Nicholas De Lacy-Brown | The Daily Norm

May 6

Countdown to my new Solo Exhibition | 7 days – Bricks and Stones

It seems almost mad that close on 6 months have gone by since I first announced on this blog that I would be holding a brand new solo exhibition of paintings, illustrations and prints in London’s Strand Gallery this May. And yet here we are, with the exhibition on the doorstep. In 7 days, my exhibition, which will feature over 100 displayed artworks and a whole lot more other artworks for sale, will throw open its doors to the prestigious West End of London. A mere 50 metres from London’s Strand, the exhibition is in the heart of the city’s colourful Covent Garden/ Charing Cross area, and frankly I could not think of a better location.

So as excitement builds, the bubble wrapping goes into overdrive, frames are attached, price lists drawn up and champagne gathered, I thought I would take time to explore some of the themes and artworks which will feature in the show on each of the 7 days approach to the exhibition’s opening on 13 May.

The exhibition is entitled When (S)pain became the Norm, a title which represents the three main themes which will run through the collection – Pain: the time of my 2008 road traffic accident and the protracted convalenscence which followed; Spain: how this most colourful of European countries has given rise to some of my most exciting and energetic artworks; and the Norms: all my paintings and illustrations of the small white-blobbed one-armed creation of my imagination, most of which have featured on this blog which is named after that same unique character.

In this first post, I am sharing the painting which really kickstarts the whole collection. Entitled Bricks and Stones may Break My Bones (The Show Must Go On), it was the first painting I started in the weeks immediately following the horrendous accident in which I was involved in May 2008. On 29 May 2008, I was walking out to buy some lunch when a lorry, without warning, collided with a 10 ft concrete brick wall which then collapsed onto the pavement as I walked by. I was caught under the rubble and serious crush fractures sustained to my right leg. Frankly, I was lucky to get away with just that. The injuries were so severe that I had to have my leg placed in an external fixator – a horrific instrument attached to the leg with a series of a bloody pins – and I underwent some 7 operations over 3 years before the leg was finally healed, sufficiently, to such a level that I could walk once again.

Bricks and Stones May Break My Bones (The Show Must Go On) 2008 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas (130cm x 110cm)

This painting, which is perhaps one of the most visceral and uncomfortable of my collection, represents the accident itself. I am shown, in self-portrait, morphed into the wall which had by that time become an inescapable factor in my life. Crashed into it, a small toy lorry is beside me, while on my head, like a crown of thorns, is the barbed wire which ran along the wall and collapsed down upon me in turn. My broken leg is shown as a column broken into three pieces, reminiscent of a similar representation used by my idol, Frida Kahlo, while my crutches are propping up my right food Dali-style since, which, owing to nerve damage, otherwise flopped involuntarily to the floor. Meanwhile over the bleak landscape, the pins which pierced my leg pierce the ground, and on the right, a theatrical proscenium arch likewise propped up by a crutch and a swollen leg demonstrates that despite all of the horror around me, the show had to go on: Something demonstrated by the fact that I was up on two chairs, my leg outstretched, painting this powerful work.

Come back tomorrow for my next featured work, and in the meantime, please consider coming along to my exhibition. More details can be found on my website, and on that of The Strand Gallery.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Apr 24

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Norms: The Saints Collection | Saint Sebastian

Next up in the fast growing Norm Saint’s Collection is Saint Sebastian. Famed for being the martyr who was martyred twice (once when he was shot with arrows, and second when, after that didn’t kill him, he was pummelled to death), Saint Sebastian is the saint whose writhing naked body, filled with arrows, has become as popular a gay icon as it has a symbol of religious devotion and a great favourite of artists through the ages.

My Norm Saint Sebastian is only the latest depiction of this saint to join the mass of works executed throughout art history by famed artists such as Titian, Botticelli and John Singer Sargent. And like many of those which have gone before it, my depiction shows this poor arrow-riddled saint tied roughly to a tree, while behind him, a beautifully bucolic background gives otherwise irrelevant depth and magnificence to the scene. Meanwhile, a host of dear little Norm angles are doing their best to try and save this most suffering of saints, by pulling out the arrows from his tender skin one by one in an attempt to save him from inevitable suffering and death.

