John Morris Irish Artist

Check out John's website. I have viewed his art at Irish galleries and, as is usually the case, the paintings are better than the web images. Nevertheless, the site captures the essence of his work. There is a nostalgic aspect to his beach scenes, and yet, they are a never changing scene. These could be from my youth even though they are current images. The sound of the sea and the breeze and the calls of children are conjured up for me, as I look at John's paintings.

John says "My paintings are about light and the effects of light on objects such as figures, water landscapes; they are about minute colour changes"

The site is http://johnmorrisartist.com/

On the Road to Dingle

This is a studio painting (oil 9x12 on linen).

Some of the mountain chains on the Dingle Peninsula have no official name. I think that this is Stradbally Mountain, part of a long spine down the center of the peninsula, on the way towards Conor Pass.

The painting is from a visit home to my daughter, living in Tralee, from photographs taken on the move while driving to Dingle.

This is me (well-someone-bad likeness) at work in August 2008 on the rocky shoreline at Doolin, Couty Clare, Ireland.

This is a magnificent place to paint, provided you securely anchor everything down against strong, sometimes gale force winds blowing in off the Atlantic. The chances of a good soaking are also high, but then, shortly afterwards, out will come the sun and dry you off. Actually the stormy skies make for more stimulating images, anyway.

The famous Cliffs of Moher are in the background, by the way.

Doolin Cows

These cows appeared to me to be waiting for their chance at the Big Time as perfect artist's models.

This is my effort for the recent (First) Noblesville Paintout, held 4th through 6th June. The event was a great success and very well managed. I enjoyed participating. The overall winner in the oils section was Jerry Smith, whose work I admire.

For my part, I broke all the rules and forgot almost everything of what little I have learned about plein air painting, in my zeal to get this done.

Primary rule is speed. A plein air painter is in trouble if the work is not close to being finished around the three hour mark. As an absolute, six hours to complete ought to be the limit. This does not include, perhaps, some touch up time in the studio.

I started work at my chosen location 9.30 am and worked to 3.30 pm with a half hour break. Bad enough (too long) you might say, but I came back the next morning and spent four more hours before considering the work complete.

Anyway, look at the progression. Needless to say I didn't figure in the prizes or Mentions. Having said that-the main thing is I enjoyed creating the painting and enjoyed the showing on Saturday afternoon. As a bonus, I sold a painting afterwards. That image is also attached-a studio painting Doolin Cows from a visit to Ireland in 2008

Three stages of a 24"x18" oil painting (cotton on masonite), just completed. This is from a badly judged exposure setting photograph I took in Marlay Park-a very popular 300 acre public park in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

The demise of this great tree fascinated me at the time and, while I have made previous efforts to create a painting from it, this is my most "complete" effort. I had great difficulty with the tonal values because of the over exposure. This difficulty reinforces my belief in plein air painting, when, even if the painting is not a success, there is still authentic color notation from which a studio painting can be created.

Fallen Might-Marlay Park, Dublin, Ireland