AMI going… i am.

tomorrow is the 16th alternative miss ireland (ami) or “gay christmas” as it’s also referred to and i can’t wait. it will only be my second time going, last year was so much fun. it’s for a great cause, raising money for irish hiv/aids organisations. what i’m looking forward to most, panti hosting and her outfits, anne doyle as one of the judges and bláthnaid mcgee. each contestant is very unique so i guess i’m looking forward to seeing them all… but go bláthnaid!

if you’ve never been, you really are missing out. happy christmas.

behind under the influence

when it came to thinking what to do for the exhibition, other than family and friends, the main person that kept coming to mind was panti and why? because she “never fails to inspire me with her presence, eloquence and wit. i’m in constant awe.”

i also wanted to get in other influences or artists i admire. i picked out a photograph of panti by fiona morgan with mouth open referencing edvard munch (also as a printing artist) and francis bacon. i wanted to do a relief print with lino using the reduction technique, said to have been promoted by pablo picasso as a serious medium for artist.

panti by fiona morgan

i reflected the photo so that when i drew onto the lino it would print similarly to the photo. i selected areas of light to dark and marked them out.

i cut away the lightest areas from the lino, leaving other areas untouched. i mixed ink to create the tone i wanted, registered my paper and printed the second colour (the first colour being the paper)

while prints were left to dry, i washed and dried lino. then prepared for the next print by cutting away the next lightest tone. when the first prints were dry, i mixed ink for my third colour and made the second print.

finally i cut away the rest of the lino that wasn’t my darkest colour and made final print. estimated time for the print was 12hrs excluding drying time.

bliss

under the influence

the launch of under the influence on friday night was a great success and a lot of fun too. the exhibition continues until the 15th march so there’s plenty of time to have a look, it’s well worth it. there’s still some work available to purchase. here’s a report on the night by gcn.

my sister came along too, had a great time. she loved front lounge and dragon but pantibar most of all.

guess who

bit of a teaser for my contribution to under the influence. it might not be hard to guess at this stage even though there’s still one more colour to go down, but when i printed the first colour i wasn’t so sure. it’s almost 3:30am just home from work and about to do the final cut on the block and print last colour. should be dry and ready to go to dublin tomorrow. wrecked!

Bliss

panti’s half price sundays + tips

it’s been going a few weeks now, but last sunday was my first time to experience it. what a great night it is.

it’s true what i’ve heard about it, it is like a mini pride, friendly crowd, everyone in great spirits and why wouldn’t they be with the insane low price. kudos to pantibar.

finding it difficult to get in, here’s some tips. nb. i never mix denim, lol.