Saint Sebastian Norm (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen, ink and gold paint on paper)

Happily, as the story goes, Saint Sebastian did not die from his arrow wounds – miraculously he was nursed back to life by Saint Irene, only to be finally condemned to a more violent end when he taunted the Emperor Diocletian for not having killed him properly in the first place. Some might say he should have learnt his lesson from the first occasion he spoke up against the Emperor a little too loudly. But then he wouldn’t be a very good martyr if he didn’t suffer for his cause.

Up next: Saint Jerome.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Nicholas de Lacy-Brown’s new solo exhibition, When (S)pain became the Norm, will be at London’s Strand Gallery from 13 – 18 May 2014. For more details, click here.

Mar 25

Norms: The Saints Collection | St. Peter

Next up in the continuing Norm Saints Collection is Saint Peter, on whose rock the very foundations of the modern day Catholic church are built. Yes, Saint Peter is the saint we most associate with holding the grand double keys of the Vatican, cloaked elegantly in a Romanesque toga-like getup, with his curly hair and beard all in the Roman vogue. But of course this important Norm Saint was not always so grand. Born “Shimon”, Saint Peter was in fact a fisherman heralding from Galilee. Hence why in so many artistic representations, he is shown with the paraphernalia of his former trade, as is this little Saint norm here.

But later in life, Shimon was to become an integral member of the Twelve Apostles of Christ, and in that role was the apostle who, famously, denied Christ before the cock crowed three times. Hence why in other artistic representations, said cockerel is to be found somewhere round abouts. Sadly for my Saint Peter Norm, the proximity of these representations has made for something of an inevitable conflict, as the recently caught fish spill out of Saint Peter’s net only to be pecked to within an inch of their lives by the rather zealous cockerel standing in wait. Oh well, at least Saint Peter Norm can calm himself in the knowledge that in the background a great church, the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome, has been built in his honour. Of course historically, the real Saint Peter, who founded the first church of Rome, would never have known to what grandiose extent this church would later develop. But I believe that is the great benefit of artistic license.

St Peter Norm (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and gold paint on paper)

I commend to you, Saint Peter Norm. Who’s next?

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Nicholas de Lacy-Brown’s new solo exhibition, When (S)pain became the Norm, will be at London’s Strand Gallery from 13 – 18 May 2014. For more details, click here.

Mar 20

Norms boating at the Parc de la Ciutadella

We join the Norms in Barcelona, where having had their fill of Gaudi after exploring the roof terrace of the Casa Mila and the Norm shaped chimneys which fill it, the Norms have moved to one of the city’s best loved outside spaces – the Parc de la Ciutadella. Asides from being a pretty place to perambulate and play and enjoy the good life out of doors, the park also provides the perfect facility for the Norms to indulge in one of their favourite activities: boating.

Now of course the Norms only have one arm, which might, you will think, have an impact on their ability to row a boat. For Norms’ boats require oars just like any other. And that is precisely why you will always find Norms boating in pairs. So that one can control one oar, and the other a second.

Norms at the Parc de la Ciutadella (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

That is of course all very well when things are going smoothly. But should the unspeakable actually occur, and one Norm falls out of the boat, just look how difficult it will be to rescue him – with only one oar in action, the other Norm won’t get very far apart from to row in a continuous and never ending circle. Such is the dilemma of being a Norm.

Don’t forget that you can see these Norms and more at my forthcoming solo art exhibition – When (S)pain became the Norm, at London’s Strand Gallery from 13 – 18 May 2014. For more details, click here.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Mar 19

My Barcelona, on canvas: Separatism

While last week I shared with you one of my more sedate paintings of Barcelona – an oil landscape of the Port Vell – this week, as the tales of my recent Barcelona travels draw to a close, it’s inevitably time to share the second of my two paintings featuring Barcelona – and this time it’s a far more vibrant affair. Part III of my España Volver series, Separatism, explored the fragmentation and political division which is shared by two autonomous regions of Spain, the Basque Country and Catalunya (Catalonia), both of which have a historically fractious relationship with the Spanish nation to whom they are, for some unwittingly, part of a national whole.

