My Art | The Daily Norm

Feb 1

Lunch in the Café Eiles (Vienna Muse)

There are times in life when a single moment gains more clarity than the thousand moments before and after; when the significant size of a city space shrinks in the coincidence of two people meeting again and again, quite unplanned, as though destiny had it all preemptively narrated. Such were the moments in Vienna when I, previously untouched by the poetic force of a female muse, found myself repeatedly captivated by a mysterious, delicate girl.

It was a fascination which might not have been so fortified were it not for the repetition of the first encounter. I first saw my muse in the elegant cafeteria of the Kunsthistoriches Museum. Dominik and I had both marked her out, quite independently of one another. We were struck by the purity of her face, quite devoid of artificial make up but alive with a natural innocence, and by her clothing which was different. Her outfit looked almost home-made, but betrayed a feminine elegance in each of its carefully combined components.

I might not have thought of her again, had it not been for the coincidence of a second encounter the following day, some kilometres away on the other side of Vienna, in the Café Eiles. Unable to believe the coincidence of quite independently finding the same girl who had so captivated me in the art museum the day before, my interest peaked and I found myself utterly enraptured by this girl. Again she betrayed characteristic elegance as she went about sipping a tea while writing what looked like a journal, and knitting a rather complex scarf.

Lunch at the Café Eiles (Vienna Muse) (2016 ©Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

By this point I knew that the girl was becoming something of an inspiration to me, and like paparazzi I grabbed for my camera, desperate to capture the sight of this girl who I was sure I would never see again. It’s just that the following day a third encounter, in the same café, occurred. No longer a coincidence of place, but of timing. Another encounter which appeared to defy chance and confirmed to me that the paths of this girl and I were meant to cross. That she was my muse and that I must paint her.

As soon as I saw my muse on that second encounter this painting formed in my head. Now I have created it, complete with the lunch we ate in the cosy Café Eiles as I sat, captivated by my muse, I feel somehow satisfied that my muse has been set down on paper. But I can’t help but feel sad that even now, after three coincidental encounters I know nothing more about the girl who ensnared me. Neither her name, nor her voice, nor even a single thing about her. I just know that to me she was very special. Maybe one day we’ll meet again.

Lunch at the Café Eiles (Vienna Muse) detail, 2016 ©Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Jan 25

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My travel sketchbook: Karlskirche, Vienna

The minus temperatures in Vienna were in no way conducive to the gentile activity of taking out my sketchbook en plein air and capturing the city “live”, as it were. But having somewhat shunned the interior of the Karlskirche, arguably one of Vienna’s best known monuments and most famous churches, owing to the exorbitant costs of entry, I felt that I should at least begin a sketch in appreciation of its glorious exterior, before completing the drawing back in our wonderful hotel suite.

With my rather exacting method of sketching direct with sketching pens (I enjoy the permanence of the final effect as opposed to a paler sketch from pencil), getting the proportions of the church right from this rather difficult angle, seen from one corner through the trees of the impressive Karlsplatz gardens, was not easy. And while the sketch which results would probably send architects quaking for its lack of precision, I am more than happy with the result. After all, it captures all of the grandeur of this most charismatic of monuments, while being viewed in the softened context of the gardens which surround it.

Karlskirche from the Karlsplatz, Vienna (2016 ©Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Jan 18

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Interpretation No. 19: Venice, the Dorsoduro from above

It’s hard to believe that my series of landscape interpretations are now entering their third year. Started back in Positano on the Amalfi Coast when I was inspired by the cubic contrast of urban development against rugged natural scenery, the collection has morphed and developed, now reaching its 19th in number. While traditional landscape painting seems to be too often looked down on by the so called “experts” in today’s contemporary art world, these simplified landscapes allow me the opportunity to relive a landscape, to simplify it into the basic forms which make the view so beautiful, and most importantly to relax and enjoy the process of creation.

As my little Venice seasons comes to an end here on The Daily Norm, and we travel together, to cities further afield, there could have been no more appropriate final curtain to the collection than to share this, my latest in the interpretations series. Inspired by the stunning views over the city which I photographed from the top of St Mark’s campanile and shared on The Daily Norm last week, this view for me was compositionally just too tempting not to paint.

