead of doing what I do well.

I wish everyone a Happy New year, and I'll see you all in 2007.

2006-12-22T10:06:00.000Z

I am feeling a bit better again, I will have to go to my studio today, just to check for post though.
3 days to Christmas and loads of little jobs to do. I'm glad I didn't leave any commissions until the last minute!
I came across an old exhibition catalogue yesterday, from my first show in a public (not commercial) gallery, in 1996...ten years ago, time flies. It was a novelty to be paid to exhibit and not rely on sales to be asked back :lol: I must scan some of the illustrations in later, they were two colour reproductions....full colour was very expensive back then. I have one of those paintings left at home, all the others were sold after the exhibition..direct, no commission, It paid for another foreign painting trip!
I am organised gift wise.....I have been for ages. Even so I have lots to do and I am not going to get out fishing before the New Year I don't think. I must be getting better, I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms from the lack of fishing.

I am just going to wish you all all the best for the Holiday season and I'll see you again (virtually that is.) in the New Year. MERRY XMAS!

2006-12-18T20:46:00.000Z

I am still sufferring....I now have totally lost my voice with laryngitus or something similar. I did go and visit my studio earlier today though to check for mail etc. I found this along with bills in my mailslot..a lovely little watercolour Xmas present. It cheered me up.

I am full of aches and pains still so I don't expect to be painting this side of the new year with Christmas so close. I am almost to miserable to type this post, but I feel guilty not posting for long periods....even if I don't really have anything to post about! I will post again before Christmas so I won't wishh you all a good one yet.

2006-12-13T16:44:00.000Z

It has been another day of Gales and storm force winds. It must be nearly 3 weeks of almost constant gales by now. The weather has been terrible. I found it difficult to keep the van between the lines on the road coming home with the strong gusts. I sort of weaved my way home, and, it was hard work driving.
Today I got most of my little jobs done though. I need to do a few more things tomorrow, including pick up a dehumidifier to put into my studio. I think the studio needs drying out, there is a bit of dampness, also it should help dry the paint. I also have an angling club committee meeting tomorrow evening. I am busy busy busy, without getting much done....it's not exactly disorganised, but all the little chores stack up when you are laid up for a little while. Maybe Friday. (unless its good fishing weather)

2006-12-12T20:07:00.000Z

Yes, I'm sort of back. I was up in the studio on Saturday, but I've done very little work since. It has taken me a few days to recover from the weekend. I was due to go fishing today, but called it off, both due to the weather...gales and rain, and my not being in the best of health. I hope to get into the studio later in the week, but I have been working on designs for a wood cut in the meantime. It is more or less ready for the final sketch.
I really was knocked for six with the 'flu. Hopefully thats it for the year though, and I'll be fit and healthy for Christmas. I have a couple of little jobs to do tomorrow, and I may not get into the studio until late or not at all tomorrow. I am busy elsewhere on Thursday so Friday may be the first chance to get back into the studio, however I am not really worried as it is so close to christmas. I am not exactly likely to get stuck into anything particularly mind blowing between now and then anyway. It is a case of carry on experimenting for now.

I'm feeling better..

2006-12-08T21:36:00.000Z

I am not fully over the 'flu, but I'm feeling better. Obviously I have not done a lot of exciting things since my last post. I hope to go to my studio in the morning, I have some work to do.

I have the photos of the big Pike I caught on the 20th of November.

this is it not quite in my big net...it is lying in the water, resting before I picked it up to have the photo taken. With the net over it's head it lay quite calmly. I then picked it up and Noel took a quick snap...but he missed my head...

I'd quite like to go fishing soon, but I'd better wait a little while..

Poor me...

2006-12-03T07:00:00.000Z

I still have the 'flu. Ergo I'm not really able toregale anyone.....but I will be back soon...

...

2006-11-26T08:50:00.000Z

Dropping in...

2006-11-26T08:11:00.000Z

I have been steadily working away without producing much of note. I have a couple of bits & pieces on the go. I'm also working on a woodblock, I need a couple done for next year and I really need to figure out exactly what I want to do before I start cutting.
The weather is grey and wet, though it is early morning (8.00am) and it looks like it might be brighter today. I hope it stays that way for a few days I really hate the grey days.

I caught a nice pike today.

