Perfect Vision Academy Opens

On December 17th 2008, Perfect Vision moved into larger premises suitable for bigger workshops with space for substantial exhibitions available. It is also intended to make studio space available for artists at an affordable rate for up to 15 artists.
Situated above the House of traders at Mayoralty Street, Drogheda it is proposed that the venue will have open access to all groups and individuals interested in the learning about and experience the visual arts.

The Mind of The Artist

If you want to see how the mind of the artist works. Then have a look at their sktechbooks. These are windows into the way the artist develops his or her ideas

This development of ideas can be seen very clearly at this website where you can link to many different artists works such as the watercolour travel notebooks of Eugene Delacroix and the Lion Studies of Gericault.
http://www.gis.net/~scatt/sketchbook/links2.html#D

Its important to realise for your own artistic development the importance of working upon the idea you may have for a painting before you touch the canvas. Thinking about the best approach and searching for opportunities to fill your work with meaning comes from an effort to contemplate what you are about to spend your precious energy upon.
Sketchbooks are the ideal place for this thought process. A simple squiggle well in advance of work on the canvas can save you hours and bring about countless opportunities. These opportunities will help improve your abilities to visually communicate enormously. Improving your skills to select well, choose wisely for and refine your image-making is well worth the little time of preparation it makes. Be inspired by this video of the Detour Sketchbook Exhibition in U Tube.



Also have look at the work of this artist who with his simple lines manages to say a great deal about his surroundings
http://uchronie.over-blog.com/15-index.html

Enjoy!

A Journey through Tara. A visit culminating in a live casting event at Perfect Vision Studios

At the Gate. Drawing for Painting by Sean O Dwyer

Dear Friends.
As part of our Bronze on the Boyne project we are running a special event.
See the Itinerary below and an outline of the day.

Saturday the 5th of July
A journey through Tara...
Focusing on its mythological and symbolic importance through its tales and legends,
with a particular reference to Art History and Irish Metalwork. Including a live bronze casting event held later at the Perfect Vision Workshop.

13.30: Meet at Perfect Vision Studios 17 Park Avenue Grange Rath Drogheda.
14.15: Arrive at Tara.
14.30: Specially booked Audio Visual Presentation followed by
Guided tour around the monuments given by Sean.
15.30: The Great meeting in The Banquet hall.
15.45: Time to explore ( there are 30 known sites)
16.30: Time for Tara's interesting Shop and Antique Bookshop next store
(shop closes at 17.15)
17.45 Head Back to "The Banquet Hall" at Perfect Vision.
18.15 : Tea: Soup, Salad and Rolls. Tea, Coffee Juice. Bring wine or larger but only if you aren't driving.
20.00: Bronze Casting Event and Slide show on Metalwork Tradition and the Irish Artistic Heritage.


Cost is around €3.40 each for the fee into the centre including the audio visual centre children cost less.
WARNING: Bring rain-gear, including a hat, warmclothes and suitable boots. This is ireland.... and Tara is windswept on most days at best.

Guided Tour Outline
Tara is at first sight an arrangement of small grassy mounds beside a church. But to visit Tara is to visit the centre of Ireland's Valley of the Kings. The Boyne Valley. There is an unmistakable atmosphere there, an ambience of significance that brings one back to nearly 4000 BC at "The Mound of The Hostages" almost a thousand years before the building of the Pyramids in egypt.

Tara is a gateway of the imagination leading us through many Irish Myths and Legends and is often mentioned in stories such as "The Wooing of Etain", "The Battle of Moytura" and the destruction of "Da Derga's Hostel" . Its derives its name from "Temair" the legendary princess who died of homesickness for her home city of Thebes in Egypt who is reputed to have been buried there.

Tara's open mounds and enclosures overlook the Boyne Valley and all of the surrounding country side. But to appreciate Tara one should look at the artifacts and stories that are often referred to in the modern irish consciousness, items such as the Tara Brooch" (actually found in Bettystown near Drogheda), the Sile naGig in the church courtyard and the storytelling of the Irish Renaissance writers . In the 1970's Jim Fitzpatrick's images in their marvel comic book style seem to capture the heroism and adventure of these legends and still ignite the artistic spirit that comes searching "The Banquet Hall" at Tara. This is where all professional artisans and craftsmen of Ireland met every year to feast and celebrate their good service of their symbolical King Of The World who in turn was granted his position in service of the Gods and Godesses Lug, Maedb and Eithne.

Insanely threatened now from roadworks on the M3 we poignantly meet there just after the final day of the 6th World Archeological Congress being held in Dublin addressing the issues surrounding the M3 building project a project that mostly endangers The Tara, Skryne (Gabhra) Valley which owes its presence to two sacred springs found on Tara itself. One is called St Patricks spring and the other, which may be called Nemhnach, can be found at the south end of the field that contains Rath Loegaire.

Already partially bulldozed, the endangerment of the watercourses that run from these springs seems to tear away at the banks of the sacred underground stream itself, symbolising the threat to our passage to the otherworld that Tara has come to represent. This is the place of Rath Maeve and Rath Grainne too... the place where the Irish Romeo and Juliet, Diarmuid and Grainne fled from and.... as mentioned in the great irish poem the "Dindshenchas" , the resting place of Cuculainn also, some of whose remains are said to lie buried in this valley...

