An exhibition of my figure paintings at Shorelines Arts Festival 2022
It was a great honour for me to have an exhibition of my figure paintings mounted at the Shorelines Arts Festival 2022. The festival (which has been running in Portumna since 2012) takes place every September, involving both local and internationally renowned artists in music, literature and visual culture. Portumna is a market town in…
A Portrait Marathon at Green Acres, Wexford
In July 2022, as part of Wexford’s ‘Art in the Open’ painting festival, I painted 28 portraits over three days. The event took place at Green Acres Gallery in Wexford Town. The portraits were painted in oils and took roughly half an hour. It’s certainly hard work painting so many portraits in such a short…
Receiving the De Agrò Award in Troina, Sicily
On June 25th 2022 I was honoured to receive the De Agrò Award in Troina, Sicily, and had one of my paintings join the civic collection. The prize is named after Gino De Agrò (1919 – 2012), a native of the city who made a business fortune in Milan and amassed a large art collection…
Interview with Irish artist Paul MacCormaic
A few weeks ago, I visited artist Paul MacCormaic’s exhibition, ICONS II at the Courthouse Art Centre in Tinahely and I talked to him about his work. Paul is a leading Irish representational painter whose portrait of Catherine Corless has recently been acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland. I hope you’ll take a little…
PANDEMIC
An exhibition curated by Conor Walton at Sol Art, Dublin The Covid19 pandemic has affected all of us profoundly. It also represents a historical and cultural turning point that needs to be visually documented. It’s a topic that lots of people feel strongly about and (as this exhibition demonstrates) has generated a huge range of…
An appreciation of model Frank Stevens
Here’s a small note of appreciation for Frank Stevens, the model and inspiration for so many of my paintings. He modelled for my recently completed ‘Saint Jerome’ which I began twenty years ago, and about which several of you commented with humor on the slowness of my work and that the model was probably dead.…
Finishing a painting begun twenty years ago
While studying in Florence in my twenties my home was an attic room in a convent run by Irish nuns in Fiesole. It was called the convent of San Girolamo (or Saint Jerome), just up the hill from the Medici Villa. There were images of him everywhere. Jerome seemed to be one of the Renaissance…
Neoprimitive Narcissus
At the top of this painting, in the far distance, a rocket is launching into space. Two figures in the middle distance observe. Most of the picture is taken up with a naked figure ignoring this scene, crouched with his bum in the air, gazing at his own murky reflection in a pool of water.…