This is the only time I’ve done a painting based on another one of my paintings. Following on from the painting of the two bales I did at night. I decided to do something more detailed. I’m not sure if it’s a better painting than the one I did in the open air. Certainly the experience of painting this wasn’t worth remembering!
On a Saturday night, 3rd March, 2007, I did a painting under a full moon outside in the field around my home. It was one of those exceptional painting experiences. The air was cold and damp so the paint didn’t dry quickly like acrylics normally do. So a streaky effect was the result. I spent over an hour at it. For my trouble I had a rotten cold the following week!
This is a view just outside home of our field that borders Garryvoe Beach. Painted from life over several weekends from 14th January to 17th February, 2007. I was lucky with the weather; it was remarkablly settled at the time. I wanted to show the vastness of the field and give a sense of perspective with the bales.
A view from the field outside my home. Painted from life in one sitting. Sold.
My mother suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis, a painful, auto-immune disease. Over time, it has distorted her joints, making them bulge. I found it a compelling subject for painting. I spent about a week doing this in February 2006 when I was 23. This painting got a lot of favourable attention during my first exhibition in 2011.
A quick, simple painting. The inspiration was a doodle my father did on one of the black painted boarded windows on one of the farm sheds.
Painted from my mind’s eye in February, 2005. After college I worked in archaeological digs around the country. But not continuously; there were stretches where I wasn’t working and helping out at home because my mother suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis. This was painted during one of those times. I had lost touch with a lot of the people I worked with and went to school with. So I wanted to do a simple, symbolic picture representing my situation.
Done entirely from my mind’s eye, no references. Some people think the orange and yellow lights down towards the bottom show a train, but I meant it to be a housing estate. I suppose my favourite colour is blue and I think this painting shows this. Painted in October and November, 2004.
Not satisfied with my previous attempt at depicting the Nirvana musician, I painted this over a few months in 2003 and 2004. Despite using a reference photo, the colour scheme was my own idea. I remember taking my time doing his face and head in particular. This is a landmark painting, after this picture my paintings got more colourful and diverse.
I’m a big Nirvana fan since discovering them aged 18. So sooner or later I was going to do a picture of Kurt who is a popular subject in drawings and paintings. I did this the last week of December, 2002. This was the first picture I got framed. It’s ok, the head is a bit too small and I wasn’t satisfied with it. So I did another painting of him.
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