Acrylic Paintings

Pictures showing difference in the gold paint depending on the lighting. They look best when you can see the shine of the gold I think.

Artist Yuliy Takov

Artist's statement:
The Hunting Trophies series consists of 25 gouache and ink works on paper. The dictionary defines hunting as ‘the pursuit of game or the activity of searching for something’. The later can be said of art as well. In my hunting series the hunter and his trophy are always present. The moment when the hunter poses with his trophy is the most intriguing for me. There are two motives here: the moment of success, and the position of dominance. The theme of the position of dominance, its interpretation and the way it is presented runs through the last few years of my artistic practice bridging my abstract paintings with the hunting series.
The process of creating a painting begins in a state of maximum closeness with the event and develops to the state of separation from it. Eventually my aim is to focus on the image and its interpretation as interrelation of abstract forms. At this state the subject is taken out of its everyday context and helps to extract its essence – to see it without the blinding presence of familiarity. The rhythmically spaced cylinders and twisted grids which I use are an attempt to remodel and to interrupt horizontal and vertical plane of the pictorial space. The frontal plane of the cylinders is unpainted plain paper creating an illusion of displaced background. In each separate work I try to add another and different plane - another layer of meaning. And this is something which limits me but at the same time makes me feel free. A step to the next work.

 
 

Barrie Cooke

Barrie Cooke born in 1931 is an Irish abstract expressionist painter. Nature in its infinite variety and irresistible flux are Cooke’s chosen subject matter, as well as the nude figure. The primacy of nature and the apparent effort by people to distance themselves from its rawness are at the core of the artist Barrie Cooke. His painting often seem to express the soluble monumentality of the natural world.

Megacerous Hibernicus 1983, oil on canvas, 168 x 183 cm / 66.1 x 72 in

Electric Elk 1996

My Work

Collages of the stag sculpture from the hunt museum.

My tutor suggested bringing in the real live animal instead and bringing in paint to the collages.

 Collages with oil paint

Gold acrylic paint on photogrpahs

Deer Huntng and Poaching in Ireland

Deer are a protected species in Ireland under the terms of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (as amended) and it is a serious offence to hunt them without a licence. The wild deer population in Ireland, which consists of red, fallow, sika, muntjac and hybrid deer, is managed by conservation rangers employed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). The NPWS is part of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.
The number of wild deer hunting licences issued by the NPWS varies from year to year, depending on demand, and the management of the deer population. The open season in Ireland also varies from year to year depending on the location and species of deer. Outside of the open hunting season, landowners can apply for a Section 42 licence to control deer on their lands if damage is being caused. You cannot hunt deer in Ireland without a licence and the penalties for hunting deer without a licence can include fines and/or imprisonment, or both. You can only hunt deer for the period stated on your licence. There is no charge for deer hunting licences.

Despite all the rules and regulations in Ireland for deer hunting, there have been many incidents of illegal hunting.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/man-who-shot-killarney-stag-to-pay-3-250-as-atonement-1.1530830

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25104063

http://www.impartialreporter.com/news/roundup/articles/2013/12/14/403347-operation-against-deer-poaching-extended-into-fermanagh/

http://www.independent.ie/regionals/braypeople/news/dogs-being-used-in-illegal-hunt-for-deer-29960058.html

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/02/20/shock-as-stags-found-shot-and-dumped-in-donegal-countryside/

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/ribble_valley/11030420.Deer_mauled_to_death_by_dogs_in_Ribble_Valley/

All these incidents have happened in the past few months proving Ireland's wild deer are in danger and being exploited.



Taken from the wild deer association of ireland's website;

Significant decline in permits for deer damage a further sign of falling deer numbers

Information released by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) show a 36% fall year on year in the number of permits requested under section 42 of the wildlife acts. Permits are requested by landowners who suffer crop damage from deer, following an inspection by NPWS rangers the number of deer to be culled is agreed and the landowner nominates a hunter to undertake the cull.
Controversially Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan issued over 200 permits during the months of June, July and August when female deer have dependent young. The female normally hides its young while feeding and if culled the hidden fawn will suffer a horrendous death from starvation.
The Wild Deer Association of Ireland (WDAI) the representative body for deer hunters has asked Minister Deenihan to review the current process for the granting of these permits as there is evidence of widespread abuse mainly for financial gain. A spokesperson for WDAI said the decline in these permits is a further indication of the decline in wild deer numbers nationally due to illegal hunting by poachers, some areas have seen deer numbers decimated or wiped out.

