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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 20cm x 20cm Ready to hang in slip frame -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame I was lucky to spend many of my childhood Summers in Wexford. This past Summer I spent a lovely week in Rosslare and was delighted to note the magic is still as magnificent when walking at low tide on moon lit nights. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40" x 30" (i.e. 102cm x 76cm) Ready to hang in slip frame Valentia Island - as a location - had a pivotal and pioneering role in transatlantic communications. I find walking alone the shoreline and swimming very inspiring - it so often translates into my work. While I find abundance in the waves, it makes me think Marconi must have had a magic, marvelous mind to see so much potential beyond those waves. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 36cm x 47cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €745.00 It is said there are no lines in nature - and yet - the tide lines on the shoreline mark the sea's inhalations and exhalations. If ever I need to settle my mind, I take it down to the sea where the tides eases my freeflow and scattered thoughts - soon my breath keeps time with the tide and my thoughts harmonize - or dissipate. Perhaps it is more true to say there are no straight lines in nature - as in life. -
SOLD OUT!Threshold
Oil On Canvas: 150cm sq €9,250.00 In Slip Frame Ready To Hang‘Threshold’ marked the beginning of so much newness for me.
After years (and years!) of treading water and often struggling to keep afloat, my painting practice and by association my life, suddenly and almost imperceptibly hit a growth spurt.
Making my largest paintings coincided with finally finding a building that would be my home and house my studio and showroom. Built pre-1900, ‘Threshold’ was created as part of an exhibition to honour the space and all that had gone before and was yet to be.
Poet and philosopher John O’Donoghue wrote beautifully of change and emergence. I loved his notion to ‘ bless the space between us’ as I felt it marked that special time between the past and the future.
“The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival”
I have realised life is never linear and change is as constant as the tide. Even in trying times, we must believe in perpetual motion.
Forward is always a direction. Our evolution is illuminated by blessings and possibility, but you must believe in possibility (often things you can’t yet see, but can just about feel!).
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame There is a moody, broodiness to the Mayo landscape - sometimes one can feel almost between worlds. I have heard it said 'the veil is thin' there - as if our ancestors are close by. I take this to be a comfort, and maybe a guiding hand that leads me and my work onwards. -
SOLD OUT!'The Big Sky' collection was inspired by a residency at The Ballinglen Arts Foundation in North Mayo. During the 6-wk residency, I spent a LOT of time walking by the sea. There is - for me - a conflict between being inside and outside the studio. - I always want to be working. Of course, in this instance walking is working. The constancy of the tides is so calming and invariably that made it's way in to this new, looser work. As did a lightness of touch (and spirit!) also manifested in the pink and peaches of the landscape. It was time well spent: Time in wide open spaces = cardiac care. Oil on Canvas 35cm x 45cm in Slip Frame -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm Ready to hang in slip frame This painting was inspired by a night walk along the shoreline. There is quite a bit of gold in this painting - a departure for me - that I think captures the otherworldliness of the sea at night-time. -
I made this piece over an Easter weekend in my studio. I wasn't entirely sure what I would paint but I had recently returned from a residency in Kerry and the view of the ancient famine village at dusk, with smoke billowing from the little chimneys haunted me and found its way into the work. The famine village is located at Cill Rialaig on Bolus Head, on the last road out of Ireland. The location has been central to much of my work here in Ireland. Residencies here provided an essential time and space to immerse myself in the landscape and it's history - so that I might respond to and develop a sort of language of the land. mixed media on canvas 148cm X 104cm
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SOLD OUT!Oil & Cold Wax on Canvas 120cm x 100cm in slip frame ready to hang This painting was made in many, many layers. I started it in my early explorations of cold wax and returned to it - adding layers and experience - over years. The crosshatching motion of the work over time gave depth and seemed to embody the experience of the painting. It isn't specifically about any place but is something of a journey-man painting - as it takes the essence of my experiences over several artists' residences across choppy lakes and along moody shorelines. Although the palette is dark it is ultimately an uplifting piece - signaling home in the midst of a torrent. We are never forever, truly lost, we can always re calibrate, chart out course and navigate our way towards a sense of home. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 50cm x 40cm In slip frame ready to hang There is a softness to this painting that belies its layers. Oftentimes those paintings that seem most resolved, take the longest to make. It is not unlike life. I find, as most people do – when I am a bit stirred up or bothered by something a walk on the beach is the cure. The expanse of space, salt between my toes, the spray of salt water on my feet and the rhythmic breath of the tide puts whatever is bothering me into proportion. It's as if a type of tidal tenderness puts a balm on my tender places. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame As an Irish landscape painter, I have great reverence towards (and am inspired by) our great history in the field. As islanders, the Sea is a constant theme in Irish art - we are steeped in it - literally and figuratively. It is very much a part of us. It is important to me to reference the Sean Nós (The Old Ways) while progressing my own work and I felt this painting went someway to creating an accommodation between both. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 5ft x 5ft (152cm x 152cm) In slip frame, ready to hang.“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
