Norms | The Daily Norm

Jun 5

Norms in Dubrovnik | Tourist Norms on the City Walls

Dubrovnik is, unsurprisingly, a very popular tourist destination. Thousands pour into the tiny old town encased within its thick stone walls every day, and the thousands have now become tens of thousands owing to the popularity of the TV series, Game of Thrones, which is filmed there. It’s not uncommon to see a whole cluster of cruise liners docked off the coast shunting out boat loads of tourists to explore the city – my taxi driver told me that some days they have to cope with as many as 6 cruise liners, each with several thousand passengers, visiting the city in a single day. And this is on top of the many hundreds of tourists who head to the city every year under their own steam. And where is the first place that these tourist hoards head to? The city walls.

From the unique vantage point offered to us by the Stari Grad Hotel nestled in the centre of the old town, we were able to see several sections of the city walls. When we headed up to breakfast close after 8am the walls were pretty quiet, but by 9pm they were starting to fill, as group after group of tour-led travellers started walking in single file along the top of the narrow walls. By lunchtime there were so many people along the walls that the masses looked like an extra line of masonry.

Tourist Norms visit the Walls of Dubrovnik (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

In Norm-world, the Norms are facing exactly the same problems as they too head up the step of Dubrovnik’s walls (bouncing as they go) to visit this renowned medieval attraction. Here in my latest Dubrovnik sketch, we see the Norms being bustled along the walls by various tour guides; a stream of tourist Norms so extensive that you can see them reaching all the way around the walls as far as the eye can see. But just look at the incredible view the Norms get from that unique vantage point: the sea of terracotta roofs on one side, and the sparkling Adriatic on the other. That has to be worth the tourist-Norm cram along the walls of Dubrovnik.

© 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

May 30

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Norms in Dubrovnik | Fishernorm in the Brsalje Harbour

Amongst the mystical rocks and the shallow still waters of the Brsalje Harbour in Dubrovnik, Croatia, barely a soul is stirring. The crystal clear waters of the Adriatic lap so gently upon the small beach there that their placid rolling motion is more like a tender embrace licking clean the smooth white pebbles of the shore. Even at the deepest sections of the harbour, the fishes seem to be hypnotised into a mid-afternoon slumber, swimming gently in slow motion, quietly transfigured by the sparkling ripples created by the afternoon sun. On the many rocks, small crabs are similarly somnolent, happily ensconced by the waters edge, soaking up a few Mediterranean rays. And across the bay, a little boat lies in waiting, neither moving nor occupied, a reminder of the activity which at times fills these waters but which today has been abandoned in favour of siesta time.

Amongst this scene of blissful inactivity, the only movement is from the one occupant of the bay, although even he, this little fishernorm idly fishing by the water’s edge, is struggling to fight the waves of fatigue spilling over him. Yet occasionally, one of those otherwise contented fishes explores curiously the little worm hanging down from the fishernorm’s road, stirring the mirrored waters with the perfect circles of a ripple as its tail flicks this way and that, before abandoning this inevitable means of entrapment.

Fishernorm in the Brsalje Harbour, Dubrovnik (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

Yes, here is the first of my sketches showing how the Norms, too, have discovered the stunning city of Dubrovnik. While many tourist Norms will of course be bobbling along the extensive city walls, one must always remember that Norms like nothing more than a little inertia of a warm afternoon. And this little fishernorm’s idea of fishing in the beautiful Brsalje harbour looks like a fine one to me. Let’s just hope that in all that beautiful tranquillity all around him, he doesn’t nod off and roll into the water.

© 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

May 11

Countdown to my new Solo Exhibition | 2 days – Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe

As my new collection of Norms started to gain momentum, and I started to amass a series of Norm sketches and new Norm paintings including yesterday’s featured work, Flamenco Norm, I started to take inspiration from the art that had gone before me. Not my art, but the art of the great masters of art history past. The first of art history’s masterpieces to get my “Norm” treatment was none other than Velazquez’s Infanta series. This was followed by Degas’ L’Absinthe, Frans Hals Laughing Cavalier, Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait and Da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine. But of all art history’s masterpieces, there is one work which I had always wanted to emulate, but had never quite put my finger on how I could represent it in my own style. Now that the Norms were back, I had the key to the problem. And the painting? Why Manet’s Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe.

Massively controversial in its day, famously rejected from the 1863 Paris Salon and lampooned in the Salon des Refusés that same year, Manet’s picnic masterpiece with its mysterious conjunction of two dressed men and a totally naked woman is well established as having marked a turning point for modern art; for having inspired the Impressionists to forge a new revolutionary path in the art world; and for exposing hitherunto hidden social realities in a world of artifical society niceties. It’s a painting which has been emulated and reworked by artist after artist, Picasso being perhaps the most famous to do so. And now it’s my turn – and that of my Norms.

Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe (after Manet) 2012, © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

My Norm Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe was painted in 2012, and with its abundant picnic full of delicious delicacies of the age, it’s certainly one of my more complex Norm paintings. It’s also the biggest at 100 x 80cm. However while the composition very closely emulates Manet’s original, the colour palette is completely changed, and it is perhaps this element which I feel is the work’s greatest success.

Now the painting is wrapped in bubbles; it’s corners are specially protected and it is getting ready to travel for the first time, a few miles north into central london where it will be displayed in pride of place amongst my new collection of solo works. For in only 2 days my new solo exhibition of paintings and prints will open at London’s Strand Gallery. Please come along and share in the last 6 years of my work. In the meantime take a look at the gallery below featuring all 15 of my Norm works based on the geniuses of art history. Enjoy!

: Infanta Norm (after Velazquez) 2011 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Absinthe Norm (after Degas) 2011 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Card Player Norms (after Manet) 2013 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Norm with an Ermine (after Da Vinci) 2011 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: The Opera Kiss (after Doisneau) 2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: The Rokeby Norm (after Velazquez) 2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Van Gogh Norm (2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown)

: Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe (after Manet) 2012, © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Manet Norms at Cappuccino Marbella (2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown)

: Nevermore Norm (after Gauguin), 2013 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: The Kiss (after Klimt), 2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Laughing Cavalier Norm (after Frans Hals), 2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: 3 May 1808 (after Goya) 2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Madonna Litta Norms (after Da Vinci) 2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

: Norm with a Pearl Earing (after Vermeer) 2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown

© 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.

May 10

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Countdown to my new Solo Exhibition | 3 days – Flamenco Norm

In 2005 when I was studying law at university, I started doodling The Norm. It was a character straight out of my imagination, but inspired by Kelsen’s Theory of Normativity which I was studying in jurisprudence. The inspiration wasn’t so much garnered from topic, which was inherently boring, but more out of the need to distract myself from falling asleep in lectures. With the advent of the Norm came a series of paintings, exhibited in 2006 at my Sussex solo exhibition, Between Me and My Reflection, before the collection dried up.

The next stage of this important Norm story is November 2011. I was on a career break, waiting for a new job to begin, and wondering how to make the most of the time suddenly available to me. It was my friend Cassandra who suggested that I rejuvinate the Norms, some 5 years after I had last painted them. The idea was sewn, and this very blog, The Daily Norm, was the result. I posted my first ever article on 14 November 2011, and from that moment onwards I went into artistic overdrive, drawing, painting and designing Norms for this blog.

Flamenco Norm (2011 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, acrylic on canvas)

One of the first creations of the Norm rebirth was this painting: Flamenco Norm. Painting on the tail-end of my Spanish collection, and in fact created while I was in my house in Marbella, this painting represents the perfect transition between the Spanish section of my new London exhibition (starting in 3 days!) and the most comprehensive section of the whole show: my Norms! With its deep yellow cracking walls covered with flamenco memorabilia, its bare bulb and wooden floor, this to me is the typical Spanish flamenco setting, while the melancholy guitar and the energetic swish of the flamenco dress represents the heart and soul of this vibrant indefatigable dance. It’s still one of my favourite Norm paintings.

So as the title of my new exhibition, When (S)pain became the Norm, apty represents, this was the period when both pain, and spain transcended into a new era of Norms which has been growing strong ever since. See the entire collection at my new solo show – opening on Tuesday.

© 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.

May 2

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Norms: The Saints Collection | Saint Jerome

Of all the stories of saints which I came across when first studying art history in my gap year, and re-encountered subsequently in my travels around some of the best of Europe’s art galleries, my favourite has always been Saint Jerome. Generally this is because in depictions of the Saint, Jerome is shown kindly tending to the paw of a lion (I am a Leo after all). So the legend goes, he tamed a lion because he had managed to remove a thorn from the poor Lion’s paw. On subsequent investigations, I have learned that this may not have been the legend of Saint Jerome at all, and that in actual fact, the same is said of Saint Gerasimus whose name is confusingly similar to the latin for Jerome, “Geronimus”. But Lion or otherwise, this kindly saint is also famous for being one of the most learned of all the famous figures of Christianity, and for the fact that in the course of his theologising, he was the first to translate the bible into Latin. For this reason the saint is likewise traditionally depicted surrounded by books and the other paraphernalia of study.

