Pen and Inklings

There’s something about pen and ink that makes it very satisfying to use.  I love pens, but they have to have black ink.  Not blue, blue will not do – don’t ask me why, I just don’t know. The mark of ink on paper is a thing of beauty to me.  Whenever I get a

Shaking the dead by the Finger

styx In this painting , I used ink, some acrylic and filler.  I tend to use a lot of this as an impasto, it mixes well with acrylic and gives a nice surface for painting on using inks etc.  Originally this painting was called St Michan’s, after the Church in Dublin, where I spent my birthday shaking

Altered art book page 18 Heaviness is not always Metal

Continuing my Altered art book with page 18, I am continuing with the ‘junk’ theme.  On page 17 I looked at the connoctations of the word ‘junk’, exploring drugs and  assemblage (disgarded stuff used to evoke memories).  On this page is an image of a hand made machine.  I don’t know what it is, I

Scratching the Surface and other Crevices

I managed to get a new scanner today, so we’ll see how these images come out……  Given that its one that also prints and photocopies, I’m not expecting great things. Mmmm, thought so, as I expected, not a good result.  This image is very large though, I may have to shrink it or try to

Altered art book: page 14 Helsinki not ducked nor flinched from

‘Helsinki’ ‘And they’d duck and flinch’ This page really stumped me!  Why had I chosen those words?  What did I know about Helsinki?  Why was I attracted by this word?  I had no alternative but to bite the bullet and follow the words I had chosen a couple of years ago.  When I chose the

Altered art book page 13 A deadly reminder’

    page-13-altered book   The chosen words are: – ‘He listened to his father breathing’ ‘And made plans for that lonliness’     The Egytians made plans for their  death.  They left nothing to chance.    Sometimes a whole lifetime was dedicated to their own rememberence:   Egypt is full of these reminders.     page13-skeleton

Altered art book: page 12 By the light of the Silvery Moon furtively

My scanner is now out of action.  It was playing up the other day, now it’s completely packed in.  I have  had to take a photo of these pages, with not much success. but anyway ……. Page 12, the words chosen were: – ‘He hid his own fears and wishes and only took them out

Altered art book: page 11 Walk a life in my shoes

The words I picked out were; – ‘They walked through their childhood’ The idea of walking through childhood is of course associated with memories: nostalgia for what has been.  My immediate thought was childhood toys, until the shoes hit me that is.  How many pairs of shoes do we go through in life I wonder?