- Anais Nin -
When I visited Spike Island, I was struck by how stunningly beautiful it is, how wild and yet how much grows there. It feels otherworldly - a strange edgy energy is pervasive. I couldn't help thinking about all the pilgrims, monks and prisoners who have passed through. The island's small surface area and it's situation make it impossible to forget you are on an island. I wondered were those temporary residents taunted by the lapping tide from the far shore. Many must have contemplated making a swim for it! It would require courage to leave and maybe another courage to stay. I think all of us in this quiet time have contemplated change - our personal precipice. For me making these big paintings is a personal jumping off point. When painting, I jot down notes - often a series of words - random ramblings and gems. For this Precipice - I noted:Resilience - Connectedness - Home - Belonging
I think all of us - pilgrims, prisoners and painters - maybe sing to the same tune. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame I was fortunate to walk some of the Camino de Santiago trail earlier this year. It was wonderful - lovely clear seascapes and plenty of sunny times. I think I brought back some of the blue with me as it magic-ed it's way into my work for some time afterwards. As did this determined figure - a pilgrim who seemed to forge forward in faith - sure of just rewards. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 120cm x 100cm SOLD The Outliers is the culmination of 10 years painting here in Ireland. It is from my first studio collection, that is –the first collection I have made from my studio rather than in response to a particular residency. It’s a reflection of 10 years of residencies and time out painting in Ireland, an amalgam of places I’ve painted – and a sort of hybrid of influences. By definition, an outlier is ‘is an observation point that is distant from other observations’. I like to think of the outliers as an outcrop of mythical islands just beyond my imagination – a sort of painting odyssey – a sort of unreachable destination I am happily propelling myself towards and constantly striving to capture. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 50cm x 40cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €845.00 -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 60cm x 60cm In slip frame ready to hangI had the most enchanting conversation with someone recently about the strength of stillness and the power of darkness. In long Summer days, darkness (metaphorical and physical) feels less compelling, but my friend spoke of how germination requires darkness in order to cast deep roots into firm soil. The silent shoreline of this painting seemed to me a place to pause and enjoy the inherent (restorative) stillness we all have capacity for – when we shelve all the shizzle. I love to think there is a fertile void in all of us. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 25cm x 25cm Ready to hang in slip frame Another painting made in many, many layers - often the smaller ones have that way about them. This painting was in itself an enchantment. I loved making it - as it seemed to form itself over many layers. It puts me in mind of salmon skies and Summer nights, striding homewards through high grasses not far from the sea. -
Swansong
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SOLD OUT!Oil on board 25cm x 20cm In slip frame ready to hang Spinning out to the beach – straight from the studio – is one of my greatest pleasures. In under an hour I can be in the sea – it is nothing short of glorious. And there are two pristine beaches to choose from. This painting is a throwback to a lovely evening on the beach earlier this Summer and a lovely reminder of that sunny state of mind – regardless of the weather. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame Suaimhneas is the Irish word for tranquility or relaxation - to be at peace. In recent times it has come to be associated with mindfulness and being aware of ones surroundings. Eitherway, being tranquil or mindful - the sea is always a balm to me. **Now Available As A Limited Edition Print HERE** -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 20cm x 20cm Ready to hang in slip frame -
SOLD OUT!'Soft Day, Lough Mask' is a pet painting of mine, small in stature, it speaks volumes about 'My' Mayo - a misty place, often inclined to rain. It took me a while to know the place, but once it got hold of me, it was inside me forever. It takes me all 5 senses to paint Lough Mask - it is heart work too, bound up in memory and tradition. There is no other way to paint, really. And even when trying to paint from a boat or from the Lough Shore in the squalliest of weather, I realise in Mayo they are all soft days. Oil on canvas 15cm x 20cm in floated frame -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame I am not a strong swimmer (and a terrible surfer!) but anyhow - I love to do both - there is a feeling being in or on the sea that thrills and renews me at a cellular level. It is one of my favourite happy places! -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 125cm x 112cm This large painting happened immediately after I had taken a short holiday in Rosslare last Summer. It was such a lovely little holiday - I had spent most of my childhood Summers in Wexford - so doing the 'borough' beach walk every morning felt - in someways like re-enchanting a long, held connection. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 90cm x 60cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €1950.00 Post the first COVID lockdown I took time out to spend a weekend on a yoga retreat Sherkin Island. It was my maiden voyage - I now know what I missed. It is glorious - idyllic, super lush in Summer time and so close to Shore. Going against all my usual holiday pre-requisites, we did yoga at sunrise on Silver Strand. It was cold and damp but just as the sun came up - the sun slid across the sand (giving a full explanation to it's name!) and it was the most glorious setting I have known. Immediately afterwards we swam in the sea. Had you asked me to partake in such a dawn excursion pre-Covid, I would have excused myself impolitely! And yet - it was wonderful - an absolute Silver Lining.
Contemporary Irish Landscape Painting
