Painting | The Daily Norm

Jul 11

Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 3: Positano III (cluster on the upper road)

Following hot on the heels of my photographic post on Positano’s upper mountain passages is the third of my Positano paintings it inspired. Unlike my previous two works of Positano, both of which included the sea and the beach as prominent compositional elements, this one concentrates solely on Positano’s mountainous backdrop as it focuses on a cluster of houses on the town’s upper mountain road. With its resulting rocky background and not a slice of sea or sky in sight, the group of pastel houses collected onto the mountain side is even more striking set against these dark and looming surroundings, emphasising just how striking a sight is created by a small town built upon the steep sides of huge imposing mountains.

I kept this painting as simple as possible, and even though the mountains have the appearance of craggy complexity, the brain is doing most of the work here – for in reality I have painted neither shade nor light into the purple mountain – only the impression of texture as created by the strategic placement of green detailing indicating where the mountain’s verdant plant life would be. It’s an effect which I find altogether pleasing, and a simplicity which ultimately does all of the work which a more detailed illustration would provide. Yet in this simpler form it seems altogether cleaner and more contemporary – and for that reason I love it.

Positano III (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

© 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

Jul 9

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 2: Positano II (the other side of town)

So excited was I by my first gouache interpretation of the Italian town of Positano, that as soon as I had completed it, I started another. This one is based on the other side of town, Positano viewed from the densely packed cluster of houses which had inspired the first painting, with only the rooftops of that view visible in the immediate foreground. Otherwise, the town’s iconic domed duomo takes centre stage in this depiction of the town, alongside a number of buildings which, like before, are stripped back to their basic cubic elements, devoid of all of the architectural details which might have spoilt the simplicity of the image. Meanwhile, in the background, the awe-inspiring silhouette of the Amalfi Coast’s mountainous scenery fades gradually off into the background, towards the little white-washed down of Praiano.

Positano II (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

© 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

Jul 3

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 1: Positano I (viewed from the beach)

Having seen my post of photos on yesterday’s Daily Norm, and perhaps even my photos of the incredible views which we were lucky enough to enjoy for our week’s stay at the Palazzo Talamo Hotel, you will easy to understand why I was inspired to create by the town of Positano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Not only is the town a picture perfect dazzlement of beautiful houses clustered against a vast imposing mountain backdrop, but it is also a riot of pastel colours in an otherwise natural landscape of verdant greenery and sheer greyish purple rock. The most striking thing about Positano is the fact that the small town appears to defy nature as a small cluster of dwellings clinging, almost like limpits, to the sheer side of the otherwise inhospitable mountain sides. The effect is a stark and beautiful contrast between the man-made regularised geometric forms of buildings and the irregular looming presence of the nature-made mountains, and it was this contrast which struck me the most as I set about painting my first homage to the town.

Positano I (viewed from the beach) (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Stretched out on the beach a day after our arrival, I started work on this piece: Positano I (viewed from the beach). Using simplified geometric forms and stripping away all of the details which otherwise characterise the houses and hotels of Positano (windows, balconies and so on), this painting purposefully reduces the buildings of Positano to their most basic cubic form in order to emphasise the contrast between rigid geometry and rugged mountain, all the while expressing the beauty of Positano’s very colourful cluster of houses. The result is a painting I love. Made in gouache on paper, for me its colours and sunshine brightness sum up the mediterranean mood, while the geometric gathering of cubes echoes the shape of this small town which makes it so unique on much publicised postcards and travel guides throughout the world.

As with all of my travel-inspired art works, this painting gave me great satisfaction to create, all the more so because it was started on the beach and completed on my balcony with a view. Now who can ask for a better art studio than that?

© 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 23

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Norms do… Marie Antoinette

There have been many famous female figures in history: Mother Theresa, Queen Elizabeth II, Florence Nightingale, Marilyn Monroe, Cleopatra – but of all history’s matriarchal icons, my favourite of all time has to be Marie Antoinette. Born Archduchess of Austria and later Queen to France’s doomed Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette’s iconic fame arises, not because of any kind of historical achievement on her part, but because of her reputation for lavish excess, sky-high hair, massive abundant dresses, and a complete self-indulgent profligacy which saw her building herself miniature villages, vast gardens, living in extravagant palaces and dressing in only the finest fabrics – and all this at a time when France was crumbling on the brink of revolution.

Famous for supposedly uttering “Let them eat cake” when told that the poor of France had no bread (although there is no documentary evidence that she ever did so), Marie Antoinette’s renowned excess could not go on forever in the instability of French society at the time, and eventually it became her ultimate downfall, all the way to the guilotine. No doubt this ignominious end is crucial to why Marie Antoinette has become such a legendary figure, together with her towering powdered wigs, vast horizontal dresses and of course a token beauty spot.

