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Its that time of year again – from 7th to 17th August 2025 – Kilkenny Arts Week.

Running concurrently is the Thomastown Creative Arts Festival and the AKA – Alternative Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Note in your diary – More later.

I’m doing a bit of reading, these evenings, trying to plug some of the gaps in my knowledge of art.  My particular interest at the moment is Impressionism. This quote sticks in my mind – ‘every landscape painter inevitably becomes a painter of light’ (i).  I don’t think I had fully realised this, until I read it. 

For my own part, my own special interest is in painting water. Now I see, it is not the water that intrigues me, but the light on the water!  Water reflects light better than anything else. Why did I not realise that I was a painter of ‘light’ all the time?

Now that I understand this, I am even more enthusiastic about painting the landscape. I just thought I’d share this. 

The painting above is 60x60cm, part of my Canary Island series.

(i) Frouke van Diijke in Clouds and Light.

Winter Studio Sale …… I have too many paintings in stock at the moment, its as simple as that. I am selling many of them at half the exhibition price (to personal callers only). Do pop around if you’re in the area, but maybe ring first – to be sure I’m at home. Stoneyford, Co Kilkenny.

I am a representative watercolour landscape artist, but I am painting exclusively in acrylic at the moment. Why so? Well, I want to paint big and a little more abstract, and when you get to larger sizes in watercolour, you begin to meet problems, especially when framing up.

I had painted a few small acrylics over the summer, these went well. Then, I started to ramp up the sizes. I went for 70x50cm. The subject chosen was a lake, and it was to be a minimalistic scene, with the only real detail being some marker buoys and a beacon. 

I immediately began to appreciate the issues of painting big in acrylic. The one big advantage – quick drying – became a big challenge. I started with a grey sky, hoping to blend it nicely, but the paint was drying too fast, so I had to think again. 

I bought some slow drying medium, this helped. However the main lesson was to work fast. I learned that it is good to carefully plan the process, choose the colours you need, get the place ready and then work furiously until the blending is done. I think it is a good idea to have a little more paint than you need because the time it takes to find/open the tubes is time better spent on the blending process itself. Leftover paint can be used to prime the next canvas!

To get the place ready, I laid an old throw on the floor, so that I didn’t have to worry about splashes, and I laid the canvas flat on the floor, on this.  I used a couple of plastic food packaging trays to mix the paint. I used some of the slow drying medium and a large brush. The colours chosen were – white, cerulean blue, burnt umber, a little ultramarine and a small bit of crimson. I painted the sky and the lake together each a mirror of the other, with a patch of the sky blue reflecting in the water. Working quickly, it was much more strenuous that I had imagined. 

Next I painted the distant shore, hills, and islands. I did this on a large easel. I found it is important to mix the colours in the tray, as it is not easy to mix them on the canvas (with watercolour – you can and should mix them on the paper). I used the same colours, darker, with a hint of blue for the distant hills and a hint of green for the near shore, and greener for the islands. Lastly I painted in the beacons and buoys, and the ripples on the water, this was more detailed, but considerably easier for me. I found the business of creating a smooth blend across the whole 70cm the most challenging part.

I was pleased that the painting was accepted for An Chead Tine Annual exhibition, running until the 8th November on the mezzanine in Dunnes Stores in Kieran St., Kilkenny. It is called Benjamin Rock.

I have since started an even bigger piece!

The summer months are busy with exhibitions, it can be tiring. What do you do at the exhibition? If you are viewing, it can be interesting to see the work presented, especially if there are a number of artists showing, and you can chat with the artists (who will be happy to chat to you!), then head off for a coffee. 

If you are exhibiting, chatting is good. However, not all chats end up as sales! Also, there are long gaps during the day – no one to chat to, so what do you do. 

I don’t read much. I have decided to pass the time painting. A number of positives come out of this – it is a demonstration of your work and the techniques you use, it validates your work and starts great chats. People are genuinely interested. Most of all, remembering the reason we paint at all, it helps to pass the time. I have put a few of these in the space above the blog. Small pieces (watercolour), taking one or two days each (in between chats).

This year in addition to painting at the exhibitions, I have been running a little experiment. I have created a number of ‘sets’ of paintings – same scene – painted in three different mediums, watercolour, acrylic and oil. My findings (not robust enough for publication in an academic journal) are as follows : (I) There is an underlying feeling that oil paintings have more value than other mediums, (ii) when push comes to shove, most people cannot tell the difference between an acrylic painting and an oil painting, and (III) the majority liked the watercolour best. Now, what to make of that?

The ‘old masters’ painted in oil and so it has a pedigree.   Acrylic is a relatively new medium. For me, it is cheaper, and easier to use (because it dries quicker) – I prefer it, and my little piece of research shows that the average person (and quite a few artists) cannot tell the difference. So it begs the question……

Some artists will point to the fact that because oil stays ‘wet’ longer its is easier to work and rework, blend and so on. Other ‘benefits’ are also cited. Ok, maybe. Personally, I don’t think you should rework a painting, you should be clear about what you are going to do from the start, then just do it.  That’s the the way watercolour artists go about it!