2006-11-21T19:39:00.000Z

I was out at Blessington with Noel. I had a fish of about 10 lbs within 2 minutes of starting...I was still setting up the second rod! I cast out the second rod, rebaited the first again and cast it out only to have another run on it while tightening up to the bait. I hooked the fish and after a spirited fight including a bit of tail walking landed it...21lbs weight....I didn't get another run all day, but I wasn't too dissapointed.
Noel hooked and lost one good fish but that was all.
It was nice to get a decent sized fish again.

Another week ended..

2006-11-19T23:46:00.000Z

I got very little done this week, although both paintings are ready to go to the gallery tomorrow. I managed to get into the art ireland exhibition for a few minutes but I didn't get time to go round the stands, just catch up with some friends. I'm spending the next few week-ends (between now and christmas) playing the big cahoona, you know the one in Red and ermine.....
I hope to get few bob put away towards next years trips.
I may start a couple of still-lives next week, the diptych I started isn't working out and I need to leave it for a while. It needs a fresh view.
I think if I start a still-life painting I may be able to take it a bit further than a full rendering of the objects. If not I will work on some winter landscapes in a week or two when the leaves have fully fallen. I will need to find some interesting trees. If I do the paintings might be interesting enough for me to be happy with them. I did a nice little painting of Galway Hookers during the week, it was quite abstract, worked in acrylic lain in by painting knife. I will put up a photo later in the week. I think I will sell the piece through ebay too, just to guage the interest in it as it is still a once-off painting and can only really be sold as a study unless I decide to do a series of works in the style, which at the moment is still only a possibility. I would like to move on from where I am, but I still think I should do it carefully. I have to remember that change is not always for the better and that the act of painting the subject should dictate the style and not the style dictate the painting.
I'm confusing myself now!!!...it's late. I really should be going to bed.

2006-11-15T14:54:00.000Z

It is a miserable dull wet day. There is no wind, heavy low cloud, heavy/steady rain and I'm miserable. I went up to the studio earlier but just couldn't get moving. I am now back home It is 2 pm and I need the light on to see the keyboard!
I went fishing to Maynooth fishery yesterday...the weather was much better..I caught 11 and lost a few more. I hooked and lost two double figure fish during the afternoon. The first one was almost beaten, I was considering in which gap to net it when the hook came out. At least I'd had 10 or 15 minutes fun with it. The second decided it was an exocet after I hooked it. It didn't run at all, it just leaped about 3 or 4 feet out of the water 9 or 10 times before the hook pulled/fell out. I was using small spider patterns (short tied) size 14's and although all fish were hooked solidly on these flies to two big fish had obviously been too heavy for the hook-holds. I was smashed up by another fish on the take, the only break I had all day though and lost a couple of fish earlier on skinny buzzers....none of which hooked and landed fish, which is why I switched to the spider patterns, the fish were not really interested in the skinnies.
I enjoyed my days fishing..and needed a break after the weekend carousing in 5star surroundings..It's hard work partying until 5am! even though you can fall into the lift to your suite. C'est la vie...

2006-11-10T09:21:00.000Z

Wednesday's fishing wasn't great...I got the only pike of the day and it was small. The fact that we were buzzed all day by the air-corp helicopters picking up and dropping off the army boys playing soldiers around the lake didn't help. The cost involved in these 'games' must be enormous. 4 choppers will burn a lot of fuel for a day and to be honest the lads could probably have run from a to b quicker than the whirlybirds were picking them up and dropping them off 3 or 4 hundred yards away....picking them up again and dropping them off at point a again half an hour later..
enough for now, I have to go...

2006-11-07T23:52:00.000Z

I have been busy without doing much. I spent Monday running around. I spent today packing and shipping a painting, also delivering another for a charity auction that I support every year.
Apart from that I have done some work on my current (the dyptich) but I have not really done anything to be happy about as I am a little lost with it.
I have done a little experimenting with the acrylic mediums, but I need to do a lot of evaluating befor I decide whether to carry on.
I am going fishing tomorrow. I phoned Noel this morning to find out if he had any plans for tomorrow--- he had-- he was going fishing, I wouldn't let him go on his own....well not when I want to go too!. We are going back to Blessington for more hardship. Hopefully we will find a few Pike this time. On thursday I have to organise myself for the weekend in Mt Wolsley, Carlow. 3 days...and nights,...in luxurious splendour. There is only one problem...no fishing.
I might take golf clubs and stroll around the championship golf course, I haven't played a round of golf in 3 years. It might be a little long for me though, and there is always the prospect of a little drive to the River Barrow for some pike fishing.

