Painting | The Daily Norm

Sep 21

Ocho Balcones (No.6): Angled Perspective

This sixth gouache in my collection, Ocho Balcones, is all about angles. Viewed from a seated position in our dining room, and with a door open to the right, the street outside another of our balconies benefits from a sloping reflection and a slightly different perspective from the rest of the collection. And since it is viewed from below, this painting is the first of the set to include the bright blue sky which so often graces the beautiful views we enjoy in our Mallorca home. Glowing with all its unmistakeable Mediterranean glory, the sky marks a striking contrast against the dark interior whose moody shadows frame this 6th balcony view.

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

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Sep 14

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Ocho Balcones (No.5): The Summer Bathroom

The fifth gouache painting of my collection Ocho Balcones is not strictly speaking a balcony. That is to say the window it features sits right next door to the fifth balcony of our apartment, located within the light bathroom we loved to use in the summer. But with its square framing, this window provides a far more interesting reflection on the same view, not least because on the windowsill sits my first and only ever completed sculpture of a female nude created some 4 years ago and delicately transported out to Mallorca from London.

I love the time of the day when the sun hits the buildings opposite at an angle and the result is a striped sun dance bouncing across the coloured facades. And now that the effect is captured in my painting, I can rest assured that even with the changing seasons, a little slice of summertime in the old town of Palma has been captured to enjoy, siempre.

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

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Sep 7

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Ocho Balcones (No.4): The Longest View

Another Monday heralds the next instalment in my Ocho Balcones collection, the gouaches on paper which attempt to capture the mood and views of my Mallorca apartment. As is typical of many of the buildings in the old town of Palma de Mallorca, ours is nestled quite closely to neighbouring buildings, such that the view from our balconies is generally quite close to our fellow neighbours mere metres across the way. This makes for a wonderfully interesting spectacle on occasions when, in the trend of James Stewart in Hitchcock’s Rear Window, we are able to observe glimpses of the varying lives of our neighbours (and more embarrassing, vice versa).

However, not all our views are thus, and today’s gouache captures “The Longest View”… the street opposite our lounge which gives us an amazing panorama all the way down a small side street onto the little bustling square at its end. And just in case you were in any doubt that the view is from our home, in the foreground, our plants and recently acquired Aristotle-looking bust frame the image, likewise enjoying the vertical strip of old town which can be so admired from our fourth balcony.

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

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Aug 31

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Ocho Balcones (No.3): Kitchen Contrast

After two weeks, it has become something of a new tradition to begin the week with the latest addition of my new collection of gouache paintings, Ocho Balcone. Named after the 8 balconies which I get to enjoy every day in my Palma de Mallorca flat, it is particularly pertinent that their bright colours should start off the week afresh in this blog, since in reality it is the cheer of these sunny views which makes the prospect of working after the weekend a little more bearable.

This Monday’s painting is the third in the collection, and depicts the balcony immediately adjacent to our kitchen. I love the time of the day when the sun on the yellow building opposite is so bright that the colours of the inside of my kitchen pale by way of comparison. This painting is an attempt to capture this contrast, when, with the harsh glow of sunlight dominating from outside, the inside of my kitchen becomes something of a monochrome version of its former self.

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

More to come, next Monday!

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Aug 24

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Ocho Balcones (No.2): Cables in the Calle

Another week has begun, time continues to traverse its fleeting path through the year, and it’s time for me to present this week’s second addition to my new Ocho Balcones collection: a series of small gouache paintings illustrating the views which I am lucky enough to enjoy from the 8 balconies of my Palma de Mallorca flat.

Today’s view is has a much more narrow field of vision than the first. The balcony from which the aspect is seen is not even in view. Instead, the painting focuses in on a particular aspect of this view from our dining table, namely the electricity (or are they telephone?) cables which are so characteristic of the old town of Palma, and which hang directly outside our apartment.

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

From the first day we moved into this flat last autumn, I have been fascinated by these cables which hang at the same level as our apartment, and which provide a divertingly original aspect to an otherwise colourful view of pastel houses and the typical Mallorquin green shutters. Enveloped in some kind of striped cloth, they almost look like a complex form of flag pole suspended midair over the street. In reality I have no idea what the cables are for, nor what function the striped material has. I only know that I love to look at these structures each day, and thoroughly enjoyed capturing them in this second sunny scene from my new gouache collection.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Aug 21

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Interpretation No. 15 – Malaga

The week ends as it begun, with the introduction of another of my new little paintings, created comparatively quickly (that is, in relation to my oil works) with gouache on paper, and inspired by another stunning landscape of the Mediterranean. As with the other works in my collection of “interpretations” which began back last summer on the Amalfi Coast, my landscape of Malaga attempts to simplify the forms of the landscape by stripping out many of the architectural details, while using flat areas of colour to delineate architectural forms and their contrast with the haphazard lines of nature around them.

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

My photos on Wednesday will hopefully help to persuade you as to why the southernmost large Spanish city of Malaga should have brought out the artist within me, and in creating this 15th interpretative landscape, I have attempted to catch the city at one of its most alluring times, when the sun has set to create a golden backdrop to the diverse architectural shapes of the city: from the baroque majesty of the “one-armed lady” (the cathedral) to the simplified robust walls of the ancient moorish Alcazaba palace.

