I do like a good pub facade! Usually traditional in architecture terms but often eclectic in the way they are decorated. The use of hanging baskets and flags in this pub from Ireland was always going to catch my eye. ‘The Oliver St John Gogarty’ featured here is a striking watering hole in Temple Bar, Dublin… it’s one we discovered as we wandered and explored the city back in March.
It felt like it would make another good cut-out painting study (I recently finished another one and the same style: ‘The Palace Bar’ found in the same area of Dublin). The trickier part of this piece turned out to be the flagpoles. Which were not easy to separate into distinct layers. The poles themselves were fixed to the wall, but the fabric of each flag draped over details closer to the foreground. So while experimenting and trying to adjust the layers to make sense… I ended up ‘curling’ and moulding the paper into something more sculptural.
Below is an embedded video of the The Oliver St John Gogarty painting details. A little walk around the artwork from different angles.
I’m sure it’s all very small detail stuff for most viewers but these are the hurdles that make every study and painting fascinating. No matter your experience, I feel the materials always throw up new challenges and interesting combinations! I believe the overall impression here is dynamic and colourful. I certainly hope I can put together a few more like this one… perhaps to hang together at an exhibition.
