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 paintings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paintings. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

My Finland 100 : 81- 90







Finland became an independent state on 6 December 1917. Already there have been numerous events staged throughout the country to celebrate this centenary year. The theme of the centenary year is ‘Together’. 


As I have been a resident of Finland for the past ten years I wanted to do a little something. For this I decided to post 100 images to my Instagram account on social media with the hashtag #finland100_igchallenge .




Anyone familiar with the Instagram application will be aware of the vast amount of wonderful photography posted every day online. There are so many amazing images to be found featuring Finland's stunning nature and landscapes. I imagine my photography may be lack lustre in comparison and as a result may not be noticed. So I decided to simply look closer in and around my new home for another approach. I have posted a variety of images found around my own house and neighbourhood. I didn't know much about Finland before I moved here, so I view this as an opportunity to show others a few things I discovered about or associated with Finland and it's culture. I have included everyday items, nostalgic items, locations, food and also some Finnish-themed artworks which I painted myself while living here. In other words, a bit of everything!!




The images are in no particular order of importance or preference, so I'll continue with 81-90...






81/100
... 'Kivimiehet', aka the Stone Men of Helsinki. This is a graphic impression of Emil Wikstrom's big statues outside Helsinki railway station. 

A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on


82/100
.. these Finnish Christmas pastries are called Joulutortuu or Jultårta, and I'm having a pre-festive #instatasting ! 😊

A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on




83/100
...when summer arrives many Finns disappear to the countryside or out by the sea to a place I call 'The Escape Hut' (acrylic on canvas). A small summer cottage which usually has a sauna, just like the one in this painting had. I took my first finnish sauna in this one!
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on



84/100
..for that retro look you can't beat Marimekko's classic 1965 'Unikko' design. ...Nice curtains! 😀

A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on



85/100
..clearing snow is part of life in Finland. And like everything else, it's good in moderation! ⛄
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on




86/100
.. 'Snow Tango' (acrylic on canvas) 👫🎶 - it's not uncommon to see people dancing the tango in towns around Finland during the summer and every year in the middle of winter the world snow tango championships take place in Tampere city, no matter how cold it gets!

A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on





87/100
...originating in Italy, the celebration of St Lucia is celebrated in a spectacular manner at the Helsinki Cathedral Finland every year in December. Here's this year's Lucia leaving in her carriage. ...Bringing some light into darkness! 🌋
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on





88/100
...having grown up beside the Cadburys chocolate factory in Dublin I've been a fan of chocolate for a long time. I've tasted a lot of it from near and far. This large Finnish Christmas chocolate bar or Joulusuklaa is one of my favourites! ..I used to take several bars of it back to Ireland with me every Christmas for friends and family, and they love'd it too! ..Sadly the bars aren't to be found anymore. Maybe they'll bring them back again. They only have them in sweet form now, but i really miss the big chunky bars! ..💯% Christmas!!
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on




89/100
...scissorsisters!! ✂✂✂...every artist needs a good pair of scissors and I can honestly say there's nothing better than Fiskars scissors. Their factory a short walk from where I live. A company who now own Iittala, Wedgewood, Royal Doulton, Gerber, Rörstrand and (a piece of my Irish heritage!) Waterford Crystal. 😀
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on








90/100

Oh..Star Wars, you never let us down! ..Brilliant!! 😀🚀..got to watch it in 3D (recommended!) at the Bio Forum cinema in Ekenäs. It's Finland's oldest cinema, operating since 1912 and it doesn't seem to have changed much since then. No computers, just one old lady behind the desk selling popcorn and tickets while scratching seats off a piece of paper. A nostalgic gem!! 🎥
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on



Click below for more:

1- 10

11- 20

21- 30

31- 40

41- 50

51- 60

61- 70

71- 80

81- 90

91- 100


















Share this blog!







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








- Alan









 

Thursday, December 14, 2017

My Finland 100 : 51- 60







Finland became an independent state on 6 December 1917. Already there have been numerous events staged throughout the country to celebrate this centenary year. The theme of the centenary year is ‘Together’. 


As I have been a resident of Finland for the past ten years I wanted to do a little something. For this I decided to post 100 images to my Instagram account on social media with the hashtag #finland100_igchallenge .




Anyone familiar with the Instagram application will be aware of the vast amount of wonderful photography posted every day online. There are so many amazing images to be found featuring Finland's stunning nature and landscapes. I imagine my photography may be lack lustre in comparison and as a result may not be noticed. So I decided to simply look closer in and around my new home for another approach. I have posted a variety of images found around my own house and neighbourhood. I didn't know much about Finland before I moved here, so I view this as an opportunity to show others a few things I discovered about or associated with Finland and it's culture. I have included everyday items, nostalgic items, locations, food and also some Finnish-themed artworks which I painted myself while living here. In other words, a bit of everything!!




The images are in no particular order of importance or preference, so I'll continue with 51-60...






51/100
..Helsinki's Pubtram! 🍺


A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on





52/100
..the winter is doing the hokey pokey in Finland this year! 😄 Only yesterday my street was covered in snow and this is the picture today!... Well this is the busy street I live on!!


A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on




53/100
A print of a painting I made featuring a summer landscape scene from the Nivala region of Finland. Original art is somewhere in Helsinki. 🏨
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on







54/100
3pm and Moomin Mamma is enjoying one last bit of Saturday sunshine! ☀ (click arrow in photo for more)


A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on




55/100
...a photo from Turku city featuring a sculpture of Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi, one of the most successful male athletes in Olympic history and one of only four athletes to win 9 olympic gold medals. He was one of the Finnish athletic group nicknamed the 'Flying Finns'.
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on







56/100
'Bromarf Sunset' (acrylic-on-canvas)


A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on






57/100
...angry birds, they're everywhere!! 🐥


A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on






58/100
Vroom!! Vroom!! ..Finnish snow power!!...'just need some snow now and I'm good to go!! 😄 👍 ..Winha Snowmobile.

