Painting | The Daily Norm

Sep 30

My début at the Dulwich Picture Gallery

2014 has been a great year for me artistically. In May, I held my most commercially successful exhibition to date, with plenty of exciting commissions and opportunities flowing straight out of it. In July I exhibited with a new generation of freshly graduated art students at London Bridge’s Art Academy, and in September I exhibited my prints in a sensational show of printmaking talent amongst the works of the East London Printmakers at the Embassy Tea Gallery in London Bridge. But as far as 2014 goes, I have certainly left the best until last. For this October, one of my paintings will hang in an art gallery so prestigious, and so imbued with history, that it feels like a dream to see my work up on its walls.

I am of course talking about the Dulwich Picture Gallery, Britain’s oldest public art gallery, and home to some of the UK’s most illustrious artists and art collections, amongst them undisputed masters such as Gainborough, Watteau, Canaletto, Veronese and Reynolds. And for the next two and a half weeks, starting with a lavish opening gala last night, my very own artwork will be hanging amongst other works in a new Open Submission show a mere few metres from these incredible masterpieces of art history – a complete honour.

The painting selected for show was my simple landscape of Praiano, a glistening little town on the mountainous Amalfi Coast. Painted in gouache on paper in the immediate aftermath of my Amalfi Coast trip, the painting is one of currently 11 paintings comprising my “interpretations” collection, and is perhaps the most meditative and tranquil of them all. All framed up in a fancy oak frame, it looks splendid, and I have never been prouder of my artwork than last night, when I saw my little painting hung on these walls where only months before David Hockney’s world-class printworks had been admired by crowds of thousands.

And of course my painting is not alone. Hanging amongst some 170 others, it is but one in a collection of wonderful works submitted by the Friends of the Dulwich Picture Gallery and chosen for exhibition by a panel of illustrious judges. So don’t just go along to see my Praiano – make your way to Dulwich to see galleries full of creative gems – both those of new budding artists, and of art history’s greats.

The Dulwich Picture Gallery Friend’s Open Exhibition runs until 12 October 2014.

Sep 29

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Interpretation No. 11 – Castagneto Carducci

Last week’s Daily Norm was a glorious panoply of Tuscan views, scenes and sensations and it’s not quite over yet. For hot on the heels of my Tuscan weekend comes my 11th interpretative landscape – part of my Interpretations collection which I began some three months ago after being inspired by the sumptuous landscapes and cubic shapes of Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Back in Italy this September, and one glimpse up through the vine-packed fields of Donoratico to the emerging landscape of Castagneto Carducci made me realise that this pretty hill top town was an obvious contender for an interpretative overhaul. For with its tightly packed cluster of pastel coloured houses all set up on a Tuscan hill, Castagneto offers a wonderful synthesis between petit-urban development set amidst a stunning landscape, which is exactly what the Interpretations series sets out to emulate. And I think this 11th Interpretation is probably one of my favourites of them all.

Interpretation No. 11 – Castagneto Carducci (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

Sep 5

Naturaleza Muerta

Despite many years of painting, drawing and (most recently) printmaking, and just as much time treading the boards of art galleries around Europe, I have been guilty of a great crime: I forgot all about still lifes. Subconsciously I have somehow discounted them, despite knowing them to be a great staple of art history and art collections around the world, and having enjoyed still life masterpieces such as Cezanne’s various compositions of oranges and apples, and the brilliantly photorealistic depictions of bouquets of flowers and lavish feasts from the Dutch golden age. Yet when I went to the Joaquin Peinado museum in Ronda last month, what really struck me above and beyond the majority of his wonderfully original cubist-inspired paintings, were his still lives. In particular I noticed his deceptively simple depictions of fruit and the odd household item such as a coffee pot, and an idea struck in my head: why don’t I paint a still life?!

By coincidence, before we left for Ronda from Marbella, I had already begun an oil painting – a surreal looking desert landscape which was to be the base of another germ of an idea which was developing in my head. But as soon as my still life idea struck, I realised that the combination of collected objects on a somewhat surreal deserted background would make for the perfect twist on the traditional still life composition. So as soon as we got back from Ronda, I started work.

Naturaleza Muerta: Still life with coffee pot, dorada, tropical fruits and a ceramic elephant (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, oil on canvas)

The objects I collected for my work were not really the result of coincidence. Rather, I carefully planned my selection so that I could achieve a colour balance within the two main colours of the palette chosen for this work: red and green. The ceramic elephant was already a feature of the garden in which I was doing my painting, and the various fruits were chosen specifically for their colour, shape and what they represented: the watermelon represents the global profile of Marbella; the elephant our time out on the terrace. The kiwis represent our constant furry travelling companions Fluffy and Bilbao, and the cactus fruits represent the extensive work we did on redecorating our Marbella terrace. The beautiful silvery sea bream represents all the pleasure we took in eating out; while the cherries represent my partner and I, never separated, coming as a pair. Finally the coffee pot is there in homage to Peinado who gave me the idea of a still life; and because coffee culture is surely one of the most enjoyable aspects of life in Marbella.

