New Series: Still Life

A series of small paintings about observation. All the information required to make the painting lies before me. My job is to look at how light renders the object and recorded it using brush and paint. I sketch a small outline in white chalk for positioning. I finished this series last year. The originals are now available to buy.

The Creative Process: Portuguese Gardens

The surrounding gardens of a hotel provided the inspiration for a playful series of images using the seemingly random layout of trees and shrubs. The lack of formality lead to some unusual juxtapositions of shape and colour. Initially a series of collages, I really enjoyed introducing a looser style when applying the paint for the foliage and flowers which is contrasted with the almost flat background.

The more time I spent amongst the gardens the more I wanted to put down the shapes and colours I was seeing. The bright Mediterranean sunlight gave the foliage sharp edges and beautifully contrasting colours against a brilliant blue sky. Despite the deep shadows I began to see the final images as flat - almost like a stage set, where the scenery has been wheeled into place, which of course meant that anything could go anywhere - the freedom to compose the final paintings with no regard to formal notions of making it real. When I returned to the studio at home I made some quick drawings in a notebook - exploring different ways of making the paintings. The collages that I eventually made from the sketches hold all the information I needed to make the final paintings which are all about colour, using basic shapes nothing too sophisticated - overall plant shapes reduced to a graphic shape.

The original series of Portuguese Gardens is available to buy here (click through) and prints are available to buy here (click through).

NEW SERIES: PORTUGUESE GARDENS

Portuguese Gardens

The surroundings gardens of a hotel provided the inspiration for a playful series of images using the seemingly random layout of trees and shrubs. The lack of formality lead to some unusual juxtapositions of shape and colour. Initially a series of collages, I really enjoyed introducing a looser style when applying the paint for the foliage and flowers which is contrasted with the almost flat background.

All original pieces from this series, using acrylic on board, are available to buy from this website through this link here. 

If you would prefer to see the originals, please contact me at Dave@davidlyonart.co.uk to arrange a viewing.

The Moon, The Lake, The Tree & The Boat - Acrylic on Board

This is interesting and completely dumbfounded Catriona. She couldn’t believe it when we returned from this holiday in December 2012 and saw the series of paintings and notes that I'd completed in the studio over a month or so before we'd left.

"I made The Moon, The Lake, The Tree & The Boat a week or two before I observed the very same combination of shape and colour whilst on holiday at a fishing loch in Northumberland which was closed down for the winter. One particular night it had been snowing and the loch had begun to freeze. We were walking Oscar around the top of the loch. I stopped and turned to look at the full moon reflected in the water - and there was the image I'd made before I'd left. The Moon, the loch, the trees and an upturned rowing boat. Okay, the tree wasn't red but rather oddly the predominant colour of the estate woodwork (lodge doors, cottage doors, wood trims) was bright crimson".

Here are her photos and this is the final piece, the original, which we still have at home.

 

 

Work in Progress: Applecross, Wester Ross, The Highlands

Using photographs and memory I've been building up a collection of images in a sketchbook using various techniques - collage, acrylic transfer techniques - around my recent trip to Applecross. The photos evoke a rich sense of place and history. It's an unspoilt coastline, no industry to speak of apart from tourism on a small scale - every view is vast and open, huge skies and rugged mountains, endless coast with views as far as Harris and Lewis. I also had inside knowledge thanks to the expertise of our 'guide' Iain MacRae [my brother-in-law who was born there] whose colourful descriptions of local characters and the life they had, began to play upon my imagination. I plan to evolve the sketches into larger scale works using a variety of media but mostly painting I think and then of course find a venue to exhibit. 

Where to next? Inside my sketchbook

I’ve had a busy time the last few weeks but it's time to get back into the studio.

My garden is often a source of inspiration. Having noticed a decline in the number of small birds visiting recently (which has been widely reported) I set about making some scribbly sketches with a view to reinterpreting them as larger pieces. I found they naturally fell into seasons depending on the coloured background - the blues and purples referencing the colder months, yellows and greens the warmer. I think the deep reds and oranges are Autumn. Simple colour psychology.

I wanted the simple bird shapes to denote the absence of the bird rather than a presence - a ghostly silhouette. There is also a fox that makes an appearance but he too has been absent.


North Leeds Life Review: October issue

North Leeds Life: October issue: Carole Carey-Campbell and Brendan Campbell visited the studio in August. We discussed art, music and what's happening in Leeds. With thanks to the team at North Leeds Life for this editorial piece on my show at The Atrium Gallery, Leeds.

From the Archives: Exit Series - Acrylic on Boards – 2001

Exit - The Fan

Exit - The Shadow 

Exit - Dead Flowers

The “Exit” series was made in an attempt to capture feelings about the horror of 9/11 prompted by a newspaper photograph. The three paintings (which I see as a triptych when hung) use deeply textured, monochromatic acrylic with found objects embedded and attached to the surface. 

The Atrium Gallery Exhibition - Leeds

My art show at The Atrium Gallery has been booked for two years. It's difficult to obtain premium space to exhibit art in the Leeds area so I'm really pleased and grateful that the selection panel at St. James's agreed to show this series.

Due to the nature of the venue there are restrictions on the type of images that can be displayed, so no sex, glamour, religion, violence, death or politics. Fortunately at the time of submission, I'd been working on some very colourful, optimistic flower images.

Upon securing the exhibition site it was decided that I should work towards filling the space with images based around the initial idea. So making larger versions of the initial six that were chosen to publish as greeting cards seemed a logical step.

The larger paintings took six months to complete, each one in succession. Some are truer to the original sketches than others but the fact that I was using a different medium - acrylic - meant that the colours probably wouldn't be as intense as the originals - oil pastel and crayon.

The smaller paintings followed and I was keen to capture the looseness of the scribbles that I'd drawn which reference the original series. I'll have the notebook with me at the Private View on 7th August so that I can demonstrate what I'm talking about. All in all a busy 18 months so I'm hoping the show will look as good as I think it will and be good publicity for Yorkshire Cancer Centre. Let's hope we can raise funds for a much needed cause (25% commission from my sales will go to Yorkshire Cancer Centre).

Head Series - Acrylic on Board and Acrylic on Canvas 2012 -2013

I’m aware that, at the moment, my original art appears to be colourful and bright. Here is the “Heads” series to contradict what you’ve seen so far. These are painted on acrylic on board and canvas; a couple of these, which I display at home, created a lot of interest at the recent Roundhay Open Artists' Studio event in April.

"Late 2012/early 2013 I produced the “Heads” series, whereby I painted one head per day without reference to sketches or subject matter. I wanted to paint the same thing everyday but the results are very different over time. A definite identity became apparent as each head emerged. As to who they are, I have no clue".

Heads Series, Acrylic on Board and Acrylic on Canvas 2012 - 2013