A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on






59/100
The brown bear is Finland's national animal. This is as close as I've got to one, the sculpture of a bear sitting outside the entrance to the Finnish National Museum in Helsinki. 'Called Karhu in Finnish. 🐻

A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on










60/100
In the town of Uusikaupunki you will find the Bonk museum where bonk machines are on display. Finnish artist Alvar Gullichsen created this peculiar creation.
A post shared by Alan Hogan (@alanhogano) on





Click below for more:

1- 10

11- 20

21- 30

31- 40

41- 50

51- 60

61- 70

71- 80

81- 90

91- 100


















Share this blog!







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








- Alan









 

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Art Scam


Greetings from Finland again!


So it's been about four months now since my last post here on this blog. Apologies for my laziness!

I haven't been painting any canvasses at all lately either.  I spent four months here and there visiting family in Ireland at the beginning of the year and since then I've had nothing but health issues myself which I'd rather see the back of soon. Any artistic efforts I've done this year have been created on my computer only. Tapping a few keys and moving a mouse about feels a little easier these days. All I can say is that it's a damn nuisance and very annoying! I suppose these things happen as one gets older. I will hopefully get around to doing requested work as soon as possible.

For the moment I have had an issue with an art scam and I wanted to write this blogpost to share my info and alert any fellow artists or those in the business of selling art online.







I recently received an email enquiring about one of my artworks 'The Orange Cow' or 'La Vache Orange' as it was called on this occasion..

I receive a number of bogus emails to my inbox which over time 
have become easier to detect.

The email I received on this occasion was written in French so I was a little curious. This is mainly because normally anyone looking to buy art online would have some knowledge of myself and my artwork, they would also have noticed most of my online presence is in English. And if someone sends me an email in another language other than english they will usually ask me politely if it is okay to continue in their language. I had noticed this person found my artwork on a website which automatically offers selected language options, so I carried on reading the email. 


First email

Le 4 septembre
To Alan Hogan
fr.garaudy@gmail.com

La Vache orange

Bonsoir,puis-je avoir le prix de l'oeuvre dont le titre est "La Vache orange" par mail:fr.garaudy@gmail.com


Cordialement


I decided to corresspond in French with a little help from Google translate and a friend. I studied some french in school also. The email I received seemed friendly and straight forward.

Next email:

Francis Garaudy 6 Sep
To
Alan Hogan


Bonjour

je vous remercie pour votre reponse, je confirme mon désir d'acheter votre création
Vu le prix raisonnable je vous rajoute 20€ pour le colissimo (frais de port) comprit ce qui fera donc 320€ TTC .

J'accepte le paiement par Paypal : c'est ce que je trouve le plus rapide aussi et sécurisé pour l'un comme pour l'autre, et de plus c'est un mode de paiement le plus utilisé en ligne dans le monde .
Veuillez me faire parvenir votre adresse mail paypal afin de
clore cette vente.

A vous relire tres vite


Cordialement
Anyway a price was requested and agreed on. Paypal as a method of payment was agreed on also. So far so good. Next I began to prepare my painting, packing and calculating shipping costs. I also looked into the persons name and email address, I search various websites and Googled for any fraud alerts or info on the person. No alerts appeared and I couldn't find anything relevant about the person in question. I was given an address which I looked up on Google maps and it looked legitimate, there was even a small design gallery next door. In cases of selling art online I often try to gain a friendly 'tête-à-tête' with the customer. As my French is limited there was only the basic comments this time. I shared a convenient link to my Paypal account for payment after which I received an email from Paypal saying funds into my account were pending and a tracking number for the package was requested. The Paypal email I receive looked legit with good attention to small details and logos. 


Next email:

Francis Garaudy 8 Sep at 9:47 PM

To 
Alan Hogan

Comme convenu nous venions d'effectuer le paiement à votre adresse 'theartgarage(at)rocketmail.com'.

Avez vous reçu l'avis de Paypal ? Puisque j'ai un soucis de connexion veuillez vérifier vos mails ( boite de réception ou courrier indésirable ou spam ) vous trouverez les notifications du service Paypal.

Pour l'envoi du colis je vous laisse mon adresse de livraison:
19 Avenue Louis Barthou,
Code postale: 33200
Ville:Bordeaux
Pays:France

Merci de bien suivre les instructions du service Paypal


Cordialement



So next morning I went off and posted the painting and later emailed the tracking number with the shipping company's name as asked. Having done this I realised shortly afterwards that I neglected to check the secondary email I received from Paypal. I scanned the email address through Google and immediately discovered fraud alerts with other names involved. I was a little annoyed at myself as I usually spot these scammers early. Lucky for me though it was a Saturday afternoon and no post leaves my town until Monday morning. I managed to get to my local supermarket/post office and retrieve the painting and all postage costs. So nothing lost but my time!


One thing I was happy about was the fact that I found a perfectly sized box to package this painting. So as I have no plans to exhibit this painting anytime soon I shall be keeping 'The Orange Cow' wrapped up for now. If anyone reading this blog is interested in buying this artwork please drop an email to me at ... theartgarage(at)rocketmail.com . And if you mention that you read my blog I'll add a full set of my art postcards!


'The Orange Cow' painting is also available to buy as a print and other products from various online shops such as Redbubble and Society6. All my links can be found here https://linktr.ee/alanhogano


Share this blog!






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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The Art Garage, Finland

The Art Garage, Finland
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