Posts tagged ‘Wordpress’

Oct 31

A Portrait of Mallorca

Sometimes I just want to paint what’s on my mind. The energetic fusion of ideas applied to canvas in a mixed and multifarious revolution of form and colour. But unlike the Expressionist movement, which tended to splash and splosh their emotion onto canvas in more of a literal application of paint, my variety of expressionism materialises in more of a controlled fashion. I suppose it says something about my rather controlling mind (a tendency for which my partner may testify). For my wildest form of expression is something more cubist in nature. I have always been enchanted by the age of the cubists. The ability to show an object or a subject on multidimensional planes has always filled me with an ultimate sense of pictorial satisfaction. And while my cubism is less a single subject and rather more a mixed bag of ideas, it definitely belongs to the genre.

Portrait of Mallorca (2016 ©Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, acrylic on canvas)

This cubist work, which also belongs to my interpretative abstract way of thinking, is the latest canvas to hop off my easel and says everything and anything about the island on which I have spent the last two happy years of my life. It is for me a true portrait of Mallorca, because beyond the tacky tourism for which the island is so unfortunately infamous, the island is one of true bucolic peasant culture, with its own cuisine and characterised by a stunning mixed mountainous and coastal landscape. All this is represented in the imagery packed into this “portrait” which includes the spiralled ensaimada pastry for which the island is famous, the lacey headdress and straw hat worn by the traditional peasant women, as well as their flowing striped skirts flapping in the Mediterranean breeze. There too are the mountains and the beaches, the glittering coast and the yachts which encircle the island like moths around a light source. And of course the sails of the windmills, which likewise characterise the lower lying stretches of countryside.

It is a painting which fully encapsulates the multifaceted personality of an island which is much, much more than Magaluf.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2016. 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. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacybrown.com

Jun 19

The Daily Norm: 3,000 followers and counting

Since posting my last article on The Daily Norm, I gained my 3000th follower of this blog. Despite having written this blog almost every day since the end of 2011 and therefore being well accustomed to using words to express my feelings and experiences, I struggle to put into words just how delighted I am with the success of this blog, and how grateful I am for all those who have followed me since its inception. 3000 followers is as incredible number, and I can only hope that all those who have supported me will continue to do so as the years of blogging go on.

I was always a prolific diary writer (I’ve been writing a diary packed with pictures of my art and travels for 19 years now), but blogging really took my diary writing to a new level, not just because it enables me to share all of the photos I have taken and art works I have made in a digital format, but because it enables me to share my life with a far bigger audience. Because I try to keep my blog as an all-embracing homage to the good life, full of the positive notes which embellish my life with the colour and excitement that gets me out of bed each day, knowing that my blog enables me to translate that positivity to a wider audience has encouraged me to see life for all that is good in it.

When I go on holiday, I start compiling in my head how I will present those wonderful new experiences on The Daily Norm; when I create new artworks I get excited about sharing them on my blog way before they ever get seen in an art exhibition; and when I take photos, I get even more pleasure in perfecting the results knowing that now it is not just me and my family who will share in these images, but an audience of thousands. In short, blogging has changed my life.

French Norm (2011 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, digital image)

So I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for following me and sharing in my life, and hope that you will continue to do so. I want to thank my dear friend Cassandra, who suggested blogging to me as a way of expressing my relentless flow of creative energies, and also wonderful Wordress for giving me this fantastic platform to share my thoughts with the world, and with such ease and pleasure.

So by way of celebration I thought I would share, appropriately, a picture of my Norm, the character who is at the heart of the stories and illustrations which I post intermittently between art and travel posts on this blog. This picture was created digitally on my ipad, taking inspiration from David Hockney who has used the medium to create some of his most engaging recent works. My French Norm plays on all of the stereotypes of the typical Frenchman – the stripped jersey, the beret and the string of onions, and I just love him.

So please come back and see many more Norms, art works and travel tales on The Daily Norm soon and tell all your friends – 3,000 followers is incredible, but can it be bettered? I hope so.

© 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

Nov 18

6 Comments

Daily Norm’s 2nd Anniversary/ 30th Birthday/ new website/ exhibition preview spectacular!

