Greg Long, visual artist, Ireland

I've decided to close my website.

2026-09-06T10:34:41.388-07:00

Originally my website was built as a selling option, which worked when I was driving buyers there, these days I don't and consequently my website hasn't been paying for itself. I've discovered that my blog gets far more hits than the website so I am going to start blogging a bit more and close my web pages, they badly needed updating anyway and I don't really use a computer any more, and updating eeb pages using the phone is difficult particularly as my website was built using html coding. After 25 years it's had it's time. To record my CV I will post it here. Greg Long; Visual Artist Greg Long is a full-time visual artist. He is from Dublin, Ireland. He studied at the College of Marketing and Design and the National Art College Ireland. In 1990, the Government granted him tax exemption as a Registered Artist for producing works of “artistic and cultural value.” MAJOR COLLECTIONS INCLUDE: Portuguese National Collection, Governor's Residence, St. Helena Island, Egyptian Embassy Dublin, Ireland. South Dublin County Council, Museum of Contemporary Art, Monastir, Tunisia, Pancevo Historical Archive, Pancevo, Serbia, National Museum of Ex Libris, Serbia His many commissions include a presentation for the Governor of St. Helena Island. AWARDS Greg has also received exhibition awards from the Arts Council of Ireland and S.D.C.C. in 1996 and 2000 Department of Art, Culture and Tourism, Ireland, Bursary 2005 Residency in Pogorica, Montenegro, June 2008 Winner of the 3rd Ex Libris International Biennial Award, Pancevo, 2010 Residency in Monastir, Tunisia, 2006 and 2007 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE Durden Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, 2005 (with Christine Long) Florence Biennial, Florence, Italy, 2005 South Dublin Co. Co. Headquarters, 1996 and 2000 Association de Beaux-Arts, Monastir, Tunisia, 2006, 2007 Salao Internacional de Artes Plásticas S.J. Madeira, Portugal 2007 Small works on paper ‘ANGELS’, Selected for the international exhibition Belgrade, Serbia 2007 2nd International Biennial of Ex-Libris Serbia 2008 3rd International Biennial of Ex-Libris Serbia 2010 (Prize winner) 4th International Biennial of Ex-Libris Serbia 2012 and in Spanish ( y en Español) Greg Long; Artista visual Greg Long es un artista visual de tiempo completo. El es de Dublín, Irlanda. Estudió en la Facultad de Marketing y Diseño y en el Colegio Nacional de Arte Irlanda. En 1990, el Gobierno le otorgó el estatus de Artista Registrado por producir obras de “valor artístico y cultural”. Greg ha vivido aquí en Isla Plana por el invierno desde 2014 LAS COLECCIONES PRINCIPALES INCLUYEN: Colección nacional portuguesa, Residencia del Gobernador Isla de St. Helena, Embajada de Egipto en Dublín, Irlanda Consejo del Condado de Dublín Sur, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Monastir, Túnez, Archivo Histórico de Pancevo, Pancevo, Serbia. Museo Nacional de Ex Libris, Serbia Sus muchas comisiones incluyen una presentación para el gobernador de Isla Santa Helena. PREMIOS Greg también ha recibido premios de exhibición del Arts Council y S.D.C.C. en 1996 y 2000 Beca del Departamento de Arte, Cultura y Turismo 2005. Residencia en Pogorica, Montenegro Junio 2008 Ganador del premio, 3ra Bienal Internacional Ex Libris, Pancevo. 2010 Obtuvo una residencia en Monastir, Túnez en 2006 y 2007. LAS EXPOSICIONES INTERNACIONALES INCLUYEN Galería Durden, Memphis, Tennessee, EE. UU. 2005 (junto con Christine Long) Bienal de Florencia, Florencia, Italia. 2005 Sede de South Dublin Co. Co. 1996 y 2000 Association de beaux artes Monastir Túnez 2006, 2007 Salao Internacional de artes plasticas S.J. Madiera, Portugal 2007 Pequeñas obras sobre papel ‘ANGELS’, Exposición internacional seleccionada Belgrado Serbia 2007 2ª Bienal Internacional de Ex-Libris Serbia 2008 3ª Bienal Internacional de Ex-Libris Serbia 2010 (Otorgado 2º Premio) 4ª Bienal Internacional de Ex-Libris Serbia 2012

sunset Isla Plana.

