City of 100 Spires - a point of view!
Every painting has its story. I sit surrounded by paintings and sketches and photographs. Each one conveys a visual impression. A bird in flight, a man in profile, a harbour town, ... and so on. Where was that bird photographed? Who is the man with the high forehead? How was the harbour painted?
So welcome to the story of this painting.
I enjoy looking at artwork which others produce. And I consider it a bonus when people show their creative process by demonstrating their techniques or explaining their motivation. I always enjoy listening to creators telling the stories of their work.
The 'title' of this blog is 'City of 100 Spires'. I don't know yet what the painting is called. I don't think too much about titles because I just want to keep it simple and to be able to identify a painting when needed. If I make prints of a painting then it is important that the buyers can select and order them without confusion.
Prague - morning - spires - gargoyle - balcony - sunrise - cats - ...., - I will get back to this!
I first visited Prague in late 2000. I was working in Kosova at the time, and there I met Lucie who invited me to Prague where she was working. On my first day in the city, Lucie brought me to Hradčanská Station. Apart from the historic location I always associate this metro stop with an optical illusion of domes on the station walls. Which ones are concave in, and which are convex out? From there we walked up the many steps towards the Castle plateau above. Lucie would not allow me to look around at the view until we reached the final step.
I spent a Winter in Prague before moving to Calcutta (gradually becoming Kolkata). A traditional January with hard frosty mornings, foggy haze, fresh snow on the rooftops and deserted streets. I read some short stories, by Jan Neruda, while sitting in the bars and cafes of Nerudova Street. I could look at the buildings which he described and picture his characters looking out of the windows. The Golden Horseshoe, The White Swan, The Red Lion,...... and The Two Suns where Neruda actually lived and wrote his tales. I was relaxed and taking a break from work. There was no internet and there were no smartphones to distract me.
I could get into the stories. Perhaps if I had picked up the same book at another time and in another location, I would have failed to complete the first chapter. I am easily distracted.
My painting depicts the view from Hradčanská, looking towards the Baroque Church of St. Nikolas and the twin spires of Týn Church beyond.
Just as New York is associated with skyscrapers and Rome conjures up images of ancient ruins, the city of Prague is synonymous with the Gothic and Baroque architecture of medieval Europe.
Some say that gargoyles were intended to put the fear of hell in people. I guess that this is partly true. In which case it may be wise to view these figures as friendly foe or even objects of ridicule. Personally I do not believe in hell but I strongly believe that the concept of hell is, itself, cruel and evil. My gargoyle is harmless, casting a cold eye over Prague.
My Gargoyle has borrowed his pose from his cousin in Paris (below). He is more demon than angel but I don't think he believes in the devil either. He knows that he is a decoration, just part of the landscape, like a Disney creation. I always thought that Gargoyles are so incongruous on religious temples. There is surely some connection between
these mischievous, or even evil, figures and early 'pagan' traditions of guarding important sites. Seeing a devilish character gaping down from the buttress of a cathedral is like discovering 'Síle na Gig' greeting us from the walls of a church in rural Ireland.
The saints will watch over this building but, just to be sure, we will add a legion of demons for added protection.
When Lucie and I worked in Calcutta we lived in a small apartment on the roof of a tall building, maybe 8 stories high. In the centre of Calcutta the rooftops are often the best place to escape the noise and the fumes and to share fresh air with the crows. In my hammock I dreamed of living in a simple, cosy cottage in a rural location. A house that is off a quiet road and down a winding lane. These are not so easy to find any more in Czech but a couple of years later we found it. This is where we still live, with our menagerie of pets, and where I now paint.
For many country lovers the best way to view a city is from a distance. In 1992 I toured with friends around Manhattan Island on a boat and we agreed that it was the best way to see the city. A few years ago I lived in Islamabad for 6 months and hiking up the Himalayan foothills, which border the city, prepared me for the following weeks work in a stressful UN office. But cities are like landscapes, like jungles. So much going on. They are busy all day, alive in the evening and mostly silent at dawn.
It is the time when cats and gargoyles watch over us.
Just as I haven't named this painting, I also haven't decided on a name for my gargoyle. I mention this because I think of this sort of thing when I am painting.
I did think of Pavel, because it is a common name in Czech and I associate it with a wise, playful person. I also thought of some biblical demonic name, like Lucifer, but that is not my Gargoyle. He is a cynic with a good sense of humour. I am thinking of Sean Lock, cast in bronze and perched below a copper dome, laughing at the world below. Okay, I will call him Sean.