So in illustrating my latest Norm of the Norm Saints Collection, I have ensured that my Jerome Norm is accompanied by both the sad wounded lion, and the books and scrolls of study which are an ever constant in this Saint Norm’s life. His little study looks so cosy, I could quite happily take that lion’s place and spend a little time by Jerome Norm’s side, reading books and having my paws tended to. You can keep the thorn though.

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

This is likely to be the last Norm of the Norm Saints Collection for a while – after all, my new solo art exhibition at the Strand Gallery in London beckons in just over a week. But hopefully more will follow in the future, when the divine intervention of all the Norm saints inspires me…

© 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.

Apr 30

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Semana Santa: Norms attend a Procession

In 2012, I embarked on the ultimate of Norm sketches, when I set about working on this extra large sketch of Norms attending one of Marbella’s Semana Santa processions. After much labouring on this sketch which is some 4 times larger than the scale I usually work to, I declared the sketch complete, but was never overly happy with the results. For me, the proliferation of white and pale tonal shades meant that the details were getting lost – the main parading figures at the centre for example couldn’t be all that easily distinguished from the crowd collected around the parade.

Two years later, and having expanded into the use of a greater range of grey tones starting with my Nativity Norms and then extending into my Norm Saints collection, I decided to go back to this sketch and give it a whole new tonal overview. So taking the sketch carefully out of its frame, I set about adding new shadows, colouring the sky and the ground, the tunics of the Nazarenos, and even adding touches of gold. The result in a sketch which I am so much happier with. The tonal contrast now encourages a greater narrative of the procession, and focuses the audience first on the parading figures, and only then the watching crowd. The use of darker tones on the ground means that the figures are now much more distinguishable, while the use of varying colours on the buildings does likewise with the crowd.

Semana Santa – Norms attend a procession – the 2012 original (© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

Semana Santa – Norms attend a procession – the 2014 revamp (© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

It may have taken 2 years to get right but hey, the result was worth the wait!

© 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.

Apr 18

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Norms: The Saints Collection | The Crucifixion

It’s an image which is famous around the world; a depiction full of pathos, tragedy and the pain but glory of salvation: It is the crucifixion of Jesus, the event which sits at the centre of the Christian religion.

In depicting lately a series of Norms based on the art historical tradition of religious-themed paintings, I could not pass by the opportunity to create a Norm version of this crucial Christian scene. With its dark skies and bleak landscape, it is an image which evokes the full drama and horror of one of art’s most famous portrayals, while the hope of salvation which the event brought Christian believers everywhere is symbolised through the presence of angels. One in fact is charged with gathering up the blood dripping from Jesus-Norm’s wound; a representation of the fact that intrinsic to the core belief of transubstantiation, his blood becomes the wine of the Holy Communion and vice versa.

To his right and left, the two convicted thieves who died at his side are present, one depicted, as per tradition, as the good thief seeking salvation from Jesus, while the other is depicted as the bad thief, mocking Christ for giving into his fate. Meanwhile at the foot of Jesus Norm’s cross are the figures who consistently feature in depictions of the crucifixion – Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene, and St John the Apostle.

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

For anyone religious looking at this work, take note that this is not an attempt to dilute the sanctity of this religious festival, but rather, as is the central aim of my blog, to reference and reinvent art history and the most popular depictions in art. There is no greater scene than the crucifixion to get across the Christian message in art, and my Norm version has to be amongst my favourite of all my Norm sketches. Happy Easter everyone.

© 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 17

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Norms: The Saints Collection | St Patrick

Today the Guinness pumps will be flowing into overdrive, the kicking legs of an Irish jig will get a good showing, and green velvet hats all over the world will be dusted off to celebrate the national day of Ireland, St Patrick’s day. For while this may be the celebration of the Irish nation, its festive effect has a habit of spreading much further afield – to the US, where so much American ancestry can be traced back to the Emerald Isle; to Australia, where the locals are only too happy to swap their mainstay larger for a pint of the black stuff; and of course across the Continent, where Irish bars can be found nestled comfortably between tapas bars, trattorias and bistros alike in almost every European city.

So while revellers everywhere start sipping upon the white creamy froth of their Guinness, there seems to be no better time than now to share the newest Norm of my Norm saints series – St Patrick Norm himself!

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

With its typical Irish coastal landscape, a small growth of shamrocks and even a little rain, the absence of green in this monochrome sketch is the only ingredient missing in what is otherwise a characteristically Irish scene. And most iconic of all is of course St Patrick himself, who, legend has it, helped to rid Ireland of snakes by driving the pesky beasts into the Atlantic sea. Well thank goodness he didn’t opt for the other coast, or we in England may have been none too pleased about the influx of scaly visitors slipping onto out shores after their trip across the waters.

Happy St Patrick’s Day to all, in Ireland and everywhere!

© 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.