"New life on dead wood"

Hi everybody!

I am putting up my new piece of work from the "Nature - up close and personal" series.

It is called "New life on dead wood".

Nature will always find a way to start a new life, whether it be in the earth or on an old tree stump, even in the cracks of old stone walls. 

Eileen (:o)

"Silver Beauty"

Hi everyone!

This painting is called "Silver Beauty" ! 

It relates to the bark of the birch tree, one of my favourites. I had previously worked on it with different colour combinations but wasn't satisfied with it so I changed the whole colour scheme and I feel its much better now. 

Enjoy!

Eileen (:o)

"Inner Sanctum"

This is my latest work in the "Nature - up close and personal" tree bark series.

It is titled "Inner Sanctum" 

Eileen (:o)

The art of John Kingerlee, an inspiration.

I am putting up the art of John Kingerlee for you today as I think his work is so wonderful and I am very inspired by him,  he is a great artist. He is a master of getting across the feeling he has for the landscape and I especially love his textures. Ted Pilsbury, the art critic,  went to visit him in Ireland a while back as he loved John's work and did a little documentary on Kingerlee in his own home which is a great insight to the man and how he works at his art. Sadly, Ted died shortly after this video was taken. I think it is very ineteresting. I hope you enjoy it!

Eileen (:o)

Loosening up....

When I find myself getting wound up or tightening with the close-up work I am doing, I sometimes give myself a break and do some free-ing or loosening up of myself by using watercolours and inks on watercolour paper and just let the colours flow with plenty of water! I love this and it is so relaxing and enjoyable! I always feel so much looser and satisfied afterwards and then go back to working on my original piece with fresh eyes. I am putting up here two of such paintings that I did while taking a break from what I was doing a while back!

Latest update.....

Hi everybody!

I have been reading a great art book called "Colour and Light", a Guide for the Realist Painter 

by the artist James Gurney. My artist son, Glenn, bought it for me and it is a fantastic book!

It has so much information and if you ever wanted a good art book, this one should be in your library!

The part I am at now is all about the different types of lighting and is very informative.

Other than reading this wonderful book, I am still working away on my "Nature up close and personal"

paintings in the tree bark series. I am working on small canvasses at present but have the beginnings of a larger piece started also. I will keep you posted as I go along!

Eileen (:o)

Latest work

Hi everybody!

I hope you all had a lovely Easter.

Well - I have been working on this painting of the felled tree over the weekend.

The tree had been lying out in the open for a long time and had become quite weathered.

It was very intense working on it and I had a few "aargh" moments when it just wouldn't 

go right for me. All of you who are artists will know exactly what I mean! The frustration

made me want to give up at times as I assessed and re-assessed the work and finally

I reached what I wanted to say with it. Personally, I find that as I go deeper into a painting,

I can get so involved with the textures and colour that I get "lost" in it and it can become 

quite abstract. I stop for a break and come back to it with fresh eyes and I sometimes find

that it has gone totally off the original concept! Now, this can be a good thing at times when

it can then become something else, another vision in my mind. But if I want it to remain as 

the original idea, I often have to re-work the whole painting a few times. it can become very

intense. I used watercolour, acrylic,paper,texture gel,coloured pencils and inks in this piece.

It is now at a stage where I am finished.

It is called "Slain"/section of weathered dead tree.

I hope you like it!

Eileen (:o)

Today's work

Hi everybody!
Today I am working hard on one of my latest pieces on the bark series. It is a felled tree whose bark is so  beautiful, even though it is dried out and has been out in the elements for quite a while and has gone dry and bright! I usually have approximately 4 - 5 pieces of work going at the same time. I put the initial concept of what I want to do on each one, down on the canvas, board etc.,  and then one by one I go back and work on a particular one until its finished.
As I start to work, I usually have soft music going in the background or if i am working on a stronger, larger piece I will have some energetic music on - mood also plays a part in it though! When I start working on the painting, a point comes when I am totally immersed in what I am doing and the awareness of my surroundings is gone and I am fully in the work! I love this part!  When I reach a part when I need a break, i then go and have one before I go back to it again, which is what I am doing now!
When the piece is finished I will put it up for you all to see.
In the meantime, I want to wish you all a very happy Easter!

Eileen(:o)

Nature up close and personal

Hi everybody! 

Thanks you to all who have liked and shared my work so far.

I would like to mention a bit about my latest work titled "Nature up close and personal".

Bark, Mixed Media, Eileen Keelan 2012

This work originates from my absolute love for nature, always have from the time I was a small child running barefoot through the fields and on the beach which was almost on our doorstep.

Using textures and mixed media I am going in close up to nature starting mainly with the various beautiful tree barks of which some might seem very mundane and not worth a second glance but when you really study the beauty of trees, you can see the similarities between the natural landscape and ourselves.

The trees, like ourselves, wear the scars, cuts, bruises, wrinkles, callouses, broken limbs etc., on it over its lifetime. Sometimes it is covered over by moss and lichens as the outer skin becomes craggy with changes from weathering, etc., We humans have the same on our own skins. The tree stands strong despite its perceived imperfections, and reaches strong and steady towards the sky whilst being firmly rooted in the ground. 

Nature really has a message for us if you look closely at it!

I will also be featuring the Crow from time to time in this latest work as I find him a fascinating bird and again he has much comparison with the human world with his strength, wilfullness, determination etc., whilst holding his head high and giving you that stare!!

I hope you enjoy my work as I go along!

Check out my works here: http://www.facebook.com/EileenKeelanArt

Eileen (:o)