2023-01-24T12:14:00.001-08:00

Atardecer Isla Plana,

oil on wood panel 25 X 25cm

https://www.paypal.com/ie/cgi-bin/webscr?SESSION=5ksIM-PmO4XlYccSQ7_oaZzVMZji4H6jkeyAPtvEqy5Zln8Qbq_3He3zlpy&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8db8175432b4df92754f4b4adb5a123d61

2023-01-20T10:19:00.001-08:00

Half a dozen free range duck eggs

oil on canvas

100cm X 100cm

Time spent in Spain.

2021-05-21T02:04:00.002-07:00

Here are a few images from Spain, I have been painting but at a slower rate than previously. Life in Spain,for me, is at s much slower pace. I spend most of my time walking, kayaking, and enjoying the sunshine. All things that were difficult due to health problems in the dampness of Ireland.

This is the view from our house in Isla Plana, Spain.

The following two views are of the Rambla de l'Azohia, a dry riverbed.

I also walk along the Rambla del cañar pictured below.

and along the coastal walk past "cueva de los lobos"

and the countryside in "Campillo del adentro", literally the little country inside, it's a beautiful spot surrounded by hills.

As you can see, we are in a beautiful part of Spain, in the province of Murcia along the Costa Cálida, or in English the warm coast. After seven winters I'm almost fluent in Spanish, though my grammar is quite poor, but I get by with simple past and simple future and ignore all the other tenses when speaking. It makes life easier and I can still hold a conversation with our spanish friends.

That's all for now, I will try to update my blog a little more often...

Preparing to Migrate South again

2018-09-10T05:31:00.003-07:00

Summer is over, and I am on my way back to Spain.

Summer has passed....

2015-09-22T13:07:00.003-07:00

Where has the last few months gone? I'm now in the middle of packing for my return to Spain.
I haven't had time to do any painting as I have been busy renovating our cottage in Sligo. (Well in as much as I can until tradesmen turn up!)
Now that I am back in Dublin I have time and internet connections to catch up on a few things. I have been lax with my blogging, but I hope to get back into the groove next month. In the meantime I will leave you with a Sligo sunset....Lough Arrow.

A little Spanish colour...

2015-03-01T15:05:00.001-08:00

I'm looking forward to a full days painting tomorrow. I've been busy doing other things for the last few days, a bit of sightseeing too, looking at the Almond blossom in the landscape among other things.

There is colour everywhere here now, even in areas where they are dumping stuff to compost.

green leaves, tomatos and oranges.

There was a dead partridge hanging in a little country bar, next to the same bird on a calendar.

One of the old windmills, without it's sails.

orange groves

and Almond groves too

All this and beautiful reds and oranges in the earth too.

What more could a colourist want?

I'm back, but still in Spain.

2015-02-21T11:01:00.002-08:00

It is an age since I posted on my Blog. I have been busy with our new life in Spain. With so much to do, and so many new things to learn including the language, I'm afraid blogging is a habit that I fell out of, but I shall endeavour to start blogging again.
In the meantime here are some of my plien air knife studies from the last few months in Murcia.
They are all small 10 by 8 inch Oils on Panel.

the view from our front terrace/patio

near Mazarron, (old mineworkings)

Isla Plana and Puerto de Mazarron from our terrace again.

near Mazarron

North from Isla Plana

a pen sketch from the Marina at Puerto de Mazarron

the Marina in oils

looking Northwest from Isla Plana

Almond trees

one of our sunsets again from our patio area.

a Pine tree at Cabo Tinoso

Bolnuevo

Isla Plana sunset, from the patio again

Bolnuevo from Percheles direction

Mullet in the Marina (Puerto de Mazarron)

Bolnuevo cove

Torre (tower) at L'Azoiah from the road to Cabo Tinoso

Percheles

another patio sunset

Near Leica

near Leica again

El Amillo, Puerto de Mazarron

Broccoli fields near Leica

Isla Plana cove

Rock pool, Bolnuevo

Percheles looking south

Percheles looking North

Until later, I shall leave you to enjoy these. I will post some larger works soon.