Christmas may be merely 5 weeks away, but its been all about a mighty great November for me. Not only have I been celebrating the relaunch of my official art website this month, but I have also been busy organising the first solo gallery showing of my artwork in 6 years, which will make its debut in London in the Spring of next year – more details will follow soon. Not only that, but I am still reeling from the shock of turning 30 earlier this year, but nevertheless still determined to celebrate it for as long as the year goes on. And finally, this month (and in fact the 14th November last week) marks the two year birthday of The Daily Norm!

From its very humble beginnings, this blog has now been freshly pressed 3 times, gained 2,332 followers, had 301,364 total views and even received 2,527 comments. And statistics aside, it has just been a joy from beginning to end – an outlet for my creativity; a mirror on my soul, and a magnificent far-reaching channel through which my thoughts and experiences can be shared with the world. So a huge thank you just has to go to everyone who has supported my blog all of this time. I feel incredibly honoured that you take the time to share just a little of my life with me.

My paintings on show at the Benugo Drawing Room private cocktail bar, last Friday

So how best to celebrate all of these marked feats of November jubilation? Why, to throw a private party of course! Yep, last Friday night, the best and beautiful of my inner circle – both friends and colleagues alike – gathered in their glad rags to belatedly celebrate my birthday, mark the relaunch of my website, reflect on the success of The Daily Norm, and look forward, in equal measure, to the prospect of my solo art exhibition next Spring. And in celebrating the latter aspect, what better way to anticipate what I hope will be the art show of the 2014 Spring season than to kick things off with a warm up preview of some of my latest works!

So for all those friends of mine rocking up at the British Film Institute’s secret cocktail bar within its main Benugo bar last friday evening, they were treated to an impromptu display of some 20 of my works, including a selection of my latest Compositions series, a few of my Norm originals including my Norm take on Manet’s Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe and Flamenco Norm, and also a few examples of my more contemplative works, such as Pink Bf, Return Journey and Pupillage.

The evening was a fantastic success, a wonderful opportunity for some of my latest colourful paintings and more subdued, delicate etchings to benefit from an outing to London’s cultural South Bank centre, and a fine way to touch base with my ever faithful friends, many of whom I have not seen for months, if not years. And I sold 3 more paintings to boot – which can’t be bad!

Sadly, as far as recording this magnificent event goes, I can only show you photos taken as the paintings went out, but before the people came in. No sooner had the first friend arrived than I was occupied talking to my guests all evening – and my well intentioned desire to record the evening through photos got quite lost in the revelry. But that is surely a sign of a good party.

Stay tuned, as ever, into The Daily Norm for exclusive details of my May 2014 art exhibition – coming soon!

And in the meantime another huge thanks to all those who have supported me and my blog for the two years of its happy existence. Here’s to the next!

Mar 13

5 Comments

The Daily Norm: Proud winner of three new blogging awards

It may be award season in the glitzy world of film, but here on WordPress, it appears that bloggers alike have become festooned with an abundantly generous spirit in not only reading The Daily Norm, but nominating it for three separate awards. In the last few weeks I have been humbled and overawed by the kindness and generosity of the following bloggers who each nominated me for a different blogging award:

Jackie Paulson for the Hope Unites Globally “HUG” Award

Anonparis for the Versatile Blogger Award

Joy Returns for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award

And since on WordPress, nominations mean an instantaneous win of the award in question, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank those bloggers, and indeed all of my followers, for your amazing loyalty and interest in my blog. The Daily Norm takes a surprising amount of time to write and compile, quite asides from the time spent in painting new Norm works and making Norm sketches especially to share with you all. But your “likes”, comments and now totally unexpected awards make it all worth it. Since starting the blog back in November last year, I’ve had an incredible 38,000 hits and now have over 250 followers. It’s been an amazing start, and the blog provides me with an undeniably precious outlet for my creativity in a world, and indeed a city (London) where the creative spirit can become so easily subdued by the humdrum of ordinary life. Thank you all therefore for giving me a reason to blog. Long may it continue!