Interpretation No. 19: Venice, the Dorsoduro from above (2016 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

With its waves of terracotta rooftops covering Venetian red, cream and ochre buildings, all leading to the magnificence of the church of Santa Maria della Salute at its centre, and with its intersection of creamy turquoise canals and a view of the Giudecca island in the foggy distance, this is a view of the Dorsoduro region at its best. And it makes for a fine addition to the urban wing (Paris, London & Palma and counting…) of my continuing collection gouache landscapes.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Jan 13

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Las Meninas (In Our Time)

I’m feeling terribly pleased with myself. It’s only the second week of January in a fresh new year, and already I have ticked a new year’s resolution to give more time to my art. For asides from a number of projects started and now pending completion, one new canvas has already left my easel as a finished piece: Las Meninas (In Our Time).

Anyone who is familiar with the great masterpieces of art history will probably recognise the setting of this painting. It is of course based almost exactly on Diego Velázquez’s best-known 1656 work, Las Meninas. And yet this is no copy. Rather it is a statement; a narrative, about what was, and what is. For in my Las Meninas, Velázquez’s room is eerily empty. There is no princess glowing in the light, nor the maids whose assistance to her majesty gives the painting its title. Gone too is the court jester, the dwarf, and the King and Queen in the background. Even Velázquez himself is nowhere to be seen. And it’s not just the figures who are missing: here even the art on the wall is blank and simplified, reduced down to blocks of colour in a room stripped of its majesty. At all that is left behind is a lone object: a ceramic figurine with a price tag, straight out of a souvenir shop.

Las Meninas (In Our Time) 2016 ©Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, acrylic on canvas

I was inspired to paint this work back in November when I visited Velázquez’s great work, for the umpteenth time, in Madrid’s Prado Gallery. Two things struck me as I left the gallery: First, how sadly different are the richly executed wonderfully fine art works that fill the Prado from the art which so called “contemporary artists” seem to produce today. Is our time, I wondered, a time that will ever be noteworthy in the future books of art history? And second, I was struck by the degree to which consumerism and commercialisation dominates today’s imagination. The extent to which the demands of mass production and imitation cause a unique masterpiece like Las Meninas to be replicated in every conceivable form, from key rings, magnets, ceramic figures, cuddly figures, to cushions, aprons, tshirts, and mobile phone cases.

Velázquez’s original masterpiece

So in recreating Las Meninas for our time, my room is emptied of the royal sumptuousness of the past. The figures of history have retreated, and the fine art that adorned the walls is no more. The time of imperial splendour is long forgotten, and all that remains at the room’s centre is the tacky souvenir which commercialises the past; a glossy gift for a present generation so often devoid of the imagination to create unique splendour anew.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Jan 6

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My travel sketchbook: Canal View, Venice

It seems like a longtime has passed since the halcyon days of summer were upon us, and indeed it was. For the entire season of autumn has passed since then, and the leaves of the summer’s luscious green branches have all but fallen. And yet that was the last time I opened my travel sketchbook, at least until Venice came.

For Venice is a renowned artist’s paradise, a utopia whose every turn and corner provides a sensational new detail to inspire a creator’s hand. My trip this Christmas past was sadly short (but sweet), and neither the duration nor the temperatures allowed for me to spend much time sitting in one of the city’s many stunning squares or canal sides sketching all of the beauty which was before me. But there was time enough to capture this view, especially since it was the vista we were lucky enough to enjoy from our hotel bedroom. And thus while we rested from the day’s adventures, I sketched. And this is the result.

Canal view, Venice (2015 ©Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Dec 27

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2015: Looking back at my year’s work

Each year I grow more and more frustrated that time seems to pass so quickly with so very little artwork done. I suppose its only natural for an artist, when new ideas and burning creativity consumes from within desperate to find its manifestation on canvas, or paper. And as the years go on, and time seems to be ticking closer towards the great unknown, that frustration only grows deeper.

And yet, as I look back upon the last year’s work, I cannot say that the year was unproductive. On the contrary, a glimpse over my creative output demonstrates a fair breadth of artistic endeavours, and shows that besides the obvious application of time spent enjoying the incredible Mediterranean surroundings in which I am now living, I also applied myself to expressing those visions in a concrete illustrated form.