Flying south for the winter.

2014-10-03T02:33:00.000-07:00

I've had a very busy, non-art related summer. But tomorrow we head to Spain for the winter, to a house pictured below. (it's a hard life, but somebody's got to do it ) Over the next few months I will have lots of paintings and other things to show and talk about. I've missed my blog, but I have had a very boring summer, with lots of jobs to be done and a new way of life to get organised.

Flitting around with the swallows.

2014-05-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's six months since I posted on this blog. I have been busy with life.....
We spent January in Murcia, Spain. While there we explored the area and decided to stay around Isla Plana this winter. To this end we have rented a house on the beach from October on, and now we are looking forward to spending next winter in sunnier climes.

This has other opportunities, we are learning Spanish...slowly in my case... and I am looking forward to starting work when we get back to Murcia. The landscape is full of rich warm colours, just the kind of landscape I love to paint. A selection of pictures below will illustrate my point.

Our house backs on to the beach, so fishing will be on the menu too, as will the fish.

The house has a beautifully lit basement with a large high level window to use as a studio when I'm not painting on site so I will have no excuses not to work. In the meantime here in Ireland I am still not working at my painting, although I am very busy with my angling guiding this year in between trying to get home improvements progressed for when we return next spring.

Photo's from Normandy..

2013-11-20T02:47:00.001-08:00

Following on from my last post from Normandy, here are some of my photographs from the area these first ones are of the fortifications, beaches, monuments and the American cemetery.

Utah Beach monument

a gun emplacement

tank,

another monument to the fallen

another of the many tanks to be found on display

The beaches as they are now, quiet...

......but still watched over by silent gun emplacements...

the first house liberated on D-Day, by the Canadians..

A memorial at Utah beach

a view of a portion of the American cemetery, over 9,000 war graves.

Omaha beach from the American Cemetery

Cherbourg, from inside a bunker/gun emplacement

the emplacement from outside

a look-out post above a fortified gun emplacement

and the emplacement with the zig-zag trench from the bunk-house.

Normandy is not just about the war though, we did visit Bayeux and the Tapestry.

The town itself is very picturesque, but the weather was rather wet and cold.

Armastice Day, French style.

2013-11-11T11:55:00.002-08:00

I'm writing this post in Normandy, France. I'm over here on a wine and cider buying trip. Today we visited the Normandy landing beaches, Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah. it was a sobering experience looking at the numbers of dead, particularly the American cemetery at Omagh beach. There was little else to do today, it being Armistice day, November 11th, the anniversary of the ending of the first world war. Coming from Ireland it is easy to forget the significance of today to a country at the center of two world wars. France still bears the scars, as I am sure do many other theatres of war. It makes it more imperative to strive to end all wars before they begin.

Travelling again.. both I and my plants..

2013-10-06T13:29:00.003-07:00

The first sold sign has gone up on my new updated website , barely a month after it went live. I know the new shopping cart is operating as it should, unlike the last couple of years.
I'm due to visit Rome later this month, which should be a nice trip. I am travelling to the south of Spain in January, or, I should say for January. We are going for the whole month, and will be looking at long-tern rental properties in different areas. I am looking forward to that trip, the sun and warmth in particular. January can be very cold and miserable here.

My Strelitzia (bird of paradise) plants, including the nicotinia,s are now residents of Farmleigh House .

I have had to reduce the rainforest in my conservatory, and a friend's son who works at Farmleigh was delighted to get them for the collection there. I'm glad, I can visit them occasionally. I was a little sad to lose all my plants, most grown from seed, some of which I had collected by hand pollinating plants, but the compost wasn't helping my breathing problem which has been upgraded from Asthma to COPD. The up-side is the conservatory now looks very light and airy and much larger than it did hidden by all the foliage.

My new look website is operational

2013-09-03T17:18:00.002-07:00

I have re-launched my website. It was in need of updating, and had been in situ for 10 years in it's current format. I have my suspicions that the amount of java that was in the template I had been using was detrimental to the ease of use with smartphones too, but I can't complain it served me well for the decade at a cost of about $60 when I bought the license to use it.

