Category Archives: large paintings

The swimmer

The Swimmer (r) in my studio at the start of 2021

As we wind down to the end of this year I am starting to review my works, and think about shows and placements for next year

These two in the image above were part of a large series of about 20 paintings, still ongoing, called ‘Who’s Watching’

It’s still possible that some of them might end up in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, as it was Mark of Mark Borghi Fine Art who encouraged me to make these large paintings, and had originally asked for them for his gallery for March this year, but with the ongoing difficulties with the Covid pandemic, that still hasn’t happened

They might go to Hambly&Hambly for a solo show in 2022, but again, I haven’t got dates for that either.

I have an art residency at CillRialaig in County Kerry starting on 8th January and another residency at Tyrone Guthrie in County Monaghan in June

View of the cottages at CillRialaig
Tyrone Guthrie (Annaghmakerrig) in County Monaghan

big ones

I thought I would bring together some of my large works from the last few years, here in a post, and remind myself where they are now.

All these paintings are between 150 and 300cm long and up to 140cm deep. All were made on unstretched linen, stamped to my studio wall, then stretched afterwards, either here or at their destination after they were sold

This is ‘Tower’ just under 3m long. It was a huge challenge getting it out to its new home, by boat, onto a little island off Donegal

This is ‘Voyage’, about 100x190cm, shown at Mark Borghi Fine Art in New York, and placed with a client over there

Me with ‘Lugh’s Portal’ on the opening night of my show at MBFA last year. The painting is still there in their inventory

This is ‘Due West’ in my solo show of the same name two years ago at GreenFuse gallery in Westport. It’s home again now

‘Hard Rain’ (again!) & 6 small panels

I think finally I’ve finished this large piece, about 4’x7′

At the same time as working on the big piece stapled to my wooden studio wall, I’ve also been making some small studies on birch panel. These 6, each only 12×16″

The large piece and the small ones are interconnected, both by my process (lifting areas of wet paint in tissue paper, from one work to another, in a type of printing), and also in subject. Although all the works are totally abstract, and as such have no actual subject or representational form, they all come from the idea and challenge that we all face, of the potential destruction of our beautiful environment. The shapes and forms, particularly in the small pieces, for me have echoes of sea and sky, rock and sand, light on water

Dark Heart with Shadow

This large work is having a powerful effect

In size alone it has a kick !

194 x 253cm

Here it is with lovely Seamus Quinn, who stretched and framed it.

He had to do the work at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny, as his framing shop (which is just across the road) wasn’t big enough

Here’s a view of it being worked on a couple of days earlier

And here it is taking up all the floor space in my sitting room before I rolled it up to take it to Seamus to be stretched