By way of demonstration of the political and social fragmentation which means that these two regions sit so uneasily with the rest of Spain, the symbols painted across my painting are framed in the shapes of a jigsaw puzzle which, rather than fitting together easily, is in part broken and displaced. Emerging out of and contained within the pieces of the puzzle are a series of images representing the shared values and passions of the region – food, wine, art and maritime history, as well as icons that are unique to the regions. So out of the Basque Country comes Frank Gehry’s famous Guggenheim building, while in Barcelona, the capital of Catalunya, we have Gehry’s magnificent beachside Peix fish.

Separatism: Catalonia and the Basque Country (2009, Oil on canvas, © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown)

Representing the Basque town of Saint Sebastian, I have painted a conch shell pierced by arrows (St. Seb’s bay is known as La Concha because of its curving shape), while Gaudi’s iconic Sagrada Familia takes centre stage in this painting, with a dual purpose as a fork on which a juicy salsa drizzled prawn is poised; symbol of the gastronomic prowess of both regions. Meanwhile, further reference to Catalunya’s artistic prowess is made in the broken egg, representing Catalunya born Salvador Dali, while around the canvas, various symbols of Gaudi are represented, from his Passeig de Gracia paving slabs on the left, to the Casa Mila chimney which emerges atop of a bottle of fine Rioja wine.

Of course there’s violence too, with an illustration of the ETA bombings over on the right; symbol of the violent means which some separatist idealist have gone to to make their point, as well as the spiralling energetic core of the painting – a further demonstration of the plethora of cultural, social and historical influences which have made the regions as richly divergent as they are today.

And for those of you who would like to see this painting closer at hand, it will be on exhibition, along with the rest of my España Volver series at London’s Strand Gallery between 13-18 May. More details can be found here.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Nicholas de Lacy-Brown’s new solo exhibition, When (S)pain became the Norm, will be at London’s Strand Gallery from 13 – 18 May 2014. For more details, click here.

Mar 12

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My Barcelona, on canvas: Port Vell

Back in 2007, when I had finished 5 years of full time legal studies and was waiting for my professional training to begin, I decided to take advantage of having a certain amount of time on my hands both to travel as much as possible, and to teach myself how to paint in oils (having thus far painted largely in acrylic). The two things inevitably combined, and having travelled to a few cities in Spain and beyond when venturing to and from my family home in Marbella, I decided to test out the results I could achieve in oil paint by working on a series of cityscapes and landscapes based on those travels. You saw my Venice paintings which I worked on around this time. Having mastered that watery city, I decided to move on to a series of seaside cities, and Barcelona was top of my list.

It was therefore as part of that series that I painted this work of the Port Vell. As yesterday’s post showed, Port Vell is part of the expansive marina and beach which now provides Barcelona with a beautiful Mediterranean facade where previously (pre-1992 Olympics) there was only a heavily industrialised port. Being filled with yachts of many shapes and sizes, this painting would have been a challenge for the most seasoned of oil painters, but for me, a mere beginner, it presented even more of a challenge. I was nevertheless pleased with the resulting work, which captures, I think, something of the compact collection of yachts which fill Barcelona’s marina, as well as illustrating something of a transitional weather effect as the sun begins to shine from under the passage of a thick layer of grey cloud.

