The sun came out in Paris :)

We had a couple of days of sunshine, something that has been a bit rare this year. So I took advantage and got out as much as possible. There were a couple of parties and I got to the Louvre. That's another couple of things that I've been missing with all this activity lately.

So here are a few photos.

First off, a small party. I've been doing a lot of engraving work this year. Mostly thanks to a bunch of local architects who pushed me into it and motivate me to keep at it. So thanks to Jean-François Vincent for that. The other photo is Pierre who drank too much wine at the little exhibition we had.






I was at a party last night but didn't take any photos. It was in the 10eme. Had a great time at Helen Tangs. Lovely people and mostly artists.

At the Louvre today, there weren't too many people for a change. So I visited the Dutch artists section. I'm incredibly impressed by the work of Pickenoy. Not only are the paintings still in perfect condition but they are fantastically well painted. The paintings are from the 16th century but look as though they were painted yesterday.

No doubth the Louvre restorers deserve a great deal of credit but the paint is uncracked, the colours smooth and beautifully applied and there is incredible grace and aliveness in the portraits. To find a photo with the same life in it would be more than a challenge. I don't think it would be possible. These details are from the portrait of Johanna Le Maire




Here's a marvelous detail from a painting by Gerard Dou.


I also had a wander around the streets of Paris and visited the Palais Royal. There I saw the famous Vefour restaurant. Apart from the great art and the the incredible restaurants there is always something good to see. It's worth wandering around this area anytime the sun is shining but especially on a Sunday as they have students of the academy of music performing classical music on the street.



I'll post more photos of exhibitions etc on my newsletter. Be sure to sign up. It's on the bottom of my homepage. http://tjbyrne.com

Marcus Mcallister Expo etc

Hi
It's been a while since I posted (apart from a couple of minutes ago). That doesn't mean I've been quiet. The opposite applies. I've been drawing intensely, painting, teaching, and getting my work out there.

I also got to go to a couple of exhibition openings. One was Marcus McAllisters show in Paris. Not his first by any means but this is the first time we have crossed paths. His show was in the Style Pixie gallery and it was full to bursting with a really wide range of people from all communities. His work is a real mix of media but the images are very creative, inspired by his note books, one of which he keeps with him at all times so that when inspiration strikes he can make a note or drawing. Some of the pages are so detailed and interesting that they became framed pieces in themselves.

You should check him out. http://www.marcusmcallister.com

Here are some photos from the evening. All taken with my cell phone so the quality is far from great.

Exhibition update - Dublin March 2009

Hi
The exhibition went really well. There was a huge crowd even before it started with more arriving as the evening went on. As for atmosphere, it was great. There was a great crowd of interested buyers and a few artists that I hadn't seen for a while.

The exhibition continues until the 28th of March and I highly recommend visiting. The exhibition area itself if on the first floor and is open to the public from 5pm.

Liam has a very good Irish Arts Event blog. He manages to get himself invited to everything and graciously records them all.

His blog is:
http://irishartblog.com/

Here's a pic of myself, Liam Madden & Brian Gallagher.

The Hague Summer Art Exhibiton

The Red Cross, Hague Summer exhibition are looking for artists to exhibit their work this year. There is a link here if you are interested in submitting work.

One of the themes is 'Victims of Armed Conlict'.

They also have a section of their website which promotes the artists works before the event. I'm honored to be the first artist that they chose for the artist of the week.

It only lasts a week so have a look at http://www.artenade.com/hague/ArtistOfTheWeek.aspx

Exhibition update-Greenlane Gallery

There are four paintings which are on show in the Greenlane Gallery in Dingle, Co. Kerry this month.

They are:

Garcon
Shopping
Negotiations
The Lovers Whisper

I'm very pleased about this because Dingle is one of those special places in the world. It was a pivotal place of change for me several years ago, before I decided to move to France. I was on an artists retreat with some American artists who came over from New Haven. I thought that there would be more Irish artists too but in fact I was the only one.

It rained and rained for two weeks without ceasing. Despite this we walked and explored every day and wrote,talked, painted and went out over the sea to the Blasket Islands. It was boot camp for creatives and I loved it. Thanks to Caoimhghin O'Fraithile, our indestructible & madcap artist guide, we visited many amazing, artistic and historical locations in Dingle and the ring of Kerry. It was formative. The Greenlane gallery, which was in a different building then also opened my eyes to the freshness and purity of the kind of art that a location like Dingle can produce. So it's great to have my work on show there and it's a great gallery.

Icons

Yesterday, after setting up in the atelier in Bastile, I visited two exhibitions that I had been curious about. One was in Nation. An exhibition by an Icon Painter who studied in Greece. The exhibition took place in a small gallery on the second floor of the Centre Culturel Franco-Japonais, 8 Passage Turqueti, 75011 Paris. Metro -Nation. The artist is Dominique Groffe.

The artist has reproduced paintings of icons on wood using gold and tempera (egg). I'm interested in this because it's a subject that I'm studying at the moment. By doing the course you learn an enormous amount about the history of painting (as far back as the Egyptians) and you discover some of the most unlikely mediums with which you can paint and which last for thousands of years.

Although I like the artists ability to recreate the icons of past artists, I didn't see anything new being explored in the work. Creating an icon where the subject is religious is like a prayer for many people. A meditation and study of past works and as such gives a great deal of personal pleasure. The original images are full of hidden meanings as well and were not merely decorations. So that is also a study of history in itself.

It's fantastic to see this kind of work still being done. Otherwise it just disappears forever.