Diarmuid Kelley's new show at Offer Waterman Gallery

Yesterday I saw a show of new works By Diarmuid Kelley in his gallery in Chelsea.
I have been aware of Kelley's work for a while, and I especially liked his portrait at the BP show two of years ago (this is an account of the sittings for that painting by his model).
I enjoyed the show very much. I found every picture beautifully painted, the unfinished areas well integrated in the composition, the wide tonal range and narrow colour range extremely appealing.

My favourite painting was probably this one, called "Justus Van Meestraeten (Uglow your way and I'll go mine)".


I liked the simple symmetrical composition, the grey-green-pink harmony, the pencil marks. I think many painters who have studied in London in the past thirty years have to take into account Uglow's legacy, and this is Kelley's response.






Here is the "Portrait of Justus van Meestraeten" by Anthony Van Dyck which provided the main title of the work. I have read on this article how Van Dyck is one of Kelley's favorite artists for the elegance of his paintings.

Congratulations to Diarmuid for his sales: yesterday twelve of the sixteen paintings were already sold, with price tags above ten thousand pounds.

Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize Opening

The show opened yesterday in a very crowded Painters' Hall. The winner and runners up were announced by Ken Howard in a brilliant and funny speech. I spotted several painters, like Paul Brason and Susan Wilson, but for me the real excitement was seeing Sargy Mann with his beautiful wife. His painting in the show is beautifully intense, I couldn't stop looking at it.

Among the portraits I liked Tai-Shan Shierenberg's "Young RE teacher" and Judith Green's 

"Unexpected Mrs K "

The first prize went to Melissa Scott Miller; she was there with her children ( overheard saying they couldn't wait to go home and watch EE on telly ) who often feature in her paintings.

Runners up were Peter Clossick,  Jennifer McRae, Wladyslaw Mirecki and Simon Turvey. The Young Artist prize went to Stefan Orlowski.

I recommend to go see the show (Painters' Hall is just about fifty meters from Mansion House tube station) especially for the diversity of works selected. I am proud to belong to this crowd !

UPDATE 25/11 : I have been told that my painting has been among the first ones which were sold ! 

Lynn Painter-Stainers prize

One of my paintings has been selected for the Lynn Painter-Stainers prize. Here you can find the list of artists accepted for the 2008 edition.


THE LYNN PAINTER-STAINERS PRIZE

This is the fourth year of the Prize. The purpose of the Prize is to encourage creative representational painting and promote the skill of draughtsmanship, organized by Parker Harris.
The 2007 Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize attracted nearly 800 entries from all over the UK, from which 66 paintings were selected for an exhibition held at Painters’ Hall, City of London in
November 2007.
Benjamin Sullivan received £15,000 and an engraved gold medal as Winner of the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize for his painting NewLife, and Poppy Jones received £2,500 as winner of the Young Artist Award for her work These Screens.
The runners-up, who each received £1,000, were Dick French, Jennifer McRae, Antony Williams, Susan Wilson and Neale
Worley.
Paintings to the value of £35,000 were sold during the exhibition.
THE PAINTER-STAINERS’ COMPANY
Formed in 1502 by the amalgamation of companies in existence before 1283, the Worshipful Company of Painter- Stainers is actively engaged in supporting the art and craft of painting. With a strong commitment to fine art, the Painters’ Company
Charity is delighted to sponsor this annual prize in conjunction with the Lynn Foundation.

RSPP Show

I have just received confirmation that my painting "The chef and his shadow" has been accepted to the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, which will open at the Mall Galleries in London on the 23rd of April until the 11th of May.
A high resolution image of the painting can be found here.

This work was the result of two lucky sessions,during which I painted this subject twice and I like both works very much. This one is painted on panel with gesso priming ( rsg, gesso, linseed oil, titanium pigment and egg, traditional recipe ). I was particularly interested in the unusual format for a portrait and tried to make the most of it. 

 In the morning there was this stronger light from his left and in the afternoon, when I was working on a half figure version on canvas, a warmer light came in from his right, changing all  the colours.

I had lots of fun, nothing beats the excitement of working from life.

Youtube video

Cool!
My little video on youtube (also visible on the website ) has reached 3000 views.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GoPzBqW_BI

Book cover

I have recently painted a portrait of Bianca Shaftesbury.
Bianca is a lovely lady in her eighties who has had a wonderful and interesting life. She has recently written her memoirs and has asked me to paint a portrait for the book cover.
Luckily the publisher, Rosellina Archinto Editore, has approved my work; the book will be released this spring.

Islington show

I will have a small show at Candid Arts Gallery in Islington.
It will run from the 29th February to the 2nd of March, and I will be showing together with eleven very talented artists.
Please come and see my work !