Wakin' On a Pretty Day

Sunny, oil on canvas, 2019

Love, live

Love, live. Oil on canvas, 2019

From Here to There

'From Here to There' oil on canvas, 24x36"

This is ours now bitch

This is ours now bitch. Oil on canvas, 24x36, 2018

And Where Now?

"And Where Now?" oil on canvas, 2014

Green Man

"Green Man" oil on canvas, 2014

Sentinel

"Sentinel" oil on canvas, 2014

Away

"Away" oil on canvas, 2014

Wide Sargasso Sea

acrylic on canvas, 2014

"I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hated the sunsets of whatever colour, I hated its beauty and its magic and the secret I would never know. I hated its indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness. Above all I hated her. For she belonged to the magic and the loveliness. She had left me thirsty and all my life would be thirst and longing for what I had lost before I found it..."

–Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea

Long Ago and Far Away

"Long Ago and Far Away" encaustic on panel, 2014

Tread Softly

"Circles of Stone" oil on canvas, 2013

Thesis

"The Faery Tree" oil on canvas 2013

Over the past few months I have been working on my final year thesis project. Art school requires slightly different criteria then most thesis output and in this case the goal is to produce a cohesive body of art work along with the research to back it up. 

Over the past summer, I spent much of it travelling around various parts of Ireland, and this trip is what is inspiring my current projects.

I seek to interpret humanity’s mark on nature through a historical and mythological lens. Throughout my experiences in travelling through Ireland I have reconsidered my own relationship to nature. Ireland is a country that is full of myths and memories. The evidence of this is present in its landscapes from the crumbling ruins and ancient stone circles, to the ribbons tied around the branches of a “faery tree.” These narratives become an integral part of land and in becoming aware of these stories become a part of our perception of the land.

Portrait

L-R: self-portrait with full palette, monochrome study, three colour palette study

   The amount of portraits I've done in the past can probably be counted on two hands. Ok, if you include any faces incorporated into my paintings you'd have to have some feet in there too, and maybe a friend. But I have never concentrated on portraiture as a vehicle for expression. This fall I decided to take a portraiture class on a whim (and to fill an elective) and it has opened my eyes exponentially to the potential for depicting the human face. Its especially fascinating to see the variety of interpretations of one single subject.
  Its also made me more aware of the way in which I paint. What I interpret as my own incompetences reads to others as a distinct style and not necessarily incompetent at all, so in that way I've come to embrace my own way of painting a little more rather than what I aspire to.    
                                                             
   "Reading" portraiture for me is one of the most difficult aspects–what is the artist trying to convey through their choices? Each decision leads to another narrative. While some say that portraits allow the real, true essence of the subject to be shared, I find my interpretations take a complete 180º and I'm left baffled. Ultimately the artist sees what they want to see and even then, the image put down becomes something entirely different to another viewer. But this mystery is what makes portraits so intriguing. As with real people, you can never really know them, only think that you do though the lens of your own milieu.
   These are just some brief thoughts but the world of portraiture is wide and its history is long. I look forward to continuing my explorations in painting the face.

* all portraits studies from life–from top, left to right: monochrome, self-portrait with full palette, full palette with colour interruption, full palette study

Old School

Acrylic on board, 2011

Backdraft

"Backdraft" acrylic on canvas, 2013

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

A Rude Wind

acrylic on panel, 2011

This is a painting from a couple years ago but it makes me long for the weather to finally warm up so that this could become a possibility.

99 Bottles of Beer On the Wall

"Bottles:study" acrylic, 2012

Story Tree

"The Story Tree" ink & paper, 2013

Eruption

"Hopeful Hearts" acrylic on canvas, 2012

Whirlwind

"My Creation" acrylic on canvas, 2012