Wells Art Contemporary 2013 winner Solo Exhibition, 45 Park Lane

I was so very busy with the practicalities of finishing paintings and the opening night, that I neglected to post about this: my first solo exhibition in London! 

There is still time to see it though...

45 Park Lane and The Dorchester Collection present:

A Solo Exhibition of neon lights in oil paint by Dominic Bradnum, winner of the Wells Art Contemporary 2013 First Prize.

Dominic Bradnum - Wells Art Contemporary 2013 winner, solo exhibition

Wednesday 7^th May – Saturday 31^st May 2014
45 Park Lane, Dorchester Collection, Mayfair, London W1K 1PN

Wells Art Contemporary 2013

Yes, I know it is Tuesday, and I know I don't very often grace this corner of the internet these days, but there is news: One of my neon paintings has been selected for the Wells Art Contemporary 2013 exhibition.


Wells Art Contemporary 2013
11th – 19th October (open 10am-5pm)
Wells Museum,
8 Cathedral Green,
Wells, Somerset
BA5 2UE

Dominic Bradnum - Cry For Help 2

I've not been idle by the way. You can read of my current non-painting exploits here: www.dominicbradnum.co.uk

Saatchi Online Abstract Showdown

I have entered one of my neon ‘Drip’ paintings in the Saatchi Online Abstract Showdown competition

If you are able to take a moment to click on the link and vote, that would be hugely appreciated. And please do pass on to anyone else who you think may be interested too. Thanks!

Round 1 Voting started 12 noon yesterday (15th March) and runs until Tuesday 27th March
VOTE HERE >>> www.saatchionline.com/showdown/vote/showdown/10/artist/29963

week off

I did no painting last week.  Instead I spent Tuesday travelling up to Manchester to deliver Wish You Were Here to the BlankSpace Gallery for a forthcoming exhibition titled 'No. 1: Paint'.  We spent a whole 10 minutes in Manchester, deciding to make tracks when a gang of yoofs came by with their hoods up putting on their woolly gloves as if they were off to have a snowball fight.  There were riots in Manchester and Salford that night. There were no reported snowball fights.

On Thursday Verity and I attended the WBS logo awards ceremony at the Design Council in London. We enjoyed a slap-up meal and ample wine, met some interesting people, and I came home with a 2nd prize for my re-rendering of their logo in blue neon after Barnett Newman.

Here is a portrait of the artist with the artwerk, after the awards and the ample wine and the slap-up meal and the interesting people.

WBS Logo Competition

I've spent the past few weeks beavering away at that logo competition canvas.  In the final stages I switched to oil paint.  The acrylic was drying too quickly to allow for any blending, even with a slow drying medium.

I awoke early on the day the courier was booked to collect the canvas, and was compelled to put in one last hour getting the background to my satisfaction. Then away it went...

The project brief was to re-imagine the new Warwick Business School logo in the style of one of a list of artists.  I chose Barnett Newman, re-rendering the logo in blue neon, with the letter 'b' extending to form the infamous 'Zip'.

WBS logo: Day 1 and Day 2

[WEDNESDAY 29 & THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2011]
The canvas finally arrived on Monday. By Wednesday morning I have marked out the regulation 480mm x 480mm square I have to contain my artwerk within, and the neon design is drawn out and ready.  It is the most detailed and scaled down neon I have painted yet - I envisage painstaking hours of delicate painting ahead.  I will be using acrylics for the first time in a long, long time (since 1995?), and these days I like to work big and bold, not small and delicate.  But I have to shrug off this straitjacket as there is prize-money at stake.

Day 1: I had some paid work to finish in the morning, but from 1.30 to 9pm I was painting and resting and painting and resting and painting and resting until my eyes couldn't focus and my arm could barely hold up the brush.

At the end of day 1 I had painted in the fine detail of the white neon forms, and put in a preliminary coat of blue glow and the black background.  It is a relief to not have any blank canvas showing.

Day 2: Werking with acrylics is at least allowing me to paint over and build up the layers a lot quicker than is usual with the oil paint, though this fine detail brush werk is threatening to drive me potty.

I pack up my brushes with a lot of ground-werk covered.  Now at the stage where I can start adding detail to the glow and bring the blackness in from the void.

Fringe MK 2010 Painting Prize catalogue selection

Good news received yesterday: my painting 'I Think Of You And I Smile' has been shortlisted for the Fringe MK 2010 Painting Prize.

100 paintings have been selected from all the entries and these will appear in the exhibition catalogue. Works will be chosen from this selection to be shown at the exhibition, and a final four prize winners will be selected in July.

You can see my motley canvas, and the competition, on the Fringe MK facebook page.

In other news, I had some business cards printed (coincidentally of the same painting) and they arrived this week.

VOTE NEON! part 2

Thanks everyone who voted for my painting. I didn't win - quelle surprise - but I was heartened to find my painting in the top 50 favourite works from the round, so thanks for taking the time to vote.

Buoyed by my relative success, I have entered another painting, and its success lies partly in your hands. So if you can bear to spare a moment clicking the link below and rating my 'SPQR' painting, and adding it as a favourite, I will be very very grateful:
www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=263651

Voting runs from 5th to 12th April.

Feel free to forward this on to anyone else you think might be interested in seeing my work and voting.

cheers
WP

VOTE NEON!

in a moment of rashness I entered one of my paintings (again) in the
bunfight that is the Saatchi online showdown...

Not sure why I did it, but a quick glance through some of the
competition shows me that the standard of entries hasn't changed much
since last time!

If anyone is actually reading this, please go and rate my painting via the
following link (and don't forget to add my artwork as a favourite, as
this seems to help bump up the ratings!)

www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=259388

Thanks for your time and support
The Wednesday Painter