Steve O'Sullivan Artist: October 2010

Friday

Cuban Revolution - Yaguajay

Background: On March 10, 1952, General Fulgencio Batista overthrew the president of Cuba, Carlos Prìo Socarrás, and canceled all elections. This angered the young lawyer Fidel Castro, and for the next seven years he attempted to overthrow Batista’s government. On July 26, 1953, Castro led an attack against the military barracks in Santiago, but he was defeated and arrested. Although Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Batista released him in 1955 in a show of supreme power. Castro gathered a new group of rebels in Mexico. On December 2, 1956, he was again defeated by Batista’s army and fled to the Sierra Maestra. He began using guerrilla tactics to fight Batista’s armed forces, The Battle of Yaguajay (December 19–30, 1958) was a decisive victory for the Cuban Revolutionaries over the soldiers of the Batista government near the city of Santa Clara in Cuba. With the aid of other rebellions throughout Cuba, he forced Batista to resign and flee the country on January 1, 1959.

I painted this in 2004, one of my very first paintings.

Size: 30"x40" (762x1010)

Medium: Acrylic

Signed and dated.

Price: $825.00

http://www.paintbynumbers.co.nz/

Wednesday

My Favourite Painting

Sometimes you paint something that you really hate so much you no longer want to see it. And other times you paint something that you are REALLY happy with. This painting has been hanging in my house for about a year and every time I pass it - probably at least a dozen times every day - I think "that's pretty cool"

BUT - and it's a big but - it didn't start out like that. This was one of those paintings that I struggled with: I struggled with the background, the colours, the paint - in fact everything.

You probably can't tell from the photos, but it has got a lot of paint on it. In fact it has a coating of titanium white - which at one stage covered it all completely. Fortunately, I came to my senses before the white had dried, and hastily removed most of it with a damp cloth, feverishly scraping off the paint.

Tuesday

Hard Working Painter...Yeah Right!

It's true! I can't paint inside, because my wife would have a fit. When I get a new canvas - and I prefer Gordon Harris canvas (obviously) - the first thing I do is cover the whole canvas, including the edges, in one base colour. I use a smallish roller for this. Usually it's bone black, or sometimes mars black. I wait for that to dry. Then I apply another coat of the same colour. But, I am a very messy painter. It goes everywhere, because I paint in a hurry. I am impatient. Usually I paint on the grass outside the studio. Come and watch me sometime, you'd laugh!

Sunday

Painters Make Choices

It's Sunday and the sun is shining - for a change. I usually wake up about the same time each day, whether it's a week day or not, and today was no exception. My choices for the day are mowing the lawns or finishing off a painting I started a few weeks ago. The art always wins. This one is part of what I call the "organic" series. I call it that because the paint seems alive..? There's movement in the image. And texture. This has been an on-going painting, which is rare for me. Mostly I start a painting and see it through to the finish. Others I have struggled with. A few have even been painted over more than three or four times. It certainly adds texture then!

Saturday

Texture and Movement

It's probably hard to tell from the photograph, but there is a lot of texture in this painting. As I have said elsewhere, I like big bold splashes of paint - I am very messy! I like the painting to move.
This painting hangs on one of our bedroom walls - in the guest room.
No one has complained about a bad night's sleep yet :)
http://www.paintbynumbers.co.nz/

Wednesday

Organic Series I

I've only been painting for six years - my background is in photography. It began because I was offered an amazing job where I would be working with artists and other creative talented people every day. So I was 'tempted' to pick up a brush - in my case a roller! Photography had always been a flat medium for me, and I was keen to add that three dimensional element to my art. Most of my paintings feature large tracts of paint, giant brush strokes, and sometimes several layers of paint!