Introduction:

"This blog is not necessarily for lovers of art, it includes a variety of topics and whatever. I'm a painter who likes to know what's really going on in the world today. So you might find anything from Shamrocks to Salmiakki mentioned here on my blog. There will of course be some boring, factual and informational posts, but I'll keep them to a minimum, I promise!

And I might get a bit nostalgic now and then.

So you have been warned!"


- Alan Hogan



Showing posts with label artist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artist. Show all posts

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Summer in Dublin, again!


Over the past few years I have often heard Irish people talk and reminisce about the warm summers of the mid-1970's and early 1980's. I often rambled on about it myself sometimes.
Well, after this summer of 2013 I reckon all that might quiet down a little. Last month was one of the warmest Julys in recorded history of Irish weather and I had the luck to be on holidays right there when it all happened. I want to post a few photos on my blog here for my own record and also just to show the world that Ireland can be a wonderful place when she gets some sunshine! (okay, it can be a pretty good place without the sun too!)
I went on a little roadtrip from Dublin to the west coast of Ireland with some friends from Finland. It was really great to show my home country at it's best and I think the Finns enjoyed it. Also it was their first ever visit to Ireland, so a bit extra-special! I don't like to do on-the-spot travel blogs as I am usually too busy enjoying myself to start typing. But over the next few entries in my blog I will post some photos of the places I visited, including County Galway, County Clare, the Aran Islands, Kilkenny City and firstly my hometown Dublin. 




Lambay island, off the coast of Dublin.






Coastal rocks near Malahide in County Dublin






View over Dublin from Deer Park Golf club in Howth, County Dublin.






View of lighthouse from Howth summit in County Dublin.






View of Dublin Bay from Howth summit.






Dublin Bay on a sunny day in July.







After arrival in Dublin, it was off to John Kavanagh's pub also know as the Gravediggers because of it's proximity to the Glasnevin cemetary next door. Here's what was going on at the cemetary gates while I supped on my pint of Guinness. The Ghostbus is doing a tour with shots of alcohol being passed around to it's passengers to keep them awake. (below) 




Gravediggers Ghostbus at Glasnevin cemetary.




While I've been to visit my family back in suburban Dublin on many occasions over the past few years, I reckon it must be over 4 years since I have actually gone into Dublin's city centre. Unfortunately I only spent one day there, but this time as a tourist!






Moore street, Dublin





The famous GPO (General Post Office) and
the infamous Spire on O'Connell St.
 






Interior of the GPO (General Post Office)






Statue of Daniel O'Connell








Trinity College, Dublin







Old parlimentary building, now the Bank of Ireland.








Ron Black's Dawson Lounge: Dublin's smallest pub
Take a look inside on this Norwegian news video below.










Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin






St.Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin







The Church of Guinness, Dublin
... you can almost smell it's goodness!






The gates of heaven





Lost souls follow the signs! 






The Wellington Monument in the Pheonix Park, Dublin.






The Real White House . The President of Ireland's House







Old Jameson whiskey distillery, Dublin.







The Ha'penny Bridge, Dublin






Grounds of Trinity College, Dublin






Viking splash tour, for our scandinavian cousins!






Molly Malone





Wicklow street, Dublin






Georges Street Arcade





Hogan's bar, South Great Georges Street, Dublin






Correct Time at The Long Hall pub on South Great Georges Street






South Great Georges Street, Dublin






Temple Bar area






Oliver St.John Gogarty Pub
Nice pub, but the biggest rip-off in Dublin!






Hard Rock Cafe, Dublin. 
Don't expect to get inside with so many students about!







Deception of the highest level!!!






O'Connell Street by bus






Molly again!






Guinness!!





Arthur Guinness lived here!


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This is part 1 of a set of 'Ireland' travel posts here on my blog. Click on the destinations below to read the rest!




























Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to share it with any of your friends.

You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.


