New Art Gallery!

To call this an Art Gallery may be a bit of an over-statement! What we are doing is using the area of the landings and stairs as a gallery space, open to the public.

This is just the way you come up from the ground floor. The blue door leads up to Dennis Crawford's picture framing premises, "Simply Frames", and the studios of Clinton Kirkpatrick and Pat Callaghan. The painting at the left is one of mine, then one of Pat's and a couple of Clinton's.

Coming up to the main, broad landing area, these are another two of my paintings. A door here leads to Jill Graham's jewellery business.

Next to the large window overlooking Market Square, three more of Clinton's paintings.

Next long wall, a couple of Pat's.

Heading up towards the second floor, this is some of Andrew Cranley's work.

Further up the flight of stairs to the second floor there is quite a bit of potential display space still being developed.

This is along the final stretch of corridor, to Andrew Cranley's studio and my own. These are a couple of my own paintings.

At the moment, the display of work is a bit haphazard, but this should improve. When we are properly organized, it could be a good idea to have some sort of open day, when members of the public could visit our studios, as well as the exhibition.

Exhibition at the Canvas Gallery, 76 Stranmillis Road, Belfast

On Thursday evening of the 26th March I went to the opening of a group art exhibition at the Canvas Gallery, in Belfast, as I know one of the participating artists, Andrew Cranley (he has an art studio on the same premises as I do, at Studio 23). The gallery was crowded and there was an excellent atmosphere. The five participating artists were very different in their style of work, which helped to make it an exciting exhibition, but – for me – the most interesting work was that by Andrew.

What I find particularly interesting is his vibrant use of colour. The backgrounds tend to be made up from dabs and streaks of brightly coloured paint, with a layer of contrasting colour underneath, which gives a sense of movement to the paintings as a whole. Figures are painted much more broadly, which gives them a solidity which makes them stand out from the background. They tend to be static, frozen in a moment of time, while the surroundings shimmer and move around them. The result is a dream-like, magical quality in the paintings as a whole.

Andrew, in front of one of his paintings.