Seascape VI: Port Vell, Barcelona (2007 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

Strangely, despite making 7 visits to the city, I have only painted Barcelona twice. While I’ll give you a glimpse of the second work sometime soon, I think that further Barcelona creations are somewhat begging. Watch this space.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Mar 10

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Post 500: Norms at La Pedrera, Barcelona

I am celebrating the publication of my 500th post on The Daily Norm! It’s unbelievable to think that I have sat at my computer over the last 2 and a half years, and typed out such a mammoth number of posts for my Daily Norm readers. But writing this blog has become such a naturally occurring, integral accompaniment to my life that frankly, my surprise at seeing 500 posts notched up is on a level with my daily surprise when I realise how quickly a year is passing. Still, there can be no complacency about the achievement of reaching this very significant hallmark in my blogging history, and a huge thanks has to go out to all of my readers and followers – somethings I feel like I really struggle to give back as much thanks and support as you deserve, but your readership really is important to me. As for the blog – well what a life changer it has been. To have this platform to share my thoughts, my creativity, my sketches, prints, photos and paintings – well it has made so much of what I do in my own little world worth the effort. After all, doesn’t every creative always yearn for an audience?

So what better way to celebrate my blogging achievement than to share a brand new insight on the world of “the Norms”, the characters who were the whole reason I set up this blog in the first place. Today we join the Norms in the beautiful Spanish city of Barcelona, which is a coincidence, because of course I have only come back from the city myself. Here we see the Norms visiting one of the most famous buildings created by architect genius Antoni Gaudi, La Pedrera (otherwise known as the Casa Mila). Famed for its quarry like facade and its tiled chimneys which look more like whipped meringue nests, La Pedrera is a masterpiece of modernist architecture and a much loved tourist destination for the Norms, not least because one of the chimneys appears to bear a very striking resemblance to a Norm…

Norms at La Pedrera (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

So from the Norms in Barcelona, to my own trip to the city, join me later this week on The Daily Norm as I make headway through the next 500 posts of my blog which I cannot wait to write, and share with you. See you then!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Feb 26

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Aix: City of a Thousand Fountains

After a week of “sneak peeks” via my delacybrownart twitter feed, I am delighted to be able to share with you the final and complete image of my major new oil painting on canvas – Aix: City of a Thousand Fountains. Started shortly after I returned from my first visit to the stunning Provençal city last summer, I set out to capture something of the sun drenched joie de vivre which Aix excuses by the bucket in a work which eventually took me 7 months to complete.

As the painting’s title suggests, the work plays on a well known descriptive adage which notes that the city is one of “a thousand fountains”. While that may be something of an exaggeration, the motivation behind the statement can be well understood – one of the most notable features of the city is indeed its plentiful and elaborate fountains, one situated in what seems to be every square and street, in the middle of junctions and on street corners. It really is a city where water flourishes; where splashing running currents sparkle playfully in the sun.

But in choosing to symbolise several of these many fountains, I decided to play with the themes somewhat, combining those fountains with the very predominant cafe culture which is an integral aspect of the city’s character, and which fills it’s many multi-coloured shuttered squares with life. It is in one such square that my work is set, a square which also plays host to a series of Provençal shops and peeling old vintage adverts upon the walls. And there, on the typically dressed chequered tablecloths of cafe tables, my fountains, rather than plates, are the dish of the day.

Aix: City of a Thousand Fountains (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

Meanwhile no painting of Aix-en-Provence could be complete without a reference to the magnificent Mont Sainte-Victoire, the mountain which so seduced and fascinated the artist Cézanne for years (resulting in a series of canvases which continue to be his most enduring works) and which features monumentally in my work, dominating the upper half of the canvas. I remember so well that moment when, last summer, my partner and I climbed up the steep hills north of the city to the exact place where Cézanne used to paint the view of the mountain which obsessed him the most – and turning to see that same breathtaking visage which had so captivated this master of modern painting. It was at that moment that I knew I had to make my own homage to that incredible view, and that brilliant artist – and it was at that time when this painting was born.

