Habitat Exhibition

Anyone who knows me knows my mantra “ I don't do pretty” and yet I seem to paint quite pretty pictures. Why? I had to ask myself that question. All artists are interested in the play of light and

shadows and I am certainly attracted to sparkly silver and greys. But why such pretty images? After a lot of thought I came to
the conclusion that it is a reaction to a lot of contemporary art, which if it is not contentious or ugly (preferably both), is not considered “cool” or “in”. Now that's more like me.... go against the grain. I also find that there has been a lot of ugliness in the news recently and certainly one of my current works is a direct reaction to that. I want to see bright happy colours (although the dark shadows are lurking) and to spread a little sunshine in the world.

When I was asked  to exhibit  in a show called “Habitat”, I had no problem painting still lifes with all “my things” about me, as that is my Habitat. However, the idea also pushed me in a completely new direction. Whilst “at home” (in Ireland) last summer, I looked through old photographs and decided to play with the idea of my habitat as the place I came from, using old (badly taken) snapshots as inspiration. Hence, the landscapes....