Now all of the three awards have slightly different approaches to what I am supposed to do upon receipt. All three require me to reveal certain hitherto unknown facts about myself, and to nominate other bloggers for these awards. Well, I admit, I am going to cheat somewhat in combining my response to the three awards, but since I have already undertaken the full process once already (when I received a Versatile Blogger Award last year) I don’t want to bore you all with what could become a rambling autobiography! I have therefore decided to compile a list of some of my “favourite things” a la Sound of Music, and then I will nominate a few of my favourite bloggers for each award respectively.

My Favourite Things

Detail of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

Favourite City – as regular followers of my blog will know, I am pretty much obsessed with Paris. But there is another city which fills my heart in equal measure – Barcelona. It’s a city which offers so much – a magnificent selection of modernist architecture from the likes of Antoni Gaudi, a picturesque gothic quarter, a vibrant fast-paced modern shopping district, a scenic port and a wide expansive beach – what more could you want, asides from great art, great restaurants and chic hotels, all of which Barcelona has in abundance.

Favourite Hotel – asides from the amazing Hotel Estheréa which was recently the highlight of my stay in Amsterdam, the other hotel which wowed was the EME Catedral Hotel in Seville. From it’s incredible situation bang opposite Seville’s gothic masterpiece cathedral, this hotel exudes moorish chic inside and out, with little pools of water covered with floating petals, contemporary bedroom decor and a pool-topped roof terrace to die for.

Favourite Café – It’s got to be Cappuccino Grand Café, either one of their picturesque Mallorca branches, or the stunningly situated branch in Marbella.

Favourite Restaurant – Again in Marbella – Restaurante Messina – a place exuding style – its degustacion menu presents an evening full of culinary delight but not at back-breaking prices.

Favourite Artist – This isn’t an easy question, and as an artist myself, it’s one I get asked fairly frequently. I think it has to be Salvador Dali, whose works are so technically brilliant, but whose incredibly comprehensive imagination pervades all of his works giving them a superb originality which hasn’t, in my opinion, been topped since. Generally speaking, my favourite artists tend to emanate from Spain (I also adore El Greco and Velazquez) although self-trained Henri Rousseau is also a huge favourite.

Favourite Painting – Again, this is a difficult one to pin down, but I think if I was forced to choose, it would have to be Las Meninas by Velazquez (housed in Madrid’s El Prado)- an iconic work for all the right reasons, but it is only when you see it in person that you can appreciate the startling use of light and shadow, as well as a brilliant composition and superb characterisation. Second place probably goes to another star of Madird, Guernica, by Picasso, while third place has to be Bar at the Folies–Bergère by Manet, thankfully kept here in London.

Las Meninas, Velazquez (1656)

Favourite Icon – Frida Kahlo, self-trained Mexican artist, is a true inspiration to me, not least the way she used her art to channel her feelings of pain and despair throughout a lifetime of disability, always managing to look on the positives and create works out of pain which are still bursting with colour and vitality.

Favourite Food – White chocolate desserts

Favourite Drink – earl grey tea!

Favourite Music – lounge/jazz

Favourite Author – Carlos Ruiz Zafon – author of masterpieces such as Shadow of the Wind and Angels Game – I can’t wait for his next work to be published!

And the award goes to…

HUG Award

The HUG Award has very strict criteria as to what kind of blogs deserve this award. My nomination goes to Joy Returns – this is a very touching blog which seeks to change people’s perception of widows. It certainly seems to unite hope globally, and therefore seems highly suitable for this nomination.

Versatile Blogger Award

I would like to nominate the following excellent blogs which I follow regularly

MJ Springett – nature photohrapher

Photobotos – an amazing new photo, everyday

Conceptual art – frequently reblogging the work of other artists, this is a great blog to visit regularly to see what’s going on in the wordpress art scene

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

These blogs have inspired me in my day to day life, so who better to nominate:

Beautiful hello – a beautiful blog about art

All About Lemon – a brilliant blog about all things creative

Enjoy my adventure – Norwegian designer, living in Portugal

And, finally, a superb non-wordpress blog written by my dear friend Celia: Lady Aga – a fantastic blog which places gastronomy where it ought to be – straight in our hearts. Check it out!

Ok this rambling thank you speech is now at an end. Heartfelt hanks again to all of my followers and nominators and congratulations to those I have nominated above – your blogs are fully deserving of recognition.