From the wilds of Connemara to still life paintings...

2006-11-04T22:07:00.000Z

I worked on the Connemara painting in the studio today. I have repainted the sky and I'm fairly happy with it now, I still think I need to put a warmer glaze on my mountains in the background though as they are just a little too far back. Apart from that I did some work on my diptych and then stopped due to a run of visitors...both bored and Interested ones.
The weather was bright and sunny today, but the temperatures have fallen. I need the heater on in the studio now. Soon the paint will be slow to dry too. It is near the time to start painting still-lifes again. I might do a series of small paintings so I can keep working on a number at a time allowing them time to dry. At least if I do a number of small still-lifes I can sell them a little cheaper and hopefully I may be able to earn a few bob from them in an area where my works can be sold a little cheaper. Still-life paintings are similar to studies in that I am painting what is in front of me much more realistically and I don't tend to drift abstract so much when painting either them or portraits. I cannot go down the 'painting a day' route...it takes me too long to paint one...lol. but I will try to do one or two a week in a smaller size over the winter. I have been invited over to Serbia next November, and I am hoping to go to Tunisia in September, all of which costs money, so I really need to try to get a head start on earning some...I will have to try to organise some exhibitions somewhere also. I have started working well again, I need to start selling a few too...
I bought a few more acrylics and acrylic mediums on Thursday, so I'll do a little experimenting with them over the next couple of weeks, with the idea of doing a series of more stylised/abstract works for something a little different. I prefer my more abstracted landscape paintings to those that are more realistic..they are more defined in a way, they are certainly more me. I don't want to become an 'Abstract' painter, I am a 'Painterly' artist, and wish to be seen as a painter, as much as an artist, and for this you really need to produce recognizable landscapes and still-lifes, concentrating on the brushwork and 'marks' as much as the actual painting. I believe this is an important part of my work and I am afraid of losing it if I go too abstract- or it might be that I am still afraid of the idea that many "abstracts" are just interior designs rather than art and do not represent anything other than eye-candy colour splashes which I feel gives abstract a bad name as an artform.

All that said I am still in a state of flux with my work. I am not the same as I was before the start of my health problems (pre 2000) and certainly not since 2004 after my second episode. I need to break away from my old comfort zones and start developing new ideas, my Tunisian experience has helped with this also, helping with new ideas and opinions. My work may need to loosen up a little to create more 'feeling' again. The recent works, those from Tunisia, worked well, these in the main were painted more loosely. This is another reason I want to try some small quick still-life paintings and acrylic experiments. I can do these without huge material costs, and if I am not happy with the results I can scrap them.

Busy, busy, busy...

2006-11-02T19:20:00.000Z

this is the painting so far.
I need to do more work on the sky, I have been moving it around already which is why it looks so messy. The painting is 24 inches by 30.

The scene is titled incoming tide, connemara, obviously it's a connemara scene..LOL.

I have to sign of now but I'll try to get back later.

I'm back again. I'm working on another painting of Lough Corrib too. This one is a diptych based on my study of Rabbit Island, it is in a wide landscape format. I am looking forward to seeing how it pans out, but it is on the back-burner while this one is coming along so slowly. I cannot really concentrate on two difficult paintings at once. Since both are using a lot of blue I don't want to get waylaid by one while working on the other...thats why I made a mess of the sky in this one...I thought I'd use up some blues, and painted over most of the sky before I realized it wasn't really working with the hills and I needed to mix a warmer tone.

I'm off to the Pub now for the 'Lads night out' so I'd better get showered and changed.

Early Christmas shopping...

2006-10-30T19:57:00.000Z

I have been busy today. I went shopping for my wife's Christmas presents. They are wrapped and hidden away, ready for the day. I am not normally this organised, but while I had the cash I put it to good use....added to the fact that I knew what she wants and knew where to get it. Now if I can get a few early shoppers up to the studio........
I wont be back in the studio tomorrow, and I didn't go today as it is a bank holiday here, not that it makes a lot of difference to me. I had hoped to get a lot more done with my Oil before I go fishing on Wednesday, but that wont happen now unless we decide not to go to Sligo in the morning. I'll have to be busy painting Thursday and Friday to catch up.
I am on a high at the moment, still feeling that I want to paint...not as frenetically as when I got back from Tunisia, but keenly all the same. The financial success also is a great incentive to work. Add the fact that I have 15 clean bright new canvases awaiting me in the studio I know that I can get stuck in if I want and produce. That is assuming the 'juices' start flowing....the world awaits my newest creations.....that reminds me, I must update my website/gallery with some new work as soon as I get it done....I may upload the Tunisian work anyway in the meantime..

things are looking up...