The keen-eyed amongst you may also notice that I have included a further homage to Cézanne, by featuring his famous card players sat at one of my café tables, as well as a whole host of other details which I now share with you in the gallery of details featured below. Hopefully you will enjoy looking at the individual aspects of this painting as much as I enjoyed painting them. It was, with every brush stroke, like revisiting my holiday to Aix afresh, and for that reason alone, it was surely worth the 7 months slog to complete it.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Feb 24

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Ripples 2: Venice (Rio della Guerra)

With my solo exhibition fast approaching, I am going full steam ahead in an attempt to get my collection ready for its big unveiling this May. Not only am I working concurrently on three oil and acrylic canvases, but I also have several gouache works, a new woodcut edition, and old woodcut edition, a new etching and several Norm sketches on the go. It’s a daunting task trying to get all of those works completed in less than 3 months (with the fact that I work full time as a lawyer also being something of an issue…), but I am happy to say that the factory process is in full flow, churning out the works at a steady and pleasing pace (factory = me). As if by way of demonstration, this week I will be sharing not one, but two new paintings with you – one which sees the completion of an ambitious canvas which I started way back last summer, and the second, today’s, which I begun only a few weeks ago.

Yes, hot on the heels of my Natale Italiano posts, and my obsession with the abstract forms created by rippled water, as subsequently demonstrated in my posts on ripples photographs, paintings, my recent woodcut, and in the first of my new gouache ripples collection, I now present the second gouache painting of the series: Ripples 2: Venice (Rio della Guerra).

Ripples 2: Venice (Rio della Guerra) 2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper

As with the first piece, this painting focuses on the rippled reflection, rather than showing both the reflection and the scenery it reflects. Focusing on the ripples rather than on the real world above them means that the viewer is left with the more abstract image which nature creates, causing one to question what is actually being shown in the image when seen at a first glance. Is it just an unplanned abstract image, or something more illustrative? It is only after some time that you then realise that what this painting shows is the underside of a bridge, an iron railing, and a building punctuated by windows behind it, albeit rippled into a charmingly haphazard abstract form.

I’m so excited by the prospect of a world in ripples that I could go on painting them forever. The only trouble is, I don’t think they’ll actually be on show at my solo show in May, which means I should really start concentrating on other works. As to which – come back a little later in the week, to see the work which will be central to my solo exhibition in May.

Until then, have a great week.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com

Feb 17

New painting alert! – A week of sneaky-peeks on twitter

I make no secret of the fact that I am a great creative, spending hours of every day and week creating, whether it be sketching, painting or printing, or further afield cooking up feasts in the kitchen or closely acquainting myself with my camera. However, since starting work full-time two years ago, the rate at which I complete the large scale oil paintings which I used to create on a regular basis, and many of which will be on display at my forthcoming solo exhibition, has really slowed. Last year’s Autorretrato took me around 9 months to complete, and the work which I turned to shortly after completing that one – my painted exploration of Aix-en-Provence in the South of France was commenced as long ago as last summer.

So it is with a great degree of excitement that I am but mere brushstrokes away from completing this homage to Aix which I have been working on tirelessly (on and off, admittedly) for the last 6 months. Fairly large in scale (1oocm x 75cm) and big on detail, it was always going to be a fairly ambitious project, containing as it does a landscape and cityscape all rolled into one together with illustrations of some 9 of the city’s famous fountains as well as a number of shops and cafes.

As I approach the completion of that work, I wanted to share the excitement with you, and what better way to do that than share some exclusive peeks of the details of the work? Starting from today, I will be sharing one glimpse a day of my new painting – it’ll be a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, with little pieces of the work being released day by day before the whole painting is unveiled next week. But while the first peek is contained here on this post, it’ll be the only one – for all of the rest, you’ll need to check out my twitter, @DeLacyBrownArt, from which I will be posting a new detail of the painting every day this week. And as if that weren’t incentive enough to follow me, my twitter will also tell you whenever a new Daily Norm post is published!

Aix: City of a Thousand Paintings (2013-4 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas) Detail - Ribbons!

So please do check out my twitter, and come back again to The Daily Norm soon to see the complete image of my brand new oil painting. Arghhh, the excitement!!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. 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.delacy-brown.com