So after several days painting this work in instalments after visits to the beach, my first Still Life was complete. Now I’m hooked on the idea and can already imagine doing so many more. The question is, what will I paint in my next Still Life?

Creating my still life in our garden in Marbella

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown 2000-2014. 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

Sep 1

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Interpretation No.10: Vintage Ronda

As England soaked in an August when early autumn usurped the rightful place of summer, I spent the last two weeks with my head still firmly in the sun-baked sands of Ronda in Southern Spain. Never has a homecoming from Spain proved so hard as the unapologetic plunge by 20 degrees from 35 to 15. And never have the grey dirty streets of London or the impossibly cramped antisocial conditions of the tube proved so unattractive when compared alongside the almost-tangible memories of Andalucia’s rolling golden hills and cerulean blue skies, memories that remain so vividly present behind my minds eye, almost taunting me as I stagnate in my unenviable choice of permanent home.

As always, I have sought to address this mental imbalance by reacquainting myself with the place where I was at my happiest, taking up my paints and paintbrushes and capturing a few spare moments in a weekday evening, to sit down and paint my memories. In so doing, I have completed my third painting of Ronda; another in the “Interpretations” series which sees me reinterpreting the landscape through simplified forms and a refocus on the shapes made by civilisation rather than the detail.

Interpretation No. 10 – Vintage Ronda (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

This 10th interpretation concentrates on two aspects of “Vintage” Ronda: first the ancient arabic walls which can still be seen on one side of the El Tajo gorge close to the old arab baths; and second a newer but still historic car, the likes of which we happened to find parked in this exact spot when taking photos of the arab ruins. When I saw it there, I could not help but recall my interpretation of the landscape in Italy’s Positano, painted with a yellow vespa in the foreground, and I knew that with this red vintage car, the perfect partner work had been born.

© 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

Aug 26

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Interpretation No. 9: The Gorge and the Puente Nuevo

It would have been hard to stop my artistic appreciation of the city of Ronda with a single painting, and having completed Interpretation no.8, my interpretative landscape of Ronda, no.9 followed hot on its heels. This time the same fusion of the arid amber gorge and crisp white buildings predominates, but this painting focuses more on the great imposing El Tajo gorge, together with the bridge (albeit only a small slice of it) that links the two sides of ancient Ronda. In this painting I hope to have emphasised the sheer drama which the teetering positioning of Ronda’s houses on the top of a vast plunging gorge provides, as well as capturing some of the more iconic sights of the city, from the Puente Nuevo to the old cathedral sitting at its centre.

Interpretation No. 9 (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

Aug 20

Interpretation No. 8: Ronda cluster above the El Tajo Gorge

Readers of the Daily Norm will know that following my beautiful trip to the Amalfi Coast in June, I embarked on a series on new gouache paintings. I have loosely labelled the collection “interpretations” because they are not so much landscapes as interpretations of a landscape – a simplified landscape with the details of urban structures stripped away so that the focus of the audience can be placed on the general shape made by a town or a cluster of buildings, rather than the details. This is particularly striking where generations of people have built up towns in the most hostile of landscapes, such as the cliff edges of the Amalfi Coast. The result is the development of a group of buildings which look almost out of place and surreal when set against the harsh unapologetic backdrop of nature. It is this contrast which my interpretations seek to emphasise.

Interpretation No. 8 – Ronda (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

There was no doubt that having been inspired by the vast rocky coastal crags of Amalfi, I would be likewise moved to paint by the mountainous planes and combination of town versus harsh seemingly unconquerable landscape which characterises the small urban sprawl of Ronda. I set about working on my first Ronda “interpretation” almost as soon as I caught eyes on the views. This first work is the result, a painting which, unlike the Italian works which have gone before it, loses the blues and purples of the Amalfi Coast, and is instead painted in the warm reds, ochres, bronzes and russets for which the arid Southern Spanish landscape is famous. And these colours are not works of fiction – for the El Tajo gorge on which Ronda stands is very much a fiery orange colour, which glows ever more robustly red as the sun sets upon it. It’s an awesome sight, and made for the perfect inspiration for this continuation of my Interpretations collection.

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Jul 25

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 7: The terraces of Ravello

As my post on yesterday’s Daily Norm makes abundantly, sensually clear, Ravello on Italy’s Amalfi Coast is a place of stunning beauty. A place so beautiful that countless people, both famed and unknown, have flocked to its heady heights to sample a taste of paradise, and to soak in the views that Gore Vidal called the most beautiful in the world. So as my collection of Amalfi paintings reaches its steady climax (although I still feel inspired to paint more), there was no way that Ravello, and the stunning views from its quaint narrow hillside passages, was not going to be a part of it.

