We made it to Malaga!

We are in Malaga - us and all our 5 bags!!!

After a hectic day of final packing and organizing on Thursday, I was up early on Friday morning (4.30am) to do further work before going to the airport for our 11am flight.

We had planned to get the Blue Aircoach which has a stop that is only a short walk away from our house. However, after adding a last minute extra bag to our booking and given Ciaran's injury we decided a taxi was a better option. Also we were travelling at rush hour so the taxi gave us the option of taking the tunnel to the airport which helped us get there with no delays.

After we got all of our bags checked in (which included 2 fold up bikes in hard cases which needed to be brought to the oversize drop off) and getting through security fairly promptly we were able to relax. First point of order was to have a double espresso from Butlers and then we decided to have a "last drink" in Dublin so went to the bar and ordered beer and bubbles.

I got a little teary as we walked past the old Dublin airport terminal. It felt like such a momentous thing to be saying goodbye to Dublin for a year. But very exciting to see what awaits in Malaga.

When we arrived in Malaga it was so bright!! We had to dip our head as we emerged from the airport. I thought it was just me but when I said it to Ciaran he was in complete agreement.

We got another taxi at this end too - in Spanish we were able to tell the guy directing the taxis that we needed a big taxi because we had so many bags. And then when we got in to the taxi we managed to give directions for where we were going in Spanish too.

And then when we arrived to our AirBnB we discovered (1) it was above our favourite cafe bar Te-Piko but that our favourite coffee shop El Mortal has closed and is now a pub.  Ah well things never stay the same.

It was amazing how quickly we got back in to the swing of things, with Ciaran calling straight to the guys in the gallery and then walking with them to his studio space where he then got the keys. 

And later we went for some tapas in a 2 favourite places, one being Te-Piko followed by an early night by Spanish standards - after a long day for me, I was asleep by 10.30am!!

Here's a few pics of what we ate on our first night and also the view of the plaza from our balcony.

Latest PIGSY video is now online!

Behind the scenes: PIGSY video

What a busy weekend spent working on the latest PIGSY art video. After Saturday morning on Capel Street we then spent the afternoon recording footage and then Ciaran got down to editing it. At about 6pm we went for a burger in Bunsen and then it was back to more editing. 

The next day it was all about, you guessed it, more editing!

Here's the finished result which Ciaran published to Youtube this morning:

PIGSY Art Video footage

I'm also happy to share some of the behind the scenes views - along with our special helper who doesn't do a whole lot except keep me company by sleeping by my side!!

You can see me recording video footage of me talking about PIGSY's art in these photos. And then the photo at the bottom is a photo of Ciaran editing the video on Sunday.  Great to have photos of the process and how we created this video. Always good to have a record for posterity!

Art life in Malaga

 Art Life Malaga

We had a busy time last week here in Malaga with all of the PIGSY goings on. The first "happening" was the opening of his Online Exhibition "Seven Spanish Angels" which was presented by DesignYard Gallery in Dublin. It's a strange world we are living in where we are accessing so many events online. It certainly was a unique experience to be involved with an online exhibition of art but it still had the same excitement as a regular exhibition when word came in on Friday evening that a painting had sold, followed by three more on Saturday! Read more about the exhibition here.

Art Exhibition in La Casa Amarilla, Malaga

And then on Friday there was more art fun with the opening of  "Piña y más allá" at La Casa Amarilla Gallery in Malaga City Centre. PIGSY was part of this Group Exhibition along with an amazing line up of other talented artists from both Spain and beyond.

Muy Fragil

The artwork PIGSY submitted for the show was titled "The Situation is Muy Fragil" which I think is fairly apt given the times we are in!

Normality 

With both a physical and virtual element to this exhibition it is showcasing some excellent work by artists involved in the art scene in Malaga and I felt truly happy to be able to visit and see art in the flesh. It felt normal......as I said above it is a strange world we are living in and I grasp every piece of normality that I can with all of my might.

"Seven Spanish Angels" by PIGSY

Here's PIGSY's online exhibition video which I hope brings you some pleasure - particularly if you are in an area where art is not being shown due to Covid restrictions or if you are staying safe at home.

All the best to you, stay safe and well......

What I've been working on: PIGSY website

PIGSY Art Website 

The big project that I'm currently working on is PIGSY's website. Ciaran gave it a major overhaul and design upgrade when Ireland went in to lockdown at the start of the pandemic.

The piece of work that I am now doing on it is I am going back over all of the content and optimizing it for search engines (SEO). Along with all of this I am amending and adding to current content. I recently added a new page which shows PIGSY artworks on walls in homes. This is a really great way to showcase the artwork and it also emphasizes how contemporary they are and what a feature they become when hung in a space.  

Importantly the website is both desktop and mobile friendly. From looking at stats I can see that more people visit the website using a mobile device than on a desktop computer. Sign of the times and this really doesn't surprise me. I'm open to suggestions or critique on the website so get in contact with me if you can offer any advice for improvements - particularly if you excel at SEO as I am a newbie to it!

Additionally I would like more backlinks to the PIGSY website so that's probably the next stage of this project. Get in contact with me if you have any helpful suggestions on how this can be done.

A short art film to watch from home

Here's a short film about Pigsy and his art that you can watch from home while staying at home

How the "Pigsy" show went.....

Back in early October I blogged about looking forward to Pigsy's show in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club.  I then meant to follow up with a blog all about the event which I intended to write fairly soon.  However the event was such a success that I had a fair come down from it and this meant that I needed to wait awhile, let the dust settle and write about it then.  This is that write up!

The event consisted of 3 parts: 

• Film Screening of the short film "Pigsy" directed by Mike Andrews
• A live interview with Pigsy by Kevin Moore of Legacy Communications (which also included a Q&A with questions asked by the audience) 
• An art exhibition of Pigsy's latest work

Kevin and Pigsy had the audience's attention with their chilled banter and there were lots of great questions asked when the floor was opened up to the audience.

Prior to the film screening the audience got to mingle in the bar and enjoy canapes along with the signature Pigsy cocktail created for the event which was called a "Pigtail"!

The above pic is the screening of the film which was shown on the Squash Court No. 1 which seats about 100 people in the bleachers and then there were further seats added on to the court.

It was a very social evening with everyone enjoying it immensely and it was great to see a new audience embrace Pigsy's work. 

I had a wonderful time at the Pigsy event but unfortunately didn't manage to get in to any of the official photographs - but luckily I had taken an obligatory selfie, so here it is!

You can watch the PIGSY film here on youtube

Be in with a chance to win a Pigsy Mug!

Want to be in with a chance to win a Pigsy mug?!

To enter the competition, email pigsy.art@gmail.com with the answer to the following question:

"What was the name of Pigsy's solo exhibition in The Kemp Gallery from 6th Oct to 12th Nov 2016?

Head on over to this page before March 4th for further information and the answer to the question also!!