Reflections of a Maltese Luzzu (Fishing Boat)... Acrylic Painting

Hello again! It's been a long time since I posted anything without me realizing how much time has passed by......and so quickly. I have been busy painting a lot for the past 7 months straight in preparation for the showing of my work on December 17th at the Hannibal Alliance Art Gallery. I will be a guest artist and will be in attendance on Saturday, December 17th from 4pm onwards.

My latest painting of a Maltese Luzzu, or a Maltese fishing boat, will be on display (for sale) during this showing. This painting is acrylic on a 12 x 16 inch canvas. I normally paint in watercolor, so my approach to complete this painting took more time than I expected. I once again had to "re-learn" the use of acrylic or oil that is much different when compared to watercolor. It is also more forgiving! The Maltese Luzzu vary in color schemes, but the most common include Yellow, Blue, Red, Green or White. The bow is normally pointed with a pair of eyes. These eyes may be the modern survival of an ancient Phoenician custom (also practiced by the ancient Greeks); they are sometimes (and probably inaccurately) referred to as the Eye of Horus or of Osiris. The town of Marsaxlokk is especially famous for the large numbers of luzzu and similar craft operating in its harbor. As always, your comments are more than welcome.

Recent Paintings

Hello everyone. It has been too long since I have posted or commented on my blog. Painting is one of my passions, but the other is music. I play guitar and I was unable to play until recently due to some issues with my wrists over the past 4-5 years. My passion for playing has been re-kindled, so this has taken some time away from my painting. I have to try and balance it out, but it is very difficult. These are only a few of the watercolor paintings I have done in the first 6 months of this year.

The first painting is a wild flower found during winter in Malta called Borage. It originates from Syria but various forms are found throughout the Mediterranean and Northern Africa.

The second painting is of Marsamxett Harbour in Valletta. Marsamxett is pronounced Mar-sam-shett. This is a view of the Carmelite Church (with the dome) and St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral in Valletta (Il-Belt) or the City.

The third painting is a sea view on the coast not far from the village of Bahrija pronounced (Bah-ree-yah). This was a wonderful hike my family and I took during the winter last year. Beautiful views indeed.

The fourth and last painting is of Tas-Salib pronounced (Tahs-Sa-leebp). This means Of The Cross or The Cross. This is located between Rabat and Mtarfa on the back roads heading towards Mgarr.

These are approximately 10 x 12 inches on a Matting or Backing that is 16 x 20 inches.

St. Paul's Island - Malta

This is a watercolor I painted in late 2009 of St. Paul's Island and of course the sail boat, which is the main attraction. The picture I took inspiration from had vivid colors of blue and the composition was perfect. I have tried to find an accurate description of St. Paul's Island, and the best one is in the Good Book itself. Acts 27 & 28 gives the best description of how Paul of Tarsus was in transition to Rome when the ship he was on was struck by a violent storm. Paul did teach the Good News to inhabitants of the Island of Melita (Malta), but this did not transform the island to Christianity. This did not take place until 300 years later during the era of Constantine. Anyway, this gives you a brief background of this island full of history.

I liked this painting once I finished it, but then once I had the painting Matted/Mounted it was something I loved. The dimensions are roughly 9 x 12 inches and 16 x20 with the Matting. The sky was painted wet and drops of water were dropped in to give the effect of clouds. The rocks were painted and then I used a razor to give them texture. In the coming year I will be taking part in an exhibition and I this will be one of the paintings which will be part of my exhibit. I hope that you enjoy this painting as much as I do.

Absent but not gone!

Yes, I have been away, but I am not gone. Just absent for a while. Sort of like skipping school. You have to every now and then. Why you ask? Well, I have been working in my yard since the beginning of June and hopefully will be finished by the end of August. Let's hope. My father-in-law and I(mostly him since he is retired) have been cladding the walls with stone, cutting and carving limestone, building a custom BBQ Pit(it is nice if I might say) and other things. It is very hard and tiring work, especially after a full day at the office. Anyway, it will be worth it. Enough about that.

I just wanted to post a few photographs that I took in March when I took my son Jason out to the Malta National Park at Ta 'Qali. While he was having fun riding his tricycle, I snapped a few photos. I love black and white photos and they have always been a favorite of mine. The first one is of a tree viewed through one of many massive archways in this rotunda. The second is a favorite of mine. It has more artistic qualities to it and I could see this one easily becoming a painting. It is a shot under a palm tree of other palm trees, but the shadowing and texture in this picture is what makes it exciting. I also like the fact that you can tell there was a sort of wind that was blowing the palms in the background back and forth a bit. Anyway, I hope to start painting again once I find the time. Once I do, I will post my work. Until then, I will continue posting more pictures.