To my eyes, the thing that was so utterly charming about those incredible views was not so much the extensive sea views, but the elegantly terraced hills, loaded with lemon trees and olives and every kind of mediterranean plant growing abundantly. Those carefully sowed terraces gave the appearance of a fashion designed striped fabric in every conceivable shade of verdant green, while the houses clustered along intermittent roads were ripe for re-expression in the delineated cubic forms which have become characteristic of my Italy gouaches.

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

So I am delighted to share with you this seventh Amalfi Coast painting, doing so towards the climax of the Daily Norm tales of my Amalfi adventure. But something within me tells me this is not the end. Already my paintbrush is poised to work a little gouache magic across some blank paper in a notepad by my side, and you can be sure that as and when those works are completed, I will share them on The Daily Norm.

© 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 23

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 6: Arrival in Amalfi

On the Amalfi Coast you really are spoilt for choice. Not only is the coast a veritable paradise of high end shops, hotels and restaurants, but from every angle there is a new and stunning view to pop your eyes pen a little wider with pleasure. As both an Artist and keen photographer, this was both a treat and a burden, for every time I opened my eyes, I saw something incredibly beautiful, and started feeling guilty if I did not capture it in some form. So it was that on a short 45 minute boat ride from Positano to Amalfi I found myself unable to sit still, unsure whether to look backwards out of the boat towards the fading but ever beautiful view of the pastel-coloured town on the magnificent mountainside, look over the side to the similarly nestled hilltop town of Praiano, or forwards, towards the glittering town of Amalfi.

Well the answer to this quandary was that I did all three. Having had my fill of Positano (if that is even possible…) I then turned towards white-gleaming Praiano (and later painted it as Amalfi Coast painting no.5) and then turned my attention towards the grand town of Amalfi which our boat was fast approaching. This painting, my 6th of the holiday and another in the series of cubic simplifications by which I am delineating the houses and structures of the coast, captures the moment when we approached the town, when the gleaming gold facade of the cathedral could be seen flanked my buildings sweeping up the steadily sloping valley on either side. Meanwhile in the background one could just about make out the promised land of Ravello, a town we were to visit later that day.

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

More about that, tomorrow.

© 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 21

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 5: Praiano

Having painted four views of Positano in gouache on paper, all of which concentrate on the hodgepodge of pastel-coloured cube like houses that are characteristic of the town, I decided to set my sights further afield, and start exploring the artistic potential of locations elsewhere on the Amalfi Coast. The perfect opportunity presented itself when, en route to the epicentre of the coast, Amalfi (see tomorrow’s Daily Norm for more on that front) we passed by the cliff-top town of Praiano.

Smaller than neighbouring Positano, which can be seen directly across the bay and vice versa, Praiano nevertheless has its own glittering domed churche and cluster of houses clinging precariously to the high edges of a mountain slope. However unlike Positano, whose multi-coloured composition can be spotted some distance away, Praiano is characterised by a gleaming symphony of whites and creams, dazzling in the sunshine as its buildings contrast against the green vegetation all around.

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

This particular view of the town, seen side on with the gradually fading folds of the mountains in the distance was definitely my favourite angle of those many enjoyed as our boat whisked past the town at speed. And of course in the process of cubic simplification which has been the focus of my recent gouache works, Praiano could not have been a better model – for its white washed houses simplify down to their basic elements brilliantly, while retaining all of the shape and character of this very pretty town.

© 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 18

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 4: Positano IV (Yellow Vespa)

As much as Capri may have entranced me, it was Positano that we returned to at the end of the day, the beautiful clustered town gripping for dear life onto the steep mountain slopes of Italy’s stunning Amalfi Coast. And such is the geography of that nature-defying location, that almost everywhere you go in Positano, you end up gazing in wonder at incredible views, either across the sea, the valley in which the bulk of the town is situated, or up at the vast mountains rising almost unendingly up behind it. No wonder then that I was inspired to paint so much when I stayed on the Amalfi Coast and although I was only painting with a small travelling watercolour book and a box of gouache paints, I got the most out of my limited materials.

This fourth and final painting of Positano is loosely based on a charming walk we took along the upper mountain road, where the town feels more authentic and Italian when compared with the tourist-centric core of the town down by the sea. This area, being Italy, was full of all of the characteristics which make a place intrinsically Italian – gossiping old women sitting outside their homes, old men propping up the bar and drinking espresso, and outside one of the most Italian sights of all – the Vespa. This painting captures the moment when we stumbled into a perfect specimen of Vespa – a bright yellow one which, when propped up by the side of this incredible mountainous view, just begged to be painted. And here is the result.

Positano IV (Yellow Vespa) (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