Regarding watercolour, it seems to have become a niche. Galleries and major exhibitions (eg RHA) don’t include watercolours in their exhibitions – I challenge you to prove otherwise. I have been around the country and that is how it is! 

Yet – when asked at my exhibition, without prompting, most people chose the watercolour as their favourite painting in the set of three. 

So where does the future lie for me. Should I continue to work in the niche, even though opportunities to exhibit are limited? Should I move across to oils or the cheaper (but just as effective acrylic). Should I go with the flow? We’ll see.

Anyway, I will be doing some painting in acrylic over the winter. My daughter has asked me to paint a large piece for her kitchen, it is too big for watercolour…… it will have to be acrylic.  I could do it in oils but I can’t see the point of the extra hassle. In fact I will do a few, so that she can have a choice. I will post them up on my website, perhaps in the spring. 

In the meantime, enjoy the coming period of transition from summer into autumn, get out and about, feel the fresher morning air in your lungs, glory in the parade of colour that nature has in store for us, and above all be inspired.

And stock up on winter fuel!

June ended and July started with the Lines of the Land exhibition (An Chead Tine) in Kilkenny. I was delighted that my painting – Baunreagh, Winter –  was selected. The painting is executed in acrylic, not my usual medium, so this was something of an experiment for me. I was at the opening, and the painting was very well received. This was a great boost for me.   The exhibition is full of great art, much of it abstract – the brief mentions ‘abstracting the landscape’ – it is interesting to see how people have responded to this. It is well worth a visit.

Lately I have been painting in acrylic and in oils, just for a change. Always trying to find a new direction, trying to get a different feel. 

I have two exhibitions of my own coming up – note for your diary. On the August Bank Holiday weekend, my exhibition at the Gallery in Portumna Castle opens. I will be there myself throughout the weekend. I will have many scenes in watercolour of Lough Derg and its surrounds, some I showed previously and some new ones. I will be also continuing with my experiment – ‘You decide’ where I will present the same scene in watercolour, acrylic and oil. I am interested to hear from visitors which they prefer, and also to see if people can tell the difference between acrylic and oils (I usually can’t), and what kind of perceptions people have about each. The exhibition continues for the whole month of August (2024). The title of the Exhibition is ‘Low Tide and No Tide’.

On 8th of August, Arts Week begins in Kilkenny.  I have been exhibiting at the Concert Hall, Thomastown for the past few years, and will be back there again this year. In Thomastown we do our own thing under the TCAF24 banner (Thomastown Creative Arts Festival). A great committee and a great bunch of artists. Im always proud to be part of this. I need to mention AKA also (the Alternative Kilkenny Arts ) without them, the whole Arts Week experience would be dry and meaningless, they bring life to it by creating opportunities for local artists especially, visual, musical and other. Many feel (I do) that the official Arts Weeks has lost its relevance, AKA has stepped in to add a bit of jizz to the proceedings.  However, I think there might be changes afoot!

My exhibition is called ‘Low Tide / HighTime” and will feature watercolours only. I am working with the low tide theme this year, I love to paint the coast at low tide especially, because the wet sand is especially interesting, as it is full of colour and reflections. Also, I love the sea.

With both of these exhibitions, when I am in attendance, I will have my haggle box with me. What’s in the box – come and see!

I am chuffed, of course, that my painting (titled ‘Gold Creek’) won first place in an art competition, last month. Thanks to those who put pressure on me to enter, and to all of those in the community that offered their good wishes on my win. 

The competition was national, organised by the Active Retirement Association. I was qualified to enter….. The standard was good, mostly oils, and I was pleased that one of the few watercolours won out. I have been wondering lately, if there is a bias against watercolour (out there) so it was a welcome boost. 

I am a little concerned, however, that it puts me firmly in the amateur category, whereas I would like to be taken seriously as an artist. Ok I am an amateur, but I put a lot of time and effort into it!

Anyway I am happy to be able, through this win, to promote the value of being active and of expressing yourself through art (of all sorts) when the time comes to finish the nine to five. 

I think most people throw a wobbly, when they suddenly realise that the world (office, school, shop) carries on without missing a step, when they make their exit. To be so important and integral to the working of the mechanism one day, and of no relevance the next ….. well, it is difficult to come to grips with it. To have skills, knowledge and contacts in your field, and to find they have no real value in the end, it can be difficult. And it can be difficult to reinvent yourself.

The truth is, I believe, that we can actually gain greater importance, and more relevance when we throw off the yoke of the nine to five. We have such great freedom, if we choose to use it, to follow our dreams and to lead others towards their own dreams. We have more time for loved ones, who are infinitely more important than workmates, and the skills we built over a lifetime, can now be brought into play in pursuit of greater goals, than profit margins and the agendas of people who mistakenly think that they are important.

I will be showing the painting during Arts Week (August 8th – 18th, 2024) as part of my exhibition ‘Low Tide/High Time’ in the Concert Hall in Thomastown. Do come along.