Getting back into the Acrylic Groove

It has been a few weeks since I have posted anything on my site. I have to say that I am really excited with the outcome of my latest painting......and it's not watercolor either. My feelings have been torn and reborn, realizing what I have been missing for the past 5 yrs since I last painted in Oil or Acrylic. Acrylic is different from oil in it's drying times and it's sheen, but they are very similar in mixing, consistency and texture. What I have realized is that I am much better painting oils and acrylics than watercolors. Watercolors can be more difficult in a sense. You have to reverse your thought process about how you are going to apply the paints. With watercolors it tends to be light to dark, but with Acrylic and Oil, you are applying the colors from dark to light since you are always adding white to get a lighter color. Of course you can have darker tones than straight out of the tube, but you get my drift(I hope). Automatically with watercolors you add water and build the colors. This can be a difficult process. It shouldn't be of any surprise that I am realising that my talents lean more towards oils and acrylics than watercolors, but what can I expect since in all honesty I have only been painting with watercolors for the past 2 yrs or so. Although watercolor is more difficult for me at this time, it won't stop me from learning and trying to get better. I see this more as a challenge.

This is a painting from a picture I took of an old shelter in a field here in Malta at the bottom of Saqqajja Hill. This building has been around for some time(at least 100 years) and has seen better days. My painting depicts the building in a much better light than it actually is. I have added some coloring to the stones as well to give the painting interest. I painted the stone in lighter shades of cream and white, but the painting became washed out and uninteresting, so I changed it to the current color scheme. This is a smaller painting that measures 8x10 and due to this, it took a lot longer for the brick work than it would on a larger painting. Regardless of this fact, I thoroughly enjoyed this painting and I can't wait to start painting more in oil and acrylic. I hope you enjoy this landscape and I always look forward to your comments.

Silhouette Series

Recently I did a series of 3 paintings that were silhouettes of various skylines in Malta. Some may look at these and say "I could do that" or "those look easy", and I must admit at first I thought the same thing. What I soon discovered was that it wasn't as easy as I thought. Okay, they are fairly quick paintings in comparison to something that is detailed, but it still takes patience and planning. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the 3 paintings and I am really pleased with the outcome. The first watercolor is a view of the Church of Xewkija in Gozo. This is an 8x10. The second is a silhouette of the silent city of Mdina as viewed from Mtarfa. This is a fortified city originally built by the Arabs around 800 AD. This is a 5x7. The third watercolor is of the Cittadella in Gozo. This is also a 5x7. All the watercolors were done on Arches 300 g/m or 140 lb paper and painted with Windsor and Newton paints.

For those of you who do not know much about the Maltese islands, they are packed full of history, war, religion and relaxation, not to mention some breath taking scenery. I have included some links, stories and perspective on Malta. In the small island Republic of Malta, the church or chapel is a very common feature of the landscape. Many churches in Malta dominate the skyline and the domes and steeples can usually be seen from across the island. You can usually find the centre of a town or village by driving towards the parish church although many towns and village cores usually feature two or more churches and chapels. The worst thing that can happen if you get lost in Malta is that you drive your car into the sea, then you know you are lost. Seriously though, the roads in the older villages were often made small and narrow for defense purposes. It was easier for the villages to block or divert and making it sometimes difficult to navigate through a small village.

On the islands of Malta and Gozo, there are a total of 359 churches (313 in Malta and 46 in Gozo). This means that there is 1 church per square kilometer. In Malta every locality has its parish church, apart from two or three small localities. This is only considering the Roman Catholic Church, since this is the official religion of the island, but there are many other churches and religions on the island. Malta is mentioned in the book of Acts in the Bible(Acts 27 & 28) when Paul was shipwrecked on his way to Rome.

Everything that I have mentioned above and all the history of the Maltese islands provides a large and endless pallet for subjects to draw, paint and photograph. I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't inspired by what I see daily. A lot of people here though take it for granted what is in front of their eyes and how they can maintain and preserve the architecture until recently. I hope you have enjoyed the paintings above and the brief notes on Malta. Thank you for your visit and I hope you will return to see my work.