Dublin Sketchers sketchwalk - USkweek2015

 And Brendan came along and took photos and videos and put this together for us as a memory of the day.

Dublin Sketchers Sketchwalk - #uskweek2025

On the occasion of USk Week 2025, Dublin Sketchers organised a fantastic sketchwalk along a section of the Liffey, the river at the heart of Dublin. Great fun was had by all! I wasn't organised at all, having just driven back from Allihies the day before. But let's call it experimentation!

 

Allihies - sketchbook

Sketches done on location around Allihies while I was there before the opening of my exhibition. The exhibition - Another Day - Beara - is running at the Allihies Copper Mine Museum and Copper Café until the end of May.

I sketched to keep my nerves steady in the runup to the opening. Sketching is a way for me to be present in the moment, and to quiet my anxious mind.

I was blessed with good weather, and I discovered lots of stunning locations on my little rambles. So many roads and boreens and hiking paths to explore. And I'm not a hill walker even.

 I always forget to take photos of my sketches on location. I remembered on the first day only!

Allihies - impressions on paper

A few direct impressions the Beara Bowl and the rocks nearby, very near Allihies. I felt very drawn to this area. I just love how sea and rock work together. I've also taken lots of photos to inspire future paintings, but first, I think I will work with these sketches and see where it leads me.

I got so absorbed doing these, facing into the sun, that I got sunburnt on my arms. Thankfully, I had factor 30 on my face!

Collage ideas in my studio book

So far, I have been keeping my studio books for notes and also for pictures of studies or paintings. Here, I'm trying something different, actually collaging into the book itself. It's a bit messy for my liking, but it's good to keep everything in one place.

Another Day - Beara

A screenshot from my website, just to remind you that my exhibition, "Another Day - Beara" is continuing in the Allihies Copper Mines Museum and Copper Café, until 31st May. Don't miss it! The works look great in the space, if I may say so myself!

Click on this link to see the images and the opening speech by poet John W. Sexton.  He had very interesting insights into my work. 

Coliemore Harbour from my video

While I was in Coliemore Harbour, I took lots of photos and some video footage too. I played the video on loop while I drew, and painted and scratched. Then tore the page and did some collage. Idea for an abstract painting. It might be months before I get a chance to get back to it! But it's all in my Studio Book to remind me when I start painting again! 

Dalkey on location

We were supposed to sketch the library in Dalkey, but I wasn't going to drive so close to the sea and not spend some time at Coliemore Harbour, with Dalkey island across the way. It was dull at home, and dull in Dalkey, but a 5-minute walk to Coliemore Harbour, and it was a different world, bright, sunny, choppy seas, swimmers in the harbour, birds flying over the rocks in the distance, palm trees, golden light on the stone wall. I felt so full of joy!

Then I went back to the town to catch up with the others, but I sketched the other side of the street. I just do my own thing.

A bit of tearing and collaging

A bit of tearing of paper and collaging to create a different composition. Loving it. Except PVA glue is messy. I guess any kind of glue is messy. Haven't had any time to progress any of my previous ideas. Still chaos in the house. So this was what I did rather than doom-scrolling! These are small, maybe 15x15cm (yes, I know, the second one isn't square). And I don't know yet how I will evolve these ideas into bigger paintings. And I want to figure out how to do something like this in watercolour rather than ink and white liquid acrylic. Maybe I will do watercolour and gouache?

And I know this is going way more abstract than my usual, but it is still a landscape, inspired by my residency in Cill Rialaig in February.

 

Emotion of a landscape

 Ink and white fluid acrylic. And a chopstick for mark making. All part of the exploration. Believe me.

Herbert Park

Easter Sunday. No sunshine, but no rain, which was something after the previous two days of downpour. Our sketching location was Herbert Park. It always has something that interests and surprises me. 

I started with the tall trees, gave out to a family group who walked behind me with a drone flying right in front of them. Well, I ruined their soundtrack, as I gave out to them for flying the drone in a public park. I can be the cranky old lady when I want to! Pilot parallel pne, watercolour and Neocolor II, all done on location.

Then, I needed something more structural. Walked to an area of the park I wasn't familiar with, found a gate and this lovely street, called Home Villas. Loved the shapes of these houses. Drawing and colour pencil on location, then added watercolour at home.

The third sketch - how could I resist them? The cherry blossoms! They had just peaked and were the main focus of attraction for the many family and friend groups that were busy taking pictures under them. It was quite dark given the grey sky, so I don't know how their photos turned out. There was even a photographer with a long lens. He didn't like the fact that I sketched him. I just said to him "the observer being observed". Then he got up and asked the two young women in saris to pose for him. They were only too happy. And also very happy to see my sketch!

One afternoon. Three sketches. Then to the pub to chat with my fellow sketchers and see what everybody else drew. It felt good.

 

More reconstruction and reinvention

Working with a printout of more collaged items and a bit of oil pastel on top, still exploring the landscape near Ballinskelligs. Need to cut my paper more organically, ie tear, not cut. And also play more with placement so that I don't end up with a jigsaw of rectangles. But I'm enjoying this new kind of exploration. New to me that is. I am inspired by Lewis Noble's work with collage at the moment.

When life is chaos, little squares always help

The tiler has taken over the whole landing. I had to climb over his boxes to get into my art room. But nothing was going to stop me from catching up with Shelley after flying back from Belgium. You can see how dispersed my mind is at the moment. Not surprising.  Jumped around all sorts of things. Even chatted about Lynn Chapman when I was testing out my Inktense pencils. Love her book about sketching people! But the bit I enjoyed best was using my sketch squares and drawing water and rocks and rock and grasses textures in pencil.

 

Travel sketching - very little of it

I always love sketching while travelling. But my trips to Belgium are about seeing my mother, and my mind is not tuned in for sketching, even at the airport. I thought that it would help to bring my usual size sketchbook and pens that suit my way of working. But no, not really. Still, better than nothing.