Red Deer in Ireland

Red deer are our largest and the only native deer species to Ireland. They are believed to have had a continuous presence in Ireland since the end of the last Ice Age (c. 10,000 BC). At this time they roamed freely through out Ireland, however as a result of deforestation, over hunting and the Great Famine (1845 - 1847) many populations became extinct. By the middle of the 19th century the last home of the Red deer was in the woodlands and mountains around Killarney, where their preservation was due to the strict protection of the two large estates of Herberts of Muckross and the Brownes, Earl of Kenmare. It is known that at the turn of the century there were in excess of 1500 Red deer in Killarney. This declined between 1900 and 1960 to as few as 60. As a result of rigorous protection and management they have increased to 690 in the early 1990's within the National Park.

 While some claims have been made, the number of wild Red Deer and their hybrids in Ireland are unknown as no national deer census have been carried out. The main deer range can be found on Torc, Cores and Mangerton Mountains with other herds in the lowland areas of the national park in Killarney, Co Kerry. These are the only native wild Red deer that exist in Ireland today. Sika deer are potentially a threat to the genetic integrity of the Red deer herd, as they are known to be capable of interbreeding. So far no cases of crossbreeding between Red and Sika have been recorded in Killarney (as has happened in Wicklow), but the situation is being carefully monitored, and a high priority is attached to maintaining the genetic purity of the native herd. Other herds can be found in the Glendalough Valley and Turlough Hill in Co. Wicklow, also wild herds exist in Glenveagh, Co. Donegal, Connemara, Co Galway and areas of Co Mayo. These are not native herds but were introduced from Scotland in the 19th Century. Red deer stags are easiest to see in late September and early October during the rut.

Red deer are a protected game species and may only be hunted with a licence from the National Parks and Wild Life Service. Red stags may be hunted from the 1st of September until the 31st of December (no season in Kerry for stags) and Hinds may be hunted from the Ist of November to the 28th of February 28th. Hunting of Red Stags is strictly prohibited in Kerry.

Deer in Mythology

 Celtic

The Celts held deer as supernatural animals, "fairy cattle" that were herded and milked by a localised and benevolent fairy giantess (a bean sìdhe) in each district, who could shift shape to that of a red deer; in the West Highlands, she selected the individual deer that would be slain in the next day's hunt.
In Ireland, An Chailleach Bhéarach, "The Old Woman of Beare", an island off the coast of County Cork, takes the form of a deer to avoid capture; to Beare come characters from the Land of the Dead to visit Ireland. Other Celtic mythological figures such as Oisin, Flidais and Sadb were given connections to deer.
Cernunnos was a god in Celtic mythology that possessed two deer antlers on the top of his head. He was known as The Horned One or The Horned God despite having antlers and not horns. Cernunnos is also known as The Stag Lord, The Horned God of the Hunt, The Lord of the Forest, The Lord of the Hunt, and The Lord of the Animals.
The deer was said to be a fairy creature that could pass between the worlds. This was especially true for a white deer. Fionn's wife Sabha became a deer when she went to the Otherworld. Beautiful women frequently became deer in many tales while fleeing from hunters.

 Christianity

In the story of Saint Hubertus, on Good Friday morning, when the faithful were crowding the churches, Hubertus sallied forth to the chase. As he was pursuing a magnificent stag the animal turned and, as the pious legend narrates, he was astounded at perceiving a crucifix standing between its antlers, which occasioned the change of heart that led him to a saintly life. The story of the hart appears first in one of the later legendary hagiographies (Bibliotheca hagiographica Latina, nos. 3994–4002) and has been appropriated from the earelier legend of Saint Eustace (Placidus).
Later in the 6th century, the Bishop Saint Gregory of Tours wrote his Chronicles about the Merovingian rulers, were appeared a Legend of the King Clovis I who prayed to Christ in one of his campaigns so he could find a place to cross the river Vienne. Considered as a divine sign, a huge deer appeared and showed were could the army pass across.
In the 14th century, probably keeping some relation with Saint Eustace's legend, the deer again appears in the Christian Legends. The Chronicon Pictum contains a legend, where the later King Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary and his brother the King Géza I of Hungary were hunting in a forest and appeared to them a deer with numerous candles on his antlers. As the saint Knight said to his brother, that wasn't a deer but an angel of God, and his antlers were wings, the candles were shining feathers. And as Ladislaus added, the place where the deer was standing was where it was meant to be built a cathedral in honor of the Holy Virgin.