Well, as I was preparing for the show stopping highlight of the Norm collection of my recent London solo exhibition, I thought about how I could create a climax to my collection which would ultimately hang at the very end of my show. And being as I already had a super-elaborate Versaille-style gilt frame begging for a new canvas, it seemed that only one Norm would fit the bill: Marie Antoinette Norm.

Marie Antoinette Norm (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, acrylic on canvas)

While the eagel-eyed amongst you may have already spotted her residing in my show in the photos I have shared, here Marie Antoinette Norm, the result of several weeks labour in acrylic on canvas, is presented for the first time. Surrounded by all of the paraphernalia of her power and royal station, together with her iconic high wig, beauty spot and over-sized silk-ruffled skirt, my Marie Antoinette Norm is the very embodiment of the character who has been famed throughout history. She is even holding a piece of cake by way of illustration of her most famous (if historically doubtful) utterance.

The painting, with all of the fabrics and grand interiors typical of the time, was not the easiest to paint, and I found that to make the painting look older, I had to really knock back a lot of the brightness of shop bought colours. Still at its finish I am wholeheartedly delighted with this most glamourous of Norms – the fitting end to a collection of art historical figures all translated into Norm world.

At the exhibition

© 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 12

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Countdown to my new Solo Exhibition | 1 day – Ready to go!

I can’t believe it. After almost as many months of planning and preparation as it takes to make a baby, my baby – my new solo art exhibition When (S)pain became the Norm at London’s Strand Gallery – is finally upon us. Today I will be heading into the gallery to set up the show which comprises 105 displayed and framed works, and an additional 65 unframed mounted works – all for sale, of course.

The exhibition is the result of 6 years of hard creative slog. It’s testament to the constant workings of my imagination, and the unrelenting desire to be creating, whether it be on canvas or paper. Each painting or print has a detailed comprehensive story which is told through the combination of colours and form, and in its overall composition, while each Norm illustration has itself been used to tell or accompany a story on this very blog. All in all, from today onwards, London’s Strand Gallery will be filled with 105 windows onto another world, inviting viewers to enter in and go on a little journey within each work.

Preparations for the show

So as I commence the final piece of my journey towards getting my show open to the world, the final piece of the jigsaw is YOU – without viewers with whom I can share my work, the exhibition will not be ultimately successful. Like any artist, I need my works to be seen – I want people to see my view of the world, even if it is only for a few days. And of course, I need to sell, so that my work can spread beyond the boundaries of my art-filled home to bring colour and life to others. So please do put the details of my exhibition in your diary and come along to central London to share in the world of De Lacy-Brown Art for a moment or two. It won’t be the same without you.

The exhibition is on at The Strand Gallery, 32 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6BP from 13 – 18 May 2014. The gallery is open daily 11am – 7pm with early closure on Sunday. See you there!

© 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.

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

Jan 17

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Venice: My paintings (Part 3) – The Rialto

As The Daily Norm waves goodbye to Venice (for now at least – I feel the need to return in warmer climes to capture the city endowed by blue skies and glittering sunshine), I thought it an appropriate time to share two artistic reflections on the city’s grand canal with you, both created by my own fair hand.

The first piece is a painting which marked the climax of my small Venice series of paintings, the previous four of which I have already shared with you in previous posts. More akin to a traditional Canaletto style of work, I painted this reflection on the grand central canal of Venice shortly after visiting the city in 2007. This painting is not so much about the ripples or the details of the buildings or gondolas, but about the grandeur and beauty of the city when considered from one of its most popular viewpoints –here from atop the famous Rialto Bridge.

Venice V (2007 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

I was so pleased with the finish of this work – the effect of light on the water in these dying hours of a sunny winter’s day in the city. The work, which I painted in oil on canvas, was sold shortly after completion, and now hangs in a solicitors firm in Sussex.

Meanwhile, talking of the Rialto Bridge, I thought I would also return to another of my works, albeit this time one of my Norm sketches completed in a completely different style and medium – this time in pen and ink on paper. This small sketch was completed in 2012 as part of a series of Italy Norm sketches which included Rome, Florence, Pisa, the Vatican and Sicily, and the original can now be found hanging in a small town by the Mediterranean sea in Tuscany along with the rest of the series. The sketch, which shows Norm tourists and gondoliers alike slowly ambling along the Grand Canal under the architecturally renowned Rialto Bridge, was originally featured on this blog in July 2012 – but 18 months on, I think it’s only right that it gets a good airing.

Norms in Venice (2012 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and ink on paper)

My head is now filled with the prospect of new Venetian paintings – hopefully I’ll be featuring one on The Daily Norm soon!

© 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