I decided to keep the new (improved, I hope) site simple. It is just a basic html and css setup with little to download other than the images to facilitate smart phone accessibility. Hopefully it will bring a level of sales similar to the old site when I was actually updating it. I'd messed up my shopping cart for about the last two years without realising it by changing my email address and forgetting to update the paypal shopping cart- even though the new email is on the same account the paypal cart was only operating - or not operating as the case was- on the now defunct email.
Thankfully a buyer contacted me to let me know there was a problem, hence the rush to update without fully testing. I still need to finish off my alt tags and keywords etc. but the site is fully operational (as far as I know until someone actually buys from it again ;)) I added a link to here on the site to add to the functionality.

Autumn is upon us....

2013-08-27T15:09:00.002-07:00

Summer has reached it's evening with the end of August. Like on Lough Owel, pictured below.

I took this photo coming back from our latest trip to Sligo. I'm working on a plan or work-up for a painting of a Lough Mask landscape for a commission and found this on my camera. I'd forgotten I had taken this shot but it expresses the calm slow end to a summers day. The light struggling to creep through the hovering clouds, with the wind ripples almost totally disappeared from the surface of the water as if they too were off to bed for the night...
It's how I feel at the moment, realising summer has all but gone, and winter is on the horizon.

Summer sunshine

2013-08-23T02:36:00.001-07:00

I'm still on sabbatical...
I haven't lifted a brush in an age, but to be honest the break has been good for me. I have a few ideas swirling around, mainly to do with our future plans and needs. This means that I couldn't really get involved in my work to any extent anyway, as I find it hard to compartmentalise. In the meantime I'm looking forward to the future with great anticipation.
I know that when all our plans are made and ideas settled I can go into my studio and just get stuck in. I don't feel any pressure to create at the moment, and I know that when I am ready the work will flow, it's starting to itch in the background. It's not bad enough to need scratching yet though, and we all know when you start scratching an itch you just can't stop until it's gone.

For now I'm going to relax on the swing-seat in the shade of our pool-side birch tree outside the studio and contemplate.

In reality, that too is part of being an artist, but we sometimes forget it's relevance to our work. Possibly because it's so un-grounded, and as a professional artist, I tend to see art as a business rather than the artist as a Bohemian figure.

Others may see things differently, but that is what makes us artists as a body so diverse too.

Sunshine on Lough Mask.

2013-08-10T14:28:00.001-07:00

A few photos showing the changing light on Lough Mask in County Mayo.

I'm back from the Cote D'Azur.

2013-05-26T13:44:00.001-07:00

I am back from our trip to France. We had a good time and travelled to a few new places. Here are a few highlights of our trip.

A feathered friend, aka a collard dove.

Me, otherwise known as St. Francis feeding the doves.

In Juan le Pins, with a flotilla of cruisers moored outside of Cannes for the Film festival.

Cap de Antibes

Picasso's house in Antibes.

Antibes

the marina at Antibes with the old fort behind.

St. Raphael.

you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and this one doesn't want to learn how to sit on a wet road.

the river in St. Raphael in flood on Saturday after very heavy downpours.

the next morning....

and later that day, backto normal levels.

Public garden in St. Raphael harbour.

St. Raphael

St. Tropez

A tall ship moored off St. Tropez.

St. Tropez marina

enjoying a beer in St. Tropez sunshine

St. Raphael panorama on the boat back from St. Tropez

The brown sea off St. Raphael, a result of the floodwaters and silt from Saturdays rains.

Christine in St. Raphael, breakfast in a Cafe.

Back to Nice.

Our hotel looked out onto the airport and the bay.

two views of the sea at Nice

performance art at the beach, even the pigeons seem to understand the principles by following the lines created by stone piles..

another friend partaking of afternoon tea in the restaurant.

two views of the skyline from our hotel with the snow covered Alps in the distance.

Villaurus town square.

April is almost over!

