Introduction:

"This blog is not necessarily for lovers of art, it includes a variety of topics and whatever. I'm a painter who likes to know what's really going on in the world today. So you might find anything from Shamrocks to Salmiakki mentioned here on my blog. There will of course be some boring, factual and informational posts, but I'll keep them to a minimum, I promise!

And I might get a bit nostalgic now and then.

So you have been warned!"


- Alan Hogan



Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Abbey Theatre revisited

'Old Abbey Theatre' 
- illustration Alan Hogan, 1998.


I recently received a request from Freya Smitha MPhil student at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. It concerned my illustration of a famous old building called the Abbey Theatre. The student has been constructing a visualisation of this theatre as a module for one of her college assessments, and chose to use my image as a small backdrop on her presentation blogsite. I gladly agreed for my illustration (above) to be used.

"The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904 in the former Mechanics’ Hall, also known as the Hibernian Theatre of Varieties. Prior to opening as the Abbey, the interior was remodeled by architect Joseph Holloway. He reused the existing structure of the auditorium and balcony, but he completely remoulded the proscenium arch, created a new entrance on Marlborough Street, introduced a substantially different seating arrangement, and changed every aspect of the décor, fixtures and fittings.




Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, the theatre was rebuilt to a design by Michael Scott and reopened in 1966. After the demolition of the Mechanics’ Hall facades, the stonework was rescued by Dublin architect, Daithi Hanley, who intended to preserve it." 


- above text by Archiseek, Computer reconstruction imagery of the interior as it was in 1904, courtesy of Hugh Denard and Noho.



As a Dubliner born and bred, I am very familiar with the location of the Abbey Theatre. My grandfather worked for the Irish Press and my father for the Irish Independent, two newspaper companies situated only a short walk from the Abbey theatre. I myself used to meet friends quite often after work in The Flowing Tide pub which sits facing the Abbey Theatre. At the time it was no surprise to see familiar faces from the theatre occasionally dropping in for a drink. Another pub situated nearby was Sean O'Casey's Bar which was named after the famous Dublin playwright who's name and plays are synonymous with the Abbey Theatre. I used to drop in to this pub occasionally for a chat after college. An annex of the D.I.T. College of Marketing and Design which I attended is conveniently located next door. This small area of Dublin city is full of history and stories that still live on through the people, the shops and the pubs. And when you least expect, some of the best and most theatrical performances can be found right under your nose!




Above is a video by British Pathe featuring Irish President Eamonn de Valera arriving at the site where the new Abbey theatre was built - historic Abbey theatre was destroyed by the fire in 1951.
From an architectural point of view I have never been a fan of what was constructed in place of the old Abbey Theatre. While it was unfortunate that the old building was destroyed by fire, for me it was equally unfortunate to see such an ugly replacement. On the bright side however, there have been welcomed modifications in more recent years making the new building more aesthetically pleasing.



An impression I made showing how the old Abbey theatre (bottom) would have looked in comparison to it's replacement in the 1960's (top).
Click on image to enlarge.


I also created this quick videoclip with my drawings and old photos of the Abbey Theatre through the years. 









'Old Abbey Theatre, Dublin' - Alan Hogan, 1998


The illustration above is the second drawing I made of the theatre. I haven't made any ink illustrations such as these for many years now, but I think I may have another attempt having received some positive feedback. Maybe something from Finland where I now live. 
Here's a few more samples of my old ink illustrations. 




A section of the old George's Street Arcade building
owned by The Grafton Hotel.





'The Four Courts', Dublin - 1988






'John Kehoe's Pub'
- South Anne street, Dublin - 1990




My illustration of the Abbey Theatre can be seen as a background image on Freya Smith's Old Abbey Theatre BlogAlso, don't forgot to check out some of her wonderful 3D digital models.




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Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to share it with any of your friends.

You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.


- Alan 



                     




Sunday, November 25, 2012

Mobile Mumbo Jumbo!



Firstly, I have been lazy once again with my blogposts here. I sometimes wonder why I bother really. I suppose it started as simply a hobby, and I've never really stuck with many of the hobbies I started in the past. Unless it's something I might get some kind of satisfaction from or 'a buzz' as they say in Dublin, I quickly get bored! I attempted to make up for my lack of posts by pimping up the design of my blog. I've dumped the dark layout in favour of something a bit brighter. Call it updating if you will, I call it medication. Maybe it's a reaction to the ever-increasing dark evenings here in Finland.  Latest I looked, it was already getting dark at 15.30. 'My way of cheering myself up I suppose. My neighbours have taken the easy approach of switching their Christmas lights on straight after Halloween! 

Another reason for my blog absense has been the changeover of my old Nokia mobile phone for a new Samsung smartphone. Yes folks, I've joined the land of touchscreen goblins and geeks. It feels unusual not hearing the famous Nokia sound anymore. 



The Nokia sound been a part of my life for so many years and was once the only connection I had to Finland when living in Ireland. Little did I know it would take me back to live in it's homeland. A part of me feels like I've betrayed my little friend (or five little friends to be precise!). 
But Samsung are now the top phone on the market (pre-iPhone 5), and I have felt for a long time now that the average Nokia phone was becoming less dependable. Yes, it's nice to see the Lumia edition doing so well, but I would never pay so much for something I could easily let fall down the toilet on a fun night out (for the record, I have never dropped a phone down a toilet!) The casings on my last two phones were nowhere near as sturdy as my previous Nokias from the beginning of the millenium. Now they were indestructable phones full of Finnish Sisu! I even had one which survived a trip in a washing machine. Here a reminder of the faithful Nokias through the years, mobile soft porn for the Nokia connoisseur! (Click images to enlarge)





This was meant to be a post about an art exhibition I attended last week, but I got side-tracked by my newly found geek excitement. So that post will follow separately tomorrow!
For now it's goodbye Nokia, hello Samsung. Until Nokia bring back a more economical and sturdier phone (with a holster), I won't be changing back any time soon. Samsung is perfect for now, but I'm only a novice to the smartphone world!





Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to share it with any of your friends.


You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.


-Alan 





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Friday, January 8, 2010

My Blog - The Restart.



This blog actually started a long time ago but I just lost interest. I reckon I was just unfamiliar and not aware of how a blog actually works and what it’s purpose is. This was before I had set up any website or even put my art for sale online. I reckon it was a time when the average digital camera had a picture quality of 3 megapixels. It was also around the time I was introduced to Facebook. My knowledge of anything relating to computers and internet media was limited.




My old blog was merely an extension of my CV. I never spend much time on my computer when I first started this blog, in fact some of the letters on my keyboard are stuck due to possible paint spillage, or was it orange juice, I can't remember! I would spend most of my time painting nearby, sometimes forgetting to wash the paint off my hands before using my computer.

But why restart this blog now you may ask.
Well, having spent some time in recent months working my own website and keeping my other weblinks up-to-date, and not forgetting the odd few minutes on Facebook, I thought it might be a good idea to restart my blog as a kind of topical diary. It might give an insight into the way my brain thinks and perhaps show you those little things which inspire me to paint the way I do. Or it may on the other hand confuse you completely. But either way I hope this blog will contain something of interest for you to read or look at.


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The Art Garage, Finland

The Art Garage, Finland
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