2006-10-29T14:25:00.000Z

I have the computor working again...for as long as it lasts....
I will nurse it along for a while. I have had a fairly good week this week, I started off on Monday with my finances at a low ebb, but by the end of the week I was 'safe' for another couple of months.....now any earnings before Christmas will be actual earnings and not needed for bill payments. I am sure a few other bills will appear though...they usually do.

I have been working on an oil painting, it is slow going...I had forgotten with the acrylics...but it is going well. I may try to photograph it during the week.

We hope to go to our cottage in Sligo on Tuesday, we haven't been up to it at all this year and we need to check up on it. I am seriously thinking of putting it on the market and liquidating the asset. It is on 2.5 acres with a stream bordering it, set in a sheltered mountain valley, it really is a lovely area but I can't afford to do up the cottage at the moment and it needs work doing on it.

PC problems......

2006-10-24T20:25:00.000+01:00

My PC. has crashed again...... I'm on a borrowed laptop. I fished a pike competition on Sunday and failed to catch. I have been busy, and I still didn't get to work on any paintings. I have been to the vets with one of the dogs. The groomers with both of them. Today I stayed at home and did some cleaning, tomorrow I will try to get some photos off my PC...if I can keep it going for long enough. I spent a full day taking photos and sorting out the balance ready for a disc for a gallery, then the PC crashed. I am hoping I can retrieve them before it goes again, I think there is a problem with the ram, the computer is 6 years old. 'till next time....

A busy week, and getting busier....

2006-10-18T15:25:00.000+01:00

I have been busy with more mundane tasks this week. Gallery visits, not to view but in an effort to organize exhibitions. I purchased some canvases paint etc. today, and as usual overspent! I now need to photograph my African works tomorrow and put them on disc for one of the galleries. I need to organise printing of cards and a catalogue of recent work (if I can afford it. I may try some bartering....) as I am out of business cards and in dire need of some kind of catalogue of work. More expense of course.
I have a couple of meetings for the angling club over the next few days also so I am going to be too busy to paint for this week. We have our bus outing for Pike fishing on Sunday too. I will be raring to go on the painting by Monday though. I may try to get some done on Saturday...at least I'll get some planning done.

2006-10-14T18:34:00.000+01:00

I did not do well on Owel for the Last two days of the season. Noel caught a few fish though! I rose lots but the only fish I caught were small. Many of the fish were coming short and just nipping at the flies. I tried everything to cure the problem, one fish between 3 & 4 lb came up 5 times and still didn't commit to the fly. I even tried dry fly to entice fish to actually take instead of swirling at the fly only to have them literally roll over the fly to drown it rather than take it in their mouth!!! EXASPERATING!!!
In the last hour of the final day, (I had returned one takeable fish after the first 10 minutes, only to find the fish adopted the previous days dalliances after) I only had a few small fish taken and about 12 others playing with the flies, so I put up two dries again. Within ten minutes I rose a good fish, struck him and pulled the hook out almost immediately...I'd forgotten how small the hook I was using was...and that was it for the year.
Oh well there is always the pike fishing and a few trips to the rainbow fisheries......
Now I need to get back to work.

It's Hot!.....not the weather, the painting..

2006-10-10T17:10:00.000+01:00

Here is the painting mentioned in the previous post. I have kept the foreground minimalist. I like the heat in this painting. The effect I wanted is definitely there. I am also happy with the tonal effect created between the distant mountain and the sky. I have not done any more to the other work yet though.

I won't be back in the studio now until Friday. I am fishing for the next two days, the last two of the trout season. We are spending them on Lough Owel. I hope the fish oblige, we decided against Ennel or Sheelin tomorrow as the forecast is for strong breezes and the bigger loughs might be a bit rough. Gales were forecast for this evening and tonight, but as yet they have not come, I hope they aren't around tomorrow.

Work in progress.....

2006-10-06T15:57:00.000+01:00

this one is about 31 iches by 29 inches, acrylic on canvas.
I am not sure about it yet though. I think the sea is too heavy, although I may just cut down the sky area as in the second photo.

