Tell a little bit about how you first got into creating art.