Interpretations

Chief among my works for 2015 have been gouaches painted on paper. Perfect for their ease of use and the speed of their execution, I painted more gouache than any other paintings because they gave me moments of relaxation in between the pressures of work, and enabled me to quickly express my reaction to a new landscape or experience without lingering for months on a forever unfinished canvas.

Interpretation No. 13 – Ibiza (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Interpretation No. 14 , Deia (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Interpretation No. 15 – Malaga (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Interpretation No. 16: From La Rive Gauche (2015, © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Interpretation No. 17 – Autumn light on La Rambla (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Interpretation No.18: London (2015, Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ocho Balcones

Asides from adding new interpreted landscapes to my Interpretations collection, I also created a new collection of portrait-format gouaches painted of the eight views enjoyed from the eight balconies of our Palma old town apartment. And it’s a good job I did, for no sooner had the collection been completed, we moved out!

Ocho Balcones (No.1): From the bedroom

Ocho Balcones No. 2: Cables in the Calle (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ocho Balcones No. 3: KItchen Contrast (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ocho Balcones No.4: The Longest View (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ocho Balcones, No.5: The Summer Bathroom (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ocho Balcones No.6: Angled Perspective (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ocho Balcones No. 7: Dominik’s Office (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ocho Balcones VIII: The Artist’s Studio (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

The Honeymoon Suite

Of course my wedding and the honeymoon which followed were not only the central point of the year, but provided their own inspiration, not least at La Colombe d’Or hotel, where we were lucky enough to dine surrounded by original works by the likes of Leger, Braque and Picasso, and sunbathe under the wings of an Alexander Calder mobile. With only my small box of gouaches with me, I set about painting each of the rooms of the three hotels we stayed in, as well as the stunning leafy garden of the Colombe.

Honeymoon Suite I: Bedroom at La Colombe d’Or (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Honeymoon Suite II: Bedroom in the Chateau de Cagnard (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

The Honeymoon Suite 3: Bedroom at the Arai Barcelona

Breakfast at La Colombe d’Or (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Commissions

It was also a good year for Commissions, and apart from the wide variety of works created for my employer, a few outside commissions also enabled me to paint these works which made it into the press across Mallorca and beyond.

Antiguedades (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Autumn in Paris (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Ovejas en Orient (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

My travel sketchbook

Taking a break from all the colour, 2015 was also a bumper year for my travel sketchbook. Started the year before, it is now almost full to the bursting with sketches completed this year including landscapes from across Mallorca, the French Riviera, Ibiza and Marbella.

: Ibiza Town (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: The Tramuntana viewed from Fornalutx (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: The beach at Banyalbufar (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

: Orient Olive Tree (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Palma Cathedral from the Parc de la Mar (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Resting on La Rambla (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Cafe Corner, Biniaraix (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Poolside at La Colombe d’Or (2015, pen on paper © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown)

: The Peyra Gate, Vence (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: The beach at Antibes (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Cafe at the Calatrava Hotel (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Looking towards the Calatrava Hotel, Palma (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Garden at the Son VIscos (2015, © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Parque de la Constitucion (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

: Malaga Cathedral, detail (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

The Oil Paintings

And finally to what, perhaps, I do best – the mighty projects on canvas; oil paintings each of which take weeks if not months to complete, but whose realisation is all the more fulfilling because of the time spent. I painted very few completed works on canvas this year, but those which reached the finish line were mainly Mallorca based landscapes, my ultimate challenge being the 1.5m landscape of the Bay of Palma. A true achievement for the year 2015.

Orient (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

Mallorca Landscape (Chiringuitos) (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

An Englishman in Andalucia (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

The Bay of Palma (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

And now, as I look forwards, with three large paintings already on the go, and a whole new sketchbook ready to be filled, I cannot wait to see what the next year of creativity will bring.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Dec 24

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Merry Christmas from The Daily Norm

Sometimes it’s hard to remember, as I look out of my window onto palm trees swaying in a gentle sunny breeze, that Christmas is upon us. Yet come nightfall, when the temperatures drop and that very same palm tree becomes emboldened with the thousands of fairy lights which have been wrapped around its trunk in celebration of the season, I know that this very special season has arrived. Mulled wine – that exquisite perfume of sweet cinnamon, citrus and rich red wine – ginger spices, old cloister carols and the flickering flames of candles fill my home now, and all around me it is truly beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