© 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.delacy-brown.com

Aug 17

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Ocho Balcones (No.1): From the bedroom

Beloved readers of The Daily Norm may remember that during my recent blissful honeymoon, I painted a group of bedroom views which collectively became knowns as The Honeymoon Suite, for obvious reasons. I would never have thought that something so simple as a bedroom and its view might provide such potent inspiration, but then again, I am a home-loving man, and this applies as much to my trips away as to when I am in my own humble abode… and the cosier the bedroom, the happier, and consequently inspired, I feel within it.

Somewhat ironically, it took a trip away from Mallorca for me to realise just how inspirational are the surroundings of my home here in the beautiful city of Palma, and soon enough I set about painting a new collection, still very much in the production line, of views from my apartment. I am lucky enough to live in a home benefitting from some 8 little balconies, and hence my collection of the super-colourful street views we enjoy from those balconies is appropriately named: Ocho Balcones. Today I present you with the first – the view from our bedroom.

Ocho Balcones (No.1): From the bedroom (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2015. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included on this website without express and written permission from Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is strictly prohibited. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jul 29

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The Honeymoon Suite III: Bedroom at the Arai Barcelona

My Honeymoon Suite series was never intended to be a suite of paintings as such – it all started with a moment’s inspiration at La Colombe d’Or which then led to a second manifestation when we moved hotels to Cagnes-sur-Mer. Having therefore established, in that second work, something of a trend, I knew that a third and final addition to the series was inevitable when we moved from France to our final honeymoon destination of Barcelona.

With its beautifully designed bedrooms characterised by exposed brick walls and classic detailings, the Aparthotel Arai Superior in Barcelona certainly provided the perfect backdrop for this third part of my Honeymoon Suite series. However in this painting the real action comes from the Plaça George Orwell, a bustling triangular square set in the heart of Barcelona’s historic gothic quarter, and positioned right outside our hotel bedroom. With its countless elegant buildings, shuttered windows and small balconies, together with its leafy trees filling the space, the square made for an inspirational view to match the indisputably chic interiors of our final honeymoon suite.

The Honeymoon Suite 3: Bedroom at the Arai Barcelona

© 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.delacy-brown.com

Jul 17

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The Honeymoon Suite II: Bedroom at the Château Le Cagnard

The inspiration which, at La Colombe d’Or, had filled the artist within me with a renewed vitality to paint did not leave me when we departed. Having painted the view from our bedroom there, complete with a small slice of our abode, I became intrigued by the prospect of doing so afresh each time we moved hotels and so, when we moved to the hotel Château Le Cagnard in Cagnes-sur-Mer, and when we discovered to our delight a room with an equally stunning view over the mountains north of the Riviera, I started work immediately.

The second of what I have now termed my Honeymoon Suite is therefore painted in the same line as no. 1 of the series, with a unity between the bedroom in which we stayed, and the view we enjoyed daily. From the cosy sage-tinted armchair happily appointed alongside the window, one could enjoy a view not only of the surrounding landscape, but of countless terracotta rooftops upon pastel-coloured houses. It was the very definition of the Provençal landscape.

Honeymoon Suite II: Bedroom in the Chateau de Cagnard (2015 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache 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.delacy-brown.com

Jul 10

Art on the Riviera: Breakfast at La Colombe d’Or

I wish I could claim to enjoy the kind of artistic notoriety and talent of those celebrated artists exhibited in the stunning collection of La Colombe d’Or and the Fondation Maeght, the latter being the feature of my last Art on the Riviera post. In the second feature of this series, allow me to indulge myself a little by featuring not the work of an artist great, but a painting created by myself.

Except that is not perhaps strictly true… for in sharing with you another of my honeymoon artworks, completed while we stayed at the blissful Colombe d’Or hotel, I am also sharing something of the work of much more famous artist, Fernand Léger. This is because in painting a work devoted to our experience of eating breakfast in the garden of La Colombe d’Or, I could not do so without featuring the stunning 1950s ceramic mural by Léger which is famously installed in the garden.

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

Breakfast at La Colombe d’Or captures the random cosiness of the beautiful restaurant terrace as it was set up for breakfast on those sunny Riviera mornings. Still recovering from a heaving night of fine dining, and before preparation of the terrace for lunch, the restaurant at breakfast had much more of a relaxed feel, like a star of the stage before her makeup was applied. The old rusty tables around which Picasso once sat were scattered haphazardly without a tablecloth – this was only placed on the table when a guest chose from amongst them and sat down to eat petit dejeuner in a dappled spot. Likewise the little vintage metal chairs were randomly placed, their normal cushions not yet affixed.

Amongst this friendly scene, the ceramic mural by Léger continued to glimmer in the morning sunshine filtered through the large leaves of the garden’s fig trees, and on the table, an exquisite breakfast of rich coffee, pastries and fruit was served in La Colombe’s iconic branded porcelaine. Breakfast bliss.

© 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.delacy-brown.com