- Alan 



                     





Saturday, July 27, 2013

Who'll Stop The Rain



It's been a while since I've had a little blog post here, but then what's new about that eh? 
I had planned on posting a few photos over the past few months but I've just been so lazy. To be honest, I reckon I spend too much time on my computer between reading emails and social media, most of which seem increasingly to be just spam or scams. Are any of you having the same problem?

Anyway I wanted to post this item on my blog for my own record, so here goes!
It concerns a bit of bad weather in the town where I live.
Coming from Ireland I'm fairly used to a drop of rain. I use the word 'drop' lightly here as it's an Irish thing. A drop of rain to an Irish person is usually equal to torrential rain elsewhere in the world. I say this just so you know where I'm coming from. It's not often you hear an Irish person go on about the RAIN!


new swimming pool


Anyway the rain arrived yesterday, and flooded out the garage under my house.
I use this garage as an art studio space, which I call 'The Art Garage'. This is where I keep most of my paintings and drawings. Lucky for me however I managed to get most of my work out of danger before the water level got too high. Only a few items were damaged. Also, stupid old me didn't have any wellies (wellington boots). I only had a pair of crocs to wade through what was freezing water, made so by a pile of large hailstones just outside the door!




My garage wasn't the only casualty in Karis, a lot of other premises where flooded also including the local supermarkets. Here's a video somebody else shot in Karis centre. It's hardly a state of emergency I know, but nice to keep a record.



Next time it would be nice to have some kind of weather warning from the met office. Only a small thunder and a small amount of rain was the given forecast on this occasion. But nevermind, everything is back to normal here now though. Hot sunny Finnish summer, just the way it should be!


Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to share it with any of your friends. Big Hello to any readers living in NYC, thanks for all your greetings and support! 




You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.


-Alan 





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Monday, May 21, 2012

The Soft Parade


Sorry, I had planned to write this blogpost earlier, but a few incidents such as entertaining Irish visitors in Finland, an anti-virus meltdown on my computer and a few important barbeques amongst other things got in the way. But anyway, here it is now!

artist Emmi Vartiainen and dj Ville Kotka at Jade Gallery in Helsinki
I didn't want to forget about writing this post for a wonderful art exhibition I attended earlier this month, especially as there's still plenty of time to visit it. The opening of Emmi Vartiainen's exhibition entitled 'Soft' took place at Jade Gallery in Helsinki on Friday 4th May. The exhibition continues until the end of May 2012. 

I had seen some of the artist's work previously through online social media, but I wanted to see more of her creations and view them in person. I will admit that I was a little apprehensive about seeing this exhibition as I detected a major influence of Manga art, an eastern art form which I find a little uninteresting and used as a 'street-cool' art for far too long now. But having seen Emmi Vartiainen's artwork I could only feel a slight influence of the manga. On the contrary, I felt there was more influence from the art nouveau style from the late 19th-century. Names such as Klimt and Czech art nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha come to mind.
  
When viewing Vartiainen's work one can't help but feel relaxed. This may be because of mellow colours and a softness to the atmosphere they create. However, there is a touch of the grotesque and macabre in her paintings. It is introduced in a soft manner though, and only adds to each painting's individual appeal. I enjoyed the mix of old school nouveau, street cool modern imagery and subtle decadence.  

Emmi Vartiainen -  inhale



Having looked at all of the art on view at the exhibition I got chatting with dj Ville Kotka who accompanied Emmi's art with a musical mix of tasteful background beats and tunes. I had a pleasant talk with both the artist and the dj about a lot of things including their hometown Lahti, music, history and of course Emmi's art. 
I managed to buy a small print while I was there, which the artist happily signed for me. It was a copy of the main image used for the art exhibition. Here it is below, it's called 'Little Star'.

Emmi Vartiainen - little star

I highly recommend this exhibition if you happen to be visiting Helsinki. If you are on Facebook, you might like to visit the event page here. Or you can find details at the Jade Gallery website here. 


Thanks for reading my blog and please share it with all your friends. 
You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.

-Alan 











Please leave your reaction to this blogpost by ticking one of the boxes below.

The Art Garage, Finland

The Art Garage, Finland
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