The Tree at San Miguel (2015, © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

But amongst the wrapping and the carols, the alcoholic indulgence and the preparations for the visit of Old Saint Nick, let me not forget all of you, my amazing Daily Norm readers, who have made blogging such a pleasure this year. I’m wishing you all the very happiest of Christmases, and a wonderful, prosperous and very exciting New Year. And as my parting Christmas gift, I hope you enjoy this last of my gouaches of the year – the incredible Christmas Tree (one of my own in fact!) at Cappuccino San Miguel, here in Palma de Mallorca.

Merry Christmas everyone! ¡Feliz Navidad!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Dec 18

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Interpretation No. 18: London

I suppose it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. It took my departure from London after 12 years of living there to recognise that the city, while not consistently beautiful, still has a certain amount of inspirational magic to it. When I lived there I would always profess the need to travel to the Mediterranean and beyond in order to find artistic inspiration. When asked whether I ever painted London, I looked at people as though they were mad: paint this city? But it’s just a pool of grey, I would say.

Yet when I visited the city afresh at the beginning of last week, and sat in the glass fronted restaurant on the 6th floor of Tate Modern on Bankside, I could not help but stare in wonderment at the beauty of the cityscape before me, as I realised that London is much more than 50 shades of grey. Indeed, with the greeny shades of the River Thames, the plethora of glass skyscrapers and old baroque and gothic churches and the terracotta hues of many of the brick buildings, London is a metropolis full of contrasting colours.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It’s a cliché but it’s true. And as soon as I returned from the city, I started work on this latest of my Interpretations series. A simplified but devoted landscape of a city which is beautiful after all.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Nov 16

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Interpretation No. 17 – Autumn Light, La Rambla

La Rambla, in the heart of Palma de Mallorca, is without a doubt one of my favourite streets in the city. Stretching from the Plaza Mayor all the way to the main Avenidas ring road, and crowned with a discreet but elegant fountain towards its end, La Rambla is, like its Barcelona counterpart, a true artery of the city. Lined with huge trees which tower up to the sky and lean inwards forming a natural canopy, the leafy “ceiling” of this road reminds me of the nave of a cathedral. Meanwhile down at ground level, the street is filled with flower stalls which turn this very green passage into a veritable feast of colour every day.

But of all the times of the year, La Rambla is for me most beautiful in the autumn, when its blanket of leaves turns a golden honey green, and the soft light of the season shines through it like a stained glass window. Thus inspired, I returned to my Interpretations series, painting this simplified landscape of La Rambla when I love it best… first thing in the morning, seen on my way to work, with the autumn sun just ascending and long shadows spilling out across the road.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Nov 10

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Interpretation No. 16 – From La Rive Gauche, Paris

Although this week will mark a year’s anniversary since we moved from London to the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, I am invariably a creature of habit, and while I surround myself daily by some of the most beautiful views Europe has to offer, there are still some things I miss about my former London life. Prince among them, ironically, is not a London experience at all, but our annual trip, taking what I always consider to be a glamorous sub-Channel rail journey from London St Pancras to L’Estacion Gare du Nord, to visit my favourite amongst cities, Paris. And as that annual trip always happened around about now, I cannot hide my internal pining for the French city of lights.

So in my efforts to satisfy something of my longings, I have somewhat franco-fied my home life of late. On my ipod, the hauntingly beautiful songs of old 20s French cabaret play; on the TV, film favourites such as La Vie en Rose are on continuous repeat, and moving from my paintbrush, this very Parisian scene emerged – a gouache painting which becomes the newest in my simplified interpretations landscape series.

With its simplified colour palette of turquoise, ochre and grey, it reflects the memory of a similar such scene encountered just as we were crossing from the left bank on our last trip to Paris. I remember that the day had been pretty grey, but about the time the sun set, the clouds dispersed and left the sky a creamy golden yellow. This in turn reflected on the water, turning the grey River Seine a beautiful shade of turquoise which then glowed, almost unnaturally, against the greys and beiges of the surrounding city architecture.

It feels good to have Paris back in my life again… even if it is just on paper.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com