The Golden Oil Bottle

The Golden Oil Bottle - oil on canvas - 10"x 8"

Singular and fluid brush strokes best described the hi key notes of colour that rang out.
The surrounding atmosphere and luminosity of the golden oil bottle was registered by soft strokes as it sat bathed in morning light from my studio window.

I had a recent visit from artist Mick O 'Dea RHA to my studio. He liked this piece very much commenting on the juiciness and fullness of colour that I managed in its application and orchestration.

- Richard

The Orange Chair

The Orange Chair - oil on canvas - 20"x16"

I love the rest of my life
Though it is transitory
Like a light azure morning glory.

- Tomiyasu Fusei / Tr. Yuzuru Miura

The Artist's Smock

The Artist's Smock - oil on canvas - 30"x24" - sold
Private Collection, Ireland.

This piece to me has an almost palpable monastic feel to it. I suppose in many ways my life and work has had this sort of other world factored in from the outset. My drawings of robed figures in my early childhood and then pieces which developed into to the more transcendent 'figure in landscape' paintings created during my time spent in the far east have this echo of other worldliness.The famous artist and teacher Robert Henri (1865 - 1929) referred to 'records of states of being' that reveal the possibilities of greater existence. He said ' The picture is a by-product of such states as it is in the nature of man to desire. The object therefore is the state'.

The concept of cool blueish whites of the shirt and the warm ochre whites of the wall give this piece a wonderful play of passages from cool to warm to cool. I find my eyes jump back and forth through the varying temperatures. This I feel gives the piece an excitement and strong atmospheric quality. I hope you like it.


Last Friday I left my Mayo studio and cottage near Westport Quay and came back to Dublin. Over the next couple of months I will work towards my upcoming show in Malahide this November and my two New Yorks shows which are scheduled for March 2012.

Just returned today from a life painting session at the Royal Hibernian Academy. It is great to get back to painting with a model from life and to share a space with other artists.

- Richard

The Ink Can

The Ink Can - oil on canvas - 18"x 14"

Still Life with hanging Brush

Still Life with hanging Brush, composition in Ochre and Blue - oil on canvas - 18"x14"

'The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable'. - Robert Henri

(Detail Below)

Ochre

Ochre - oil on canvas -16"x 12"
Private Collection, New York City

'The object, which is back of every true work of art, is the attainment of a state of being, a state of high functioning, a more than ordinary moment of existence. In such moments activity is inevitable, and whether this activity is with brush, pen, chisel, or tongue, its result is but a by-product of the state, a trace, the footprint of the state'. - Robert Henri

The Artist's Pot and Paints

The Artist's Pot and Paints, Composition in Ochre and Grey - oil on canvas - 30"x 24"

Over the past months a new body of work has been emerging. In many of my observational still life paintings I have been concerned with design and balance - a richness of colour and painterly application as well as creating a strong focus, not to mention an overlying concept and atmostphere to tie the whole piece together.

During a walk in the burren over a year ago I was struck by the idea of how I might allow the space around a singular object to become just as an important element as the object of reference itself. I do realize that the space has had this important role in my art works all along - but giving further consideration and thought to the space could only prove to strenghten my investigation.

I'm excited, and look forward to introducing you all to this new body of works over the coming weeks!

- Richard

(Detail below)