On Land and Water

Artist Statement for ‘On Land and Water’

The subject matter of my work for anyone that knows it, is more or less consistent with what I started painting more than twenty years ago.
The paintings for ‘On Land and Water’ are derived from the constant feeling of being drawn back to the landscape of my surroundings in Sligo that continually compels me to reinterpret this subject.
I spend a lot of my time observing, while fly fishing from the boat on the lakes and sometimes the anticipation of the hatch can be the magical moment, where time stands still and you are helplessly spellbound by the beauty of nature.
Observing the landscape is a continuous wonderful experience, where images are constantly recorded and the notion of the feeling, or essence of the landscape, rather than just the visual are conjured up from the familiar. The paintings evolve from layering, scraping, removing and reworking until the image reveals itself and is accepted as the resolution of the preconceived. I continue to interpret the land and water around me and can never expect to be finished.

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Paddy Creaven, founder of Cregal Art Galway.

Cloonagh III 60 x 50 cm
Water Marks I 50 x 40 cm
Low Clouds Cloonagh I 40 x 30 cm
Coastal Lowlands I 150 x 100 cm
Cloonagh I 40 x 30 cm
Water Marks II 75 x 50 cm
Resting Bog VI 46 x 36 cm
Cloonagh II 40 x 30 cm
Night Pool III 75 x 50 cm
Low Clouds Cloonagh II 35 x 25 cm
Coastal Lowlands III 100 x 75 cm
Bog Pool VIII 50 x 40 cm
Coastal Lowlands II 150 x 100 cm
Winter Shoreline V 35 x 30 cm
Winter Shoreline IV 30 x 25 cm
Bog Pool VII 30 x 25 cm
Winter Shoreline III 30 x 25 cm
Winter Shoreline II 45 x 40 cm
Water Marks IV 40 x 20 cm
Bog Pool IX 40 x 30 cm
Water Marks III 30 x 25 cm