I THINK OF YOU AND I SMILE exhibition

I THINK OF YOU AND I SMILE
neon light paintings by Dominic Bradnum

Sunday 8th August - Thursday 30th September
(Opening night: Sunday 8th August, 5pm)

Blanch House, 17 Atlingworth St,
Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 1PL


Dominic Bradnum’s paintings are emblazoned with lit-up slogans and abstract neon forms in vivid, saturated colours. He paints in high-contrast with fluid, sensual brush-strokes, setting these shimmering lights within the darkest voids or against ruined and decaying surfaces.

Throughout August and September, Dominic Bradnum exhibits his paintings of neon lights within the chic and retro stylings of Blanch House.

in/out

[THURSDAY 29 JULY 2010]
Today I will werk on the blue drip. There has been some saggage overnight. I pull out all the staples at each end and pull the canvas taut and re-staple. That's better...

I spend a lot of time werking away at the background - too much red, not enough darkness... too much blackness, not enough red. I add some Phthalo Blue at the edge of the neon glow, then blend it out into the black...

I take the painting outside to view in the daylight, then back up into the loft for more werk. Then back outside, then up the ladder again... repeat a few times...

I leave it looking like this:

the afternoon shift

[WEDNESDAY 28 JULY 2010]
Just an afternoon session today - There was payed work to be done in the morning.

Progress is good, but then I always seem to be more productive of an afternoon. I de-sag the purple drip canvas, and once more I have a taut surface to paint onto. I werk on both the drip paintings and 'Love is Amour...'. But for the last few hours the purple drip painting is the focus of my attention. More Yellow, then knock it back into darkness. And more darkness. And more darkness.

21.00: I take it out to view it in the half-light. I'm satisfied, so I call it a day.

whoop

[THURSDAY 22 JULY 2010]
Lunch time: Things have been going well this morning. There have been moments when I have almost whooped with joy. I have been werking on 'LOVE IS AMOUR IN FRENCH'. As things stand it is looking good. Just a bit more werk on the deep red neon areas...

14.45. Down tools. 'LOVE IS AMOUR IN FRENCH' is taken out for daylight inspection. I hang it on the wall in the lounge. It glows down on me.

I have a cup of tea to celebrate.

Back in the loft, two options: Blue Drip or Purple Drip. The purple one is looking a bit saggy in the canvas department. Curse you fine-weave canvas! Following my success with the blue neon this morning, I opt for the blue drip. And by the time I am done it has taken on a whole new glow. Just a bit of darkness at the fade. I'll need to darken the background a touch next time. I step back in the half-light...

...And Wednesday Painter saw that it was good.

background painter

[WEDNESDAY 21 JULY 2010]
We begin today's session with some time on the web, compiling a list of people to invite to my exhibition. It is arduous, and it is keeping me from painting. It gets me down.

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This morning was wholly unproductive. All tense and frustrated, I was.

A change of tac' for the afternoon: Instead of doing close-up, detailed work, I switched to messy, physical background painting. The purple drip, the blue drip and 'Love Is Amour...' all received my attention. And at 8.30pm I cleaned the brushes and my grubby mitts and I left the loft.

Wish You Were Here - Southend-on-Sea

Here are some photos of my work at Artside 2010: Wish You Were Here in Southend-on-Sea. The exhibition continues until this Friday, my work is on show at Tomassi's, 7-9 High Street.

Don't I look handy with a hammer?

that bird has flown

[WEDNESDAY 14 JULY 2010]
I feel like a baby bird I have nursed and nourished has just fledged the nest... Such is the void left when a painting I have focussed all my attentions and energies on is finally finished and taken out into the real world. After the blood, sweat and curses, and all the physical exertion: it is just gone. I have spoken of 'the void' before. This is it.

But I have other canvases to werk on. Canvases that have been neglected in my rush to finish 'Wish You Were Here'.

Having spent the past few sessions werking al fresco I returned to the loft to disarray. Now almost everything is back in its rightful place, I squeeze some Permanent Magenta oil paint onto the palette, with the intention of adding some immediate glow to the 'purple drip' painting. I have a blank. Was it painted straight on, unmixed? Did I add some white? Or mix it with another colour?

So I'm back on the computer, looking at photos of 'SPQR' and 'Commemorative Date Plaque: 05.09.09'. Then back through old Wednesday Painter posts. Bingo!

On Wednesday 12 August 2009, I wrote:

"Number 2 is up on the easel now. First I over-painted the white neon characters; then some Permanent Magenta mixed with Titanium White for the intense, immediate glow around the characters."

Permanent Magenta and Titanium White. Permanent Magenta and Titanium White. Permanent Magenta and Titanium White. Permanent Magenta and Titanium White. Permanent Magenta and Titanium White. Permanent Magenta and Titanium White.

And in the afternoon, I turn my attentions to injecting some bright blue glow on the blue neon drip.

Wish it would dry

[THURSDAY 08 JULY 2010]
All day, werking away on Wish you Were Here. At 19.03 I signed it.

Werk continued until 21.05.

And then I brought it inside and set up a fan to try desperately to dry it a bit. Tomorrow it travels to Southend-on-Sea.

Wish You Were Here Exhibition, Southend-on-Sea

2 of my paintings have been selected for exhibition at
ARTSIDE 2010: Wish You Were Here
10 - 23 July 2010
various venues and events on and around the High Street in Southend-on-Sea

My work is on show at
Tomassi's, 7-9 High Street, Southend, Essex, SS1 1JE [map]


ARTSIDE 2010 is the first edition of an annual project supported and funded by Southend-on-Sea Town Centre Partnership. ARTSIDE transforms the centre of the town into a pulsating art platform, and includes art exhibitions and events taking place on and around the Southend High Street from 10-23 July 2010.

In case you are unable to make it along, these are the paintings I am exhibiting:

artistic license versus stone-cold reality

[WEDNESDAY 07 JULY 2010]
I was here again on Monday, skiving off paid work to do a bit more werk on 'Wish You Were Here'.

Here's how it looks this morning, just a little more attention and I'll be happy with it. I just hope I don't go and fuck it up now!

It looks like rain. Which is a pain. It means I am probably going to have to drag the great hulk of a canvas back up into the loft and werk on it there. I've been enjoying werking outside, especially as it has been so hot of late.

You find me at the end of my lunch break. I wanted to make the letters more fuzzy and fizzy. I am not sure if that was the right thing to do... I've set up a fan to try and dry the paint a bit quicker. It doesn't seem to be working.

16.19: Things are looking better: I have all but blotted out any suggestion of the supporting cross-beam that had been threatening to spoil the neon glow. A triumph of artistic license over stone-cold reality. It's got to look good and make an impact, and that supporting structure was not helping the cause.

18.20: I am done for the day. In comes the painting, on goes the fan, away go the paints and brushes and spirits. Just got to hope the white has dried a bit for tomorrow so I can finish it off.