Aside from this one I am working on another piece. I am happy with it as far as I have got. I now need to work on the foreground which I want to keep minimalist. This is goint to be the hard part......I will have the urge to do more.....

Tomorrow will see the resulting work, I hope! Tonight I am going to go back to this painting. I may just play around with it on the computer for an hour or so and experiment the lazy way.....just so I can be clear with what I want to do.

A pleasant days fishing on Lough Owel

2006-10-05T10:14:00.000+01:00

I enjoyed yesterdays fishing trip. We fished Lough Owel, mainly over towards the small pumphouse shore. I caught a lovely wild fish of 2.5lb within two minutes of starting. It turned out to be my best fish of the day, though I did come out of a bigger one. I ended up with 6 fish in total, two of them over 2lb (1kg) and although the fishing wasn't spectacular there was enough movement from the fish to keep interest high. I feel if there had been any natural fly on the surface we might have had a good day. Flies that caught were daddy-long-legs, olive bumble, lght olive bumble and a claret hopper. The only other fly I tried was a golden olive bumble but I felt this was too bright for the conditions (bright) so did not fish it for long. The weather was scattered showers, bright spells and a nice south westerly breeze, creating a good wet fly wave on the windward shore where we were fishing. Temperatures dropped in the evening though ending sport early.

Another painting....and more fishing

2006-10-03T15:37:00.000+01:00

Here is the latest painting acrylic again. This time I concentrated on the sea. The colours and the way the surface developed wind lanes created the interest. I may need to do more work with it. The other painting is still sitting there, the sea is similar but more heavily painted and the landscape is more defined. It needs a lot more work though.
I am going fishing again tomorrow. I haven't decided where yet but we will probably end up on Lough Owel, just to allow Noel to find a few fish hopefully. We only have another couple of trips before the season closes, tomorrow and then two days next week. Hopefully we will get a few fish.

2006-09-29T20:30:00.000+01:00

Noel and I went to Ennell again yesterday. There was not a lot happening though, I did manage to move four fish, two of which took the fly, both were undersized though (one only just at 13.5 inches again). All bar one fish came to a daddy-long-legs, the one that actually took came to a dry fly. In hindsight I should have stuck to dries for the rest of the day, but the fact that I was moving fish with a top dropper makes it difficult. The other fish came to a small claret hopper.
Today I spent some time in the studio. I have another painting almost finished, but I'm not 100% sure about it, it still needs work. I will look at it again tomorrow.

Two more paintings....

2006-09-26T18:57:00.000+01:00

I did this painting (30 inches by15) in a similar way to the other palm tree. Loose with painting knives and charcoal. It has worked in the way the first didn't. The colour balance in the photo is not great, due mainly to the fact that the photo had to be taken in the artificial lights of the studio. I put the rising moon in the painting, it was one of my memories from Monastir, watching the moon rising redly as the sun set. The advantage of timing, a full equinoxial moon and close to the equator. The moon also reflectsthe golden colours of the dates and the yellows of the palm frond stalks. This created a nice balance of colour while allowing me to keep the height of the palms prominent.

The second painting is the one I had started yesterday. It is very reminiscent of one I painted in Monastir, it is 30 by 20 inches.

Both paintings are acrylic again, I may start some oils on Thursday. Tomorrow I have a business meeting in the morning and I am heading up north for the afternoon so painting is not possible.

Painting fast and furiously....

2006-09-25T19:46:00.000+01:00

It is going very well, another one finished, and I am well into another, the plan has been done for it and my darks are blocked in, tomorrow will see it finished also I think.

This painting is different in that I liked the shapes that the coast formed as much as for the landscape. It creates a bold impact by design without any brush work in the painting. To be honest it did not take a lot of work, it came together very easily. I needed to do a small alteration in my greens but that was all. The aloes in the center may need a little work as they seem to lean to the left in the photo, so I will look at them again tomorrow.
The view is looking towards Monastir from the headland with the prayer hut on it. The aspect is looking from a height down and accross the coastline. I am glad of the acrylics at this stage, the fact that they are drying so fast is allowing me to work at pace while the output is good. I will start some oils when I reach the stage of having to work at ideas and paintings, but I'll stick to the acrylics for now lest the flow cease. I am driven to work at the moment. Today I suddenly realised it was late and I hadn't stopped for food.....I was engrossed in the work, a feeling I haven't had in nearly 3 years, since before my health problems. It's a nice way to be. Happy at work, and happy with the work. Long may it last.