 

Hunt Museum

For the Hunt Museum project the piece that interested me the most was a porcelain stag sculpture.

The Hunt Museum's information on the piece ;

"This candelabrum was possibly a response to late Victorian interest in all things Scottish. The rise of the stag as a symbol of Scotland was popularised by Landseer's 'Monarch of the Glen' (1851). Elements of the design, including the amphora lamp and the sea urchin candleholders, are found in other Belleel porcelain pieces. It may have been designed to stand in front of a mirror. This piece, probably unique, belonged to the Condon family of Ballyshannon, County Donegal, who were avid collectors of Belleek porcelain and were often given first choice of new desiigns."

"The mark on the base of the piece is a black second period (1891-1926) transfer-printed mark with the legend: Belleek, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland." 

Belleek Pottery

 Belleek Pottery Ltd is a porcelain company that began trading in 1884 as the Belleek Pottery Works Company Ltd in Belleek, County Fermanagh, in what was to become Northern Ireland. The factory produces porcelain that is characterised by its thinness, slightly iridescent surface and that the body is formulated with a significant proportion of frit

 History

Pottery in the region began around 1849, after John Caldwell Bloomfield inherited his father's estate. Seeking to provide employment for his tenants, who had been affected by the Irish potato famine and, being an amateur mineralogist, he ordered a geological survey of his land. On finding that the area was rich in minerals, Bloomfield went into partnership with London architect Robert Williams Armstrong and Dublin merchant David McBirney. In setting up a pottery business, Bloomfield managed to get a railway line built to Belleek so that coal could be delivered with which to fire kilns. Building started on the pottery in 1858. Initially starting with domestic products, it wasn't until 1863 that small amounts of the Parian porcelain for which Belleek is famous for to this day, was successfully produced. By 1865, the prestige of the company had increased enough that its market included Ireland, England, the United States, Canada and Australia, and clients included the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria and the nobility.

The original owners had all died by 1884, and a local group of investors acquired the concern and named it Belleek Pottery Works Company Ltd. Master craftsmen Frederick Slater moved from England to Belleek in 1893 and by 1920 high quality porcelain was becoming the mainstay of the business. The company struggled throughout the First and Second World Wars, and the company concentrated on producing earthenware during these periods.
After the Second World War, Belleek Pottery stopped production of earthenware entirely. The Pottery began the change from coal fired kilns to electric powered kilns from 1952. In 1983 the Industrial Development Board gave financial assistance to the company and installed Roger Troughton as the Managing Director. The following year Troughton made a successful bid for the sale of the company. In 1988, Dungannon-based Powerscreen International bought the company and opened a Visitor Centre the following year.

Today

 
The company changed ownership again in 1990. Dundalk-born US-based Dr. George G. Moore remains the owner, though the company is run locally by four directors. Since then Belleek Pottery has expanded its size in terms of factory space, acquisitions of other companies, staff and turnover. Subsidiary companies now include Galway Crystal, Aynsley China and Donegal Parian China. It employs more than six hundred people and enjoys an annual turnover of around £30 million.

 I wouldn't have an interest in the pottery itself though it is beautiful but I would be more interested in the animal itself. The history of the deer, what it symbolizes, how it has been treated by people and how it has been affected in the wild by us, how people view them now, how they are coping in today's world. They are Ireland's largest wild animal (red deer) and they have been used over and over again as decorative objects to place in the home or the head of the animal itself mounted on a wall.


 There is another deer piece beside the stag head in the Hunt, there is very little information on this piece though but it fits in with my theme so I will include it.

 Gilt silver statue, German or Austrian, 17th century