As I paint I listen to podcasts, audio books and, of course, YouTube clips. And sometimes I learn something new. I listened to a BBC documentary about the use of metals in ancient times...
.....when bronze was made by combining copper with tin (approx. 90% Cu and 10% tin). ... a recipe that has been used for over 5000 years. Copper was utilised by the earliest civilisations in the Middle East, over 11,000 years ago - yet we never talk about a copper age! Early copper was mined in Cyprus which is where the word originates.
A busy cityscape can often be best portrayed through a milky haze. A few years ago I painted the skyline of Cesky Krumlov, another heavenly location for Imagineers. I scrolled through paintings of skylines, looking at how different artists tackle the challenge. I already had my inspiration in mind and I found nothing that appealed to me more than the skylines of Disney movies, not just animated feature films but also movies with real sets and character actors. Mary Poppins is an excellent example. One of my personal art heroes is Peter Ellenshaw. He painted most of the scenes in Mary Poppins which portray the city of London in Edwardian times.
These background scenes were painted on glass sheets with blank areas where the actors and sets would appear. When the film and the background were combined the illusion of reality was created. Ellenshaw and Walt used this technique to stunning effect for decades, and many of us watched their movies never realising that the pirate ship, the mountain, the distant castle, .. was just an illusion. This is known as 'matte painting'.
Monet painted London as a shimmering haze. I know that this is sometimes called impressionism?! For me it depends on whether impressionism means a work that is painted by one of the 'impressionists', or whether it is a style of painting. I don't think it can be the latter as the styles of many of these painters varied greatly and even Monet's style changed dramatically as he aged. I am more drawn to the paintings that he did in mid-life - Rouen Cathedral, Westminster, The Haystacks. In the early 90's I visited the National Gallery in Edinburgh dozens of times (it was free and I was between jobs) and I always sat and admired one of his Haystack paintings. These were created over weeks, months and even years. Adding fresh layers of paint over previous layers which had been allowed to slowly dry. This is a completely different style to his earliest work, - think of boats on the Seine, which he sketched with his colleagues to quickly capture an 'impression' of the mood and the scene. All are good and interesting but the styles have little in common.
Some of the early works produced by Monet, Manet, Renoir, etc are so similar that the authorship of some of their paintings is disputed by experts - in cases where they are inconveniently unsigned. When they are signed then of course the hand of the great artist is never in doubt! I find this amusing.
When working on a painting my mind wanders over time and place. This is why I find painting in a studio therapeutic. These days I do not travel but every aspect of a painting takes me back in time.
When forming the clay tiles on the foreground roof I thought of the different shades of clay on the tiles of Dubrovnik which I visited with Lucie in 2000, shortly after it had been restored following the Balkan conflicts. I also recalled working in Honduras a year earlier. I watched a local artisan making traditional roof tiles from clay as they probably had been made in Mediterranean lands long before the concept had crossed the Atlantic centuries later. While seated on a stool, he took a flat slab of wet clay and dropped it over his right leg, allowing the clay to fall to the sides. Thus making a 'half-pipe' shape which was slightly narrower at the knee. Exactly the shape required to link the tiles effectively!
Clay tiles were used for 12,000 years in China and the Middle East and later adopted by the Greeks and the Romans. But Ireland preferred grass thatching as did most of the African and South American continents. I am sure that both have their advantages. But in the year 2022 the use of clay tiles is still increasing. And then I look at my canvas and see that the roof is finished!
My two elder cats, Mata and Sparky are always around. They are the older 'ladies' in the family, since two younger male cats joined us. When watching 'The Crown' I started calling them your majesty - Sparky is Princess Margaret and Mata The Queen - not really of course but they seem to get the joke!.
And in the morning I greet them at the window with their personal greeting - Hello you!
The Queen passed away this week as I started this painting. Time is part of any paintings story and this marks the date of this work. Today her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey. This little guy was watching the ceremony from the walls above.
And so my title?
- Prague, The Watcher.
I started this painting to bring to the annual Open Art Fest in Prague which I had attended last year. After starting the painting I received a message that the exhibition had been cancelled. A disappointment of course to the 200 or so exhibitors like myself. Above all it was a place to meet like minded people. So Sean might never make it to Prague, but he doesn't really care. He is laughing at a boy who just dropped his ice-cream, - that's Sean!
To order any original paintings or prints please visit my eshop.
To discuss any commissions or requests please email me at eoghanart@gmail.com.
To view any of my work you are welcome to explore my website and to contact me directly.