2013-04-29T13:24:00.001-07:00

Where has the month gone? I haven't picked up a paintbrush all month! I have been busy recently with bookings for my guiding service and needed to do a little preparation for a full weeks booking last week. Now I need to catch up on other work, so I can't see myself painting at all this month. I hope to get down to the cottage next week, and with a fishing competition this weekend, a couple of practice days and the Leinster championships next week too I won't do much painting before our trip to the Cote D'Azur.
I'm feeling less and less like a full-time artist at the moment. In reality this year was always going to be problematic for serious painting though. I have too much work to do on the cottage and here in Dublin on other things apart from the anticipated studio move during the year which will also require removal of the studio contents before transporting it across the country.

Forecast: No paintings appearing for the foreseeable future. At least until I get the studio re-sited.

Both sides of the Pyreneese Mountains, and Catalyns.

2013-03-26T13:45:00.002-07:00

I am back from my travels in Girona, Spain. The weather while not always balmy was quite good, with some nice sunshine. It was warmer than the snow and sleet I've arrived home to here! My legs are suffering after walking around the old 14th century (rebuilt from the 1st century BC) walls of the city, I don't think I've climbed so many steps and stairs in the whole of my last decade! (Unless you count the steps in Barcelona of course.) and there are many others within the town too. The nearest thing I found to elevators were the Spanish Castell groups who spent the evening in Independence square building human towers while we ate al-fresco. They carried on into dark, an unexpected bonus for our evening.

Girona in the evening sunshine

Spanish elevators..

There are many sights in Girona, but the river and it's reflections is one that seems to be a classic. I was more interested in the shoals of carp swimming in the river, but I don't think they are fished for.

Girona

Carp in the river

Girona from the old city walls

We travelled north through the pyreneese mountains to Colioure in France, still part of traditional Catalonia, to visit the Templiers Hotel famous for it's collection of art, collected in lieu of payment over the years. I also did a little bit of painting and sketching around the harbour while we were there.

The famous Templiers Hotel in Colioure, France

Enjoying a coffee within the Templiers Hotel

and at work around the harbour.

Views of Colioure

As usual, time caught us out and I didn't manage to visit Roses and Cadeques. But that is another trip to look forward to in the future.

From Snow to sunshine...

2013-03-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

We had snow this week, so spring must have arrived! I endeavoured to paint one plein air up in the Dublin Mountains on the old military road towards the sally gap. I thought about doing a second, but my hands were so cold I couldn't control the paint... the time of day is late afternoon and the temperature was dropping below freezing again. In the sky are bands of cloud heavy with snow showers, these came across the sky in regular lines, throwing down their cargo of snow in 10 minute waves. Unlike many other areas, when we get cold weather here in Ireland it is a damp cold, and although not as cold as other countries, it feels much colder.
A day later the snow had gone again, two days later I was out doing some work in shirt sleeves. Welcome to the Irish weather.

I'm off to sunny Spain next week, (Northern Catalonia) weather forecasts for between 15 and 20 degrees centigrade, possible showers. Just like an Irish summer. I must remember to pack my sketchbook, I think I may take pastel pencils as well or instead of watercolours. We will probably travel across the border to southern France too. We want to visit Cadeques, Colioure and of we have time the Narbonne. it will be a change from today, St. Patrick's day in Dublin where it is cold, damp and very dull.

Anticipating a studio move.

2013-02-26T04:11:00.000-08:00

I was down at the 'Country retreat' earlier in the week, planting a few more fruit trees and some fruit bushes (currants and gooseberries) though the wildlife will probably eat most of these, (deer the shrubs and Birds the berries of any bushes that survive) I also decided where to position my studio when I move it during the summer. I have decided to pop it down here with a north facing view.

It will be about sixty yards from the cottage, far enough away to be 'at work' but close enough to pop home for a cup of tea. There is a little spring running in front of it, in which I will create a couple of weirs to give me more sound from the water, I intend putting a pond in lower down, but that will be in front of the cottage to the left of this picture. Some of our neighbours were particularly interested in what I was doing... but I don't expect they will really be bothered.

I decided to keep the Studio away from beside the stream as I wan't to create a walk alongside it rather than have the studio in view of the cottage. Where I am putting it is hidden from the cottage until we walk up the Bohreen (small narrow road) as it will be screened by trees and hedging.

