May I Start, May I Finish. Pochade painting of Sprainger Street, Liverpool.

The end of what could be called a fine summer month and the, 'May I start, May I Finish', project has yielded 16 small paintings from the 20 I did this month. This puts me well on course for at least 150 urban paintings come this time next year. I was really spurred on to start the project after receiving daily updates on my blog from Stephen Magsig's daily paintings, 'Postcards from Detroit', his Detroit stories.

In his own words Stephen notes, 'postcards from Detroit is a visual diary of Detroit in daily paintings. The inspiration came from Duane Keiser's innovative A Painting a Day blog, and Julian Merrow-Smith's Postcard from Provence'. All of these sites are well worth a visit. These people have been doing these paintings on a regular basis for a very long time now, so I suppose that first, you have to find a project that your going to enjoy and one that is also going to sustain your interest. I realise I am far from the first to do this, I guess it's just my turn.

http://myartspage.blogspot.com/

http://duanekeiser.blogspot.com/

http://shiftinglight.com/

May I Start, May I Finish. Pochade painting of Lightbody Street, Liverpool

Another hot day in May and I found a boat builders just off the Dock Road. A canal barge still primed and fresh from the workshop, all ready to go to a canal somewhere in the country.

May I Start, May I Finish. Pochade painting of Stanley Dock Canal.

I was only saying yesterday the hidden places you find when your mooching about on foot. I've lived here all my life and only found this place last year when I was painting Stanley Dock swing bridge. I always said I'd return and do a painting of this oasis in the city centre. Yesterday's painting was done from the other side of the railway bridge further down the dock road. This canal way is part of the Liverpool waterway looking inland towards Booltle.

May I Start, May I Finish. Pochade painting of Stone Street, Liverpool

I'm discovering parts of the city I never knew existed before. Simply walking and looking can reveal so many hidden paintings just waiting to be found. I think there are enough artists painting the iconic scenes, so I think I'll leave them to it, I love these nondescript passages that read together give me an impression of the city.

May I Start, May I Finish. Pochade painting of Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool

Another painting of the sculpture in the square. It's in a section of town called The Rope Walks, hence the twisted and turned sculpture.

May I Start, May I Finish. Painting of Mathew Street, Liverpool

Probably associated more with the Beatles and the famous ‘Eric’s’ club. Mathew Street is in Liverpool’s Cavern Quarter was once was the centre of Liverpool's wholesale fruit and vegetable market. Overlooked by the Radio City Tower, formerly St Johns Beacon

May I Start, May I Finish. Pochade painting of a toll booth

One of the four old toll booths that used to grace the Mersey Tunnels between 1934-1936. After serving it's purpose there it spent twenty years as a Tote ticket booth at Haydock Racecourse. Rescued later still from a scrap yard it was lovingly restored to it's former glory and situated outside the Mersey Tunnels building at the Pier Head.

May I Start , May I Finish . Pochade painting of Wolstemholme Square, Liverpool

The installation by the Cuban born New York artist, Jorge Pardo called Penelope after the wife of Ulysses. Hidden behind the trees in the square is the legendary nightclub Cream.

May I Start, May I Finish. Urban landscape of Liverpool

Norfolk Street, Liverpool

Night time galleries in Liverpool

Our Studios at the Leaf Tea Cafe (third floor) are open to all this Friday. It's all part of an event that sees public and independent galleries and studios open all hours and well into the night. The info below is from. Artinliverpool.com

After many long dark nights of behind-closed-doors political manoeuvrings in the interests of stable government (yeh, right) it is time to emerge into the long LIGHT NIGHT in the interests of art, culture and general merriment.

Liverpool Light Night is this Friday, 14 May

Daily painting of Catherine Street, Liverpool

Daily painting of Liverpool from May to May, a year in paint

Queens Stores Company

Turbine Bags, Ships Chandlers, Sailmakers.
Another snapshot of Liverpool.

Daily painting of still life done with pochade box

' Houston...we have a problem.' Another of the still life with a twist series. Added the title to the picture. I think this tells you what the painter had in mind when painting the still life, (yes I know it looks rather phallic). Maybe the times of Flash Gordon and 1950's rocket design was a little more innocent back then.

Daily painting of Sandown Lane Liverpool.

Another of the, 'May I start May I finish', series of Liverpool in paint that I am hoping to complete over the next year. Using the pochade box is ideal for the 21cm x 14cm size pictures that will be the bulk of the work. The Edinurgh, (the Eddy) must be one of the smallest bars I've been in, in fact I've probably been in bigger kitchens.

Look out! He's got a knife.

I quiet like the idea of painting a still life with a title in mind, a narrative, and marrying the two. I've done still life paintings in the past that are a pleasant arrangement of objects, but I think if the title and the objects are considered together it can make for a more interesting painting. I considered doing a painting of the palette knife and added a tube of paint for balance, pretty standard stuff. But if the tube is red and the knife has some on the tip then the title is going to change all that. Like the last post I now think of Robert De Niro every time I see that mushroom, strange but true. I've got a few more in the pipeline, still life with a twist. If nothing else it keeps it fresh and makes me think of the composition.

'You talkin to me?' Pochade still life painting of mushrooms

All that good weather had to end some time so I decided to paint a still life of whatever was in the fridge. While setting up garlic, onion, and leeks etc the mushrooms were getting the De Niro treatment from, 'Taxi Driver', off the little guy.

"You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"

Pochade painting of The Railway pub, Wellington Road.

Pochade painting of Great George Street, Liverpool

Another painting for the daily paintings of Liverpool. I haven't developed a fetish for the Anglican cathedral it just happens that these are the paintings I planned first, I will eventually move on to other background icons looming over the ordinary. This building is a one stop Wedding Shop. Everything around it has gone and there it stands, alone, like a set from a Tim Burton movie.

Pochade painting of Canning Street, Liverpool 8

SOLD

Another small painting of the Liverpool 8 area, 21cm x 14cm. Feel free to suggest an area that could be painted.

Pochade painting of Huskisson Street, Liverpool

Part of a series of paintings I want to do for a year, call it Liverpool in paint. Thought I'd title it, 'May I start, May I finish'. Hopefully I would be able to get out and about using the pochade box and paint the city. I would like to say I will aim for a painting a day, five days a week, so I'll see how things pan out. I intend to work at 21cm x 14cm, certainly not much bigger. Even if I manage at least three a week I could end up learning a whole lot more from at least 150 attempts at the end of the project.