"The Measure of the Head of grim Cú Chulainn
lies north-east from Rath Conchobair;
the dimension of his Shield under its Boss
is wonderful and huge".

I hope you will join with me in this celebration of our unique irish heritage which will culminate in a bronze Casting and slide show at The perfect Vision Workshop. There you can see the process used by the Ancient Irish Metalworkers since the time of the building of Tara.

I look forward to seeing you
Sean O Dwyer

Anamorphosis: A response to a query

Anamorphosis is a branch of the technique of Perspective. The real masters of it used it mostly during the Baroque period of art in Italy and France. Its an art form that is very theatrical and is often used today in theatre set design or in trompe l'oeil murals. for examples see...http://www.romeartlover.it/Ceiling.html There you will see amazing renderings of this art form mostly used on the ceilings of churches.

Holbien used this process very mysteriously in one of his paintings "The Ambassadors" http://www.nwe.ufl.edu/~tharpold/resources/holbein/... where he unusually paints what appears to be a smudge across the bottom of the painting and it turns out to be a skull. A memento mori ..a reminder of the presence of death despite the wealth, good fortune and great learning indicated in the portrait through symbols.

A good modern example can be seen in the work of Eric Grohe..... http://www.ericgrohemurals.com/ He uses tromp l'oeil effect to create works that pierce their surroundings and punch a hole right through the wall to create a dramatic and celebratory presentation. This is used

Student Exhibition in Trim

Works by students of the County Meath V.E.C .Back to Education Initiative in Trim, Ireland that are learning to paint and draw through the perfect vision methods will be on display on the 6th of June. Details Below....

Just Back From London

Sean, you were very quick off the mark, my feet haven't even deswelled yet!! It was a wonderful weekend- many thanks. Talking about quick off the mark - I see Susan has contributed already.



I couldn't tell you how I got to this point of your Blog and I don't know if I will be able to do it again but I am going to try to ad a pic. One is a picture of our hotelroom window. I hope you can make out the kid's sunspecs at the foot of the ancient carving in the second one. I thought it was lovely.

p.s. I've spent an hour at least at this when I chould have been PAINTING, and i don't think the pics have downloaded.

Even the Street is a Good Place for Art in London

One of the many Art works I saw on the threaded journey but this time it was in the window of a the Trafalgar Hotel. and the artists sculpture was made of loads of cheap bright plastic toys screwed onto a man and dog shaped wooden armature. See more about Robert Bradford at ...

http://www.robertbradford.co.uk/

Ariadne's Thread: Trip to London May '08

The Perfect Vision Guild took a small guided group tour with Sean O'Dwyer entitled... Ariadne's Thread: A Journey through the History of Art, to London. We visited The National Gallery, The British Museum, The Tate Britain and Tate Modern over three days dining out in Covent Garden, a Chinese Garden (outside the British Museum), the Tate Modern (overlooking the St Pauls and the Millenium Bridge).... and various seating arrangements outside the Marylebone Tube Station' Marks and Spencers!

Eclectic to say the least, this journey was a unique opportunity to see those master works at first hand that we normally see only in books. How different and un-chocolate-box like a Constable looks up close. Or, how about drawing directly from Turner's watercolours as a way of experiencing his perception of light, looking at his sketchbooks and his mini portable watercolouring set and palette.

Walking by the white Elgin Marbles and finding them as inspirational as the neoclassical artists did or walking through the gates of the Assyrian city of Nimrud are experiences not to be forgotten. Looking closely at exactly how Vincent applied paint in his "Sunflowers" we can see how he makes it look more like a low relief sculpture than a painting . We are getting to know the secrets of the trade. In fact the journey we took places us almost on a first name basis with what up to now may be perceived as unapproachable giants of art.

Surrealism is easier to comprehend now having gazed over the revolutionary manifestos of Andre Breton and Max Ernst. Looking at Magritte is like meeting an old philosopher that we might warmly welcome and can understand now that the the fundamentals of the language of modern art are spoken clear to us.

It was hoped that the trip might inspire and broaden horizons, that it might unveil to the viewer the poetry and dreams that motivate the making of art and awaken the sleeping consciousness to new, exciting and endless possibilities that are now afforded to us, our eyes having been opened wider, our vision renewed.

As one fellow traveller following Ariadne's golden thread through the labyrinth said to me... "Looking at art is like eating food for the soul!"

Who was Ariadne?
The hero Theseus was sent to Crete by his people to be one of the sacrifices to the Minotaur. His true intent was to kill the Minotaur and finally end the sacrifices. Young Ariadne fell in love with Theseus the second she saw him and went against her family to help her lover. She gave Theseus a special thread that he could unwind on his way to the center of the labyrinth, so that he could kill the Minotaur and then follow the thread back out. Theseus succeeded in his quest, and in exchange for her help, he promised to make Ariadne his bride.
To find out more about the symbolism of Ariadne go to....
http://www.matrifocus.com/BEL02/spotlight.htm

Welcome to the Perfect Vision Guild

Here you will see unfold in front of your eyes the work and events of the Perfect Vision Guild. You are welcome to view our works and give us feedback if you find what we do interesting. Also you can let us know if you would like to buy anything we have made. The Perfect Vision Guild was set up in 2005 to provide a platform and standard for aspiring artists who have trained in Perfect Vision Workshops held in Drogheda and Trim.