We are looking forward to our move to Sligo, and every little bit we accomplish leads us nearer, although there is still lots of work to be done. At the moment doing it as we are, is a pleasure, and we are making our plans for the work more concrete as we go, because we are letting the feel of the cottage and land influence our descisions. Most of our plans and research are now done, and we can start implementing them over the summer. It will be a labour of love, assuming we get suitable weather this year, if it is as wet as last year work will be considerably slowed down.

Springtime, and the painting is Plein air...

2013-02-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

Four Plein air knife paintings on 10 by 8 inch panels.

Glenasmole and the Dublin City Golf Club, from Bohernabreena

Howth head and Dublin City from Bohernabreena

The Upper Liffey Valley Manor Kilbride

Springtime has arrived... at least for now, we have had a couple of warm sunny days. The 17th of the month was almost balmy, and I put the warmth to good use by doing some plein air studies down the road, and in Wicklow. It was great to be able to go out and work after the winter, and I am considering setting off back to the Liffey Valley in the morning if the weather holds for tomorrow. There is a view I want to work on in a larger format. It will need a lot more detail than these four did, and will probably take a couple of plein air trips before I come back to the studio to finish it. The latter two images will help me recall the co,lours and conditions when working on the proposed larger work.
The light had softened by the time I got to Kilbride, the fields looking greener and the trees turned more grey than brown on the shaded side of the mountain. But looking east from Bohernabreena the sunshine had the trees looking much brighter and brown, yet the golf club in the first painting also showed signs of a cool light in the shaded greens and fairways of the course. The fresh greens of new growth in the grass fields has a deep green and silver look at this time of the year. Later on in the year the greens will become much warmer, even in the shade. The fresh shoots of the grass give an almost magical light in the early spring sunshine, much more silvery than the early growth of the leaves in the trees and hedges later on in the spring which seem to just warm the browns and greys of the twigs before really turning green.

Some new sketchbooks...

2013-01-23T13:05:00.001-08:00

I have had the 'flu bug for the last couple of weeks. I had the influenza shot earlier in the winter, so luckily I escaped the worst of it. Even so it was no fun, with high temperatures and accompanying shivers and sweats.

I have started doing a few things now though, including a little shopping....

I found some lovely leather bound 10 inch by 7.5 inch sketchbooks on sale in a bookshop, and I bought six of them for myself. It may sound greedy, but it is surprising how quickly you can fill a sketchbook when travelling or making thumbnail sketches when working on a compositional problem. Hopefully these will keep me going for a year or two, they are good quality paper and they will take watercolour as well as pencils, pastels and crayons. they are quite tactile too, with their leather covers, it is a pleasure to hold and carry them around. I have already created a fronticepiece doodle in the first book, noting when and where I purchased them. This helps me date the sketches in the books, as I rarely date the sketches themselves, but I date each book as I start using them, so I have a ball-park date on most sketches within the sketchbooks.

These are a nice large but convenient size for travelling, and I'm looking forward to my first trip of the year. It may be our trip to Girona in Spain in March, but I hope to get away here in Ireland earlier, aside from a scheduled trip to the cottage in Sligo..

A New Year.

2013-01-04T14:38:00.001-08:00

It is a new year, and it seems to be promising to be a good one. This evening I was treated to a wonderful sunset on my way home, and as the adage goes, red sky at night- shepherds delight; giving a promise of a fine day tomorrow. Spring is on it's way, and the evenings are starting to show the signs of the lengthening days. I look forward to the first flowers of spring, and the start of the trout fishing in 8 weeks time...

Since my last post I have been busy socialising over the Christmas period, and for the last few days catching up on a few jobs. Business as usual, and hopefully a profitable year to come. My first job next week is to tidy my studio, it became quite disorganised over the Christmas season, mainly due to paintings being lifted out of racks and stacked here and there for viewing. I need to safely stack them all back in the racks again to give me room in the studio for painting. I will have to ensure they are safe from splashing paint before I can start work. I hope to get some work done before the fishing starts, I'll feel less guilty slipping off to the river that way.