Ennell is difficult as usual, but I have an enjoyable day

2006-09-24T11:28:00.000+01:00

Lough Ennell was kind to me. I had plenty of action from the start with fish moving almost immediately and keeping interest high. Most of the fish in the morning turned under the flies or followed them without taking but I moved eight in total in the first four hours so I was kept keen and alert. I eventually got one to take the fly and he turned out to be 36cm long, the limit was 35.5cm......just over instead of the usual just under size!!. . We moved area for the afternoon and I moved seven more fish, catching four of them, 32cm,34cm, 34.5 cm, 35cm, all just under the 14 inch limit.....aaaaaaaaaarrrggh! I finished early so I could get back to Dublin Airport in time to meet/collect Christine who's flight from Kuala Lumpar got in at 7.30 pm. so I wasn't at the weigh-in ( I left my fish with the weighing steward) after the competition officially ended at 6.30. There were only 9 fish weighed in for the competition so I came in the top 9. Obviously with 30 to qualify, I did. As for the successful flies, olive bumble, golden olive bumble, daddy-long-legs, green bumble & sooty olive bumble....yes it was one of those days, I caught on everything, nearly everyone else caught on nothing! That's life, and fishing for you, sometimes you have the luck sometimes you don't. Interestingly enough the bigger fish were turning under my flies rather than taking them though...but at least I was managing to get fish to move all day, many anglers didn't see any fish at all, some fishing within 20 feet of our boat all afternoon!! (watching me hook up on a regular basis).....OH...I hate that!

Two work-in-progress paintings..

2006-09-21T18:54:00.000+01:00

Two more works, but both are works-in-progress.

This first is an experiment, painted in acrylic with painting knife over a fixed charcoal sketch. I have also used gold dust and sand to give interest in the foreground. Somehow it is just not me. I don't know if I will develop it, however I like the loose work on the Palm fronds. I may need to loosen up the painting on the other areas.

the second work is acrylic again.....I'm making good use of them Francis!....the sky needs work.
I am finding the acrylic good for getting my ideas down fast, I will be doing a lot more work-ups in the acrylic, and will probably do the finished pieces in Oils. I will be doing a lot of sketching tomorrow as I have collected my photos this evening and I want to produce some ideas while the landscape is still fresh in my mind.

On another note I will be fishing the national Qualifiers on Saturday. I don't think I have really much of a chance though. I have had no practise at all. Added to the fact that the competition is on Lough Ennell and we have had high winds all week, the forecast is also quite bad for saturday, I think the water will be a little coloured and not really suited to the areas I normally fish. However we will see what saturday brings. I cannot wait for the weigh-in though, the competition ends at 6.30pm. and Christine's flight gets in at 8pm, and it's a 90 minute trip back to the airport. It will be a case of hand in my fish, hop in the car and head off.

The first Tunisian painting off the easel

2006-09-20T17:47:00.000+01:00

This is an acrylic, 30 inches by 15 inches. Although it is not totally finished, there is not much more to be done to it other than some finer detailing on the prickly pears. I will leave this until another time though. I need to collect my photographs before I get too detailed as my studies only give an impression of the greener pears that I painted. I have photographs of the ripening pears though, and can use these to finish off.
I am happy enough with this first work, it is similar to my Algarvian pieces, but the coastal landscape is very similar.

Oh no...the holiday is over...

2006-09-18T18:42:00.000+01:00

Today I taught a new Art class this morning. It went quite well. After that, I had to deal with paper work and bills. I recieved my electricity bill...not too bad, and another final demand for water rates from the Council....I wouldn't mind if I had water in my studio, but I don't and have informed them so on at least 4 occaisions!!
I then had to go to the bank to lodge cheques, go shopping for food etc for the house, Christine is still away. Now my day has gone, and I still have to buy art materials and organise the developement of my photos from Tunisia.
It will take all tomorrow morning to do that. I may get into the studio in the afternoon.

I am back from Africa....

2006-09-17T15:58:00.000+01:00

...Tunisia is a beautiful country. I was met by an exquisite sunrise....this was followed by an arial display by the migrating swallows as they dipped over the hotel swimming pool, getting a drink. It is amazing how you leave Home having just noticed the lack of summer birds and find them again in North Africa. It makes you feel right at home. Speaking of which, the organisers of the Art festival, and most particularly Nejib, did just that. I was met at the airport and greeted like a long time friend, and now I know I am one.

