Wednesday, March 09, 2016

About Painting a Portrait of Maureen

 
February 9th 2016.
When a very ambitious young amateur artist I thought nothing of attempting to copy pictures painted by the likes of, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Constable, Van Gogh, Monet, Paul Henry and of course the wonderful, Renoir, seen above. 'Maternity'.
Nowadays I am far more likely to be found portraying famous Irish landscapes and seascapes.
Always a frustrating pastime but often rewarding as more than 600 works of mine have been sold.
Today...or tomorrow I hope to start a portrait of Maureen.
 
Very sadly Maureen passed away last September and I am still reeling from the blow. We were married for almost 56 years. She was ..is, the love of my life.
I painted Maureen many decades ago and the picture can only be found on an old photograph of my son, John it can bee seen over his shoulder on the snap
. The portrait of Maureen was hung on the wall of our last home in the UK for many years. 

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Welcome my twitter followers. Ireland's Part in the Elvis Presley Story.

 
 
 
Also on www.twitter.com


#Update 8th March 2016.  Coming soon. www.irelandtoo.com 

Would this make a good movie?

This is a bronze statue of "Elvis at 13" years old, by gifted sculptor Michiel Vander Sommen, which is located close to the little house where Elvis Presley was born  in Tupelo Mississippi. It was unveiled August 2002.



In 2002 a statue of 'Elvis at 13' was unveiled by gifted sculptor, Michiel Vander Sommen, following my letter to the Mayor of Tupelo at the time Larry K Otis suggesting a statue of Elvis as a boy would be good for tourism to the city.

It has been a great success and gives Ireland a nice little part in the Elvis Presley story.

2017 will be the 40th Anniversary of Elvis's death and the commemorations in the world's media will be momentous!

Spoke about Elvis to Marian Finucane on RTE1 Radio recently.

This story and all the unbelievable but true stories that go with it, including mail from Elvis co-stars , Dolores Hart and Anne Helm,a stay in a Memphis penthouse with his cousin,  Resolution from the city of Tupelo, a meeting in Dublin with Scotty Moore, and the letters from Graceland dated 1961, plus messages from the Duchess of Devonshire about Elvis, would  make a fascinating TV or Radio Documentary.

Or do I need a Ghost writer?



Saturday, January 23, 2016

My Latest Paintings. Fastnet Lighthouse and Skellig Michael.

 
 
UPDATE 26th January 2016. 
My latest paintings, The Fastnet lighthouse and Skellig Michael off the coast of Kerry Ireland before the "Star Wars" crew arrived. The smaller Island is a home for some 10,000 Gannets!
Maureen was not strong enough to make the exceedingly steep climb with me, back in 2014, so I placed her there myself yesterday. Although she is no more; She remains, Always on My Mind.
The Elvis Presley version off course.
I hope to do a much larger version of the scene later.