All the Artists I met helped create a very pleasant festival. I have come away both stimulated and with a new sense of confidence and purpose. I have at last shaken off the doubts about my work and creativity, I know I am able to do what I want to do, I know what I want to do has relevance and also that I am like most artists, rarely completely happy about my work. For any of my contemporaries, hello, thankyou for your friendship and I will be in touch soon. I learnt much from my colleagues, all who had different views on our world, we see the same things in differing ways, but we all found a common goal:- our art, and the need to create art.
I must admit, my lack of linquistic skills was a little off-putting at first, but with the linquists going out of their way to translate for those of us that required it, and the fact that my long forgotten school days french came back over time made conversation interesting and inspiring.
Artists struggle to survive the world over was ouir common theme! I also spent time with other stragglers the second week, and when we slowly shrank as a group I came to the realisation that we were more than just a group, we were friends......a pleasant thought.

A little about the programme...It was wonderful, but a little short, the second week allowed much more creativity and dialogue. I think this is being rectified for next year, four or five days makes a world of difference when creating art. The organization left nothing to chance...even down to the producing of sea-sickness pills prior to a short boat trip...yes every little detail was considered. After the main festival was over, those of us left were looked after and checked for any problems daily, a doctor called when one of our number was unwell, ferrying to the airports (even at 4am.!), and we were all wished goodluck the evening before our departures by members of the organising committee. Above and beyond duty!
I will leave you with a few photos of Tunisia for today.

I am tired and jet-lagged.

Until tomorrow or Tuesday..

2006-09-01T22:37:00.000+01:00

This time tomorrow I will be in Tunisia, so I probably won't post until I return on the 18th. I am fully organised and looking forward to starting work. It is going to be an interesting experience working with other artists again. I will tell you all about it next time I post......BYe.

2006-08-29T22:02:00.000+01:00

3 days to go before my flight.....
I have bought the paint etc. I needed....I got a shock, it's a while since I bought cadmium yellows...the price is high, I'd forgotten that they were series4 in the winsor & newton artists colours. I am fully organised now, I just finished packing. Camera, paints, brushes, palette, all padded and surrounded by clothes in the case. I am a little worried that my palette will get broken, it is a lovely aged mahogany one and I'd hate to have to get a new one. It's like a comfortable pair of shoes....it is moulded to me..and I hold it like a second skin.

here is a photo of my palette...on a very untidy high level computer desk that I use for my paints, jars, dirty rags, brushes, pliers (for stuck paint tube tops) and all other sundry items. The lower area that the tower/printers etc would normally sit in is full up with sketches and drawings etc. I find the desk ideal because if there are children in the studio(with parents only) I can lay the palette on the keyboard/mouse-pad tray and slide it in under...the result no enquiring fingers in wet oil paint...LOL. I am happy enough...and surprisingly organised!
All I need to do before I go is pack my toothbrush....oops I forgot- I packed a new one.
All I need to do is mow the grass, wash the dogs and all the other chores that need doing before a two week dissapearance.....

2006-08-26T21:38:00.000+01:00

I went to the fishery at maynooth today to help out with the clubs Kids competition. It was HARD work!..I took hold of two total beginners about 10 or 11 years old and taught them to both fly cast and fly-fish...both were doing great after a few hours. Only 8 fish were caught, the biggest at 48 cm was caught on a dry fly, (klinkhamer) by one of my two charges....all his own work too, casting and hooking included....mind you the fish when it took carried on going and hooked itself...cest la vie...the outcome one very happy and committed angler added to the ranks!!
We finished off with a Bar-B-Que and prize giving....all 24 anglers got a prize, even though my second charge had to be called up from the lake to collect his, he was still fishing away trying to catch his first fly caught trout.....
It is great to bring new blood to the sport, many of the anglers in the Kids competition are friends kids, nephews, grand-kids, grandkids friends etc. who come from a non fishing background too. All in all a rewarding day.

2006-08-25T11:58:00.000+01:00

8 days before my Tunisian trip....I've still to get fully organised. I am fiddling around, Lazyitis is a big problem! I'm not motivated to do much of anything, as I'm working outside the studio for these two weeks.... I'm doing holiday cover...... The timing is perfect, a week & a half paid employment prior to my galivanting off....Something always turns up.... It must be the fact that I'm lucky...
But I am totally knackered after a days work. I'm left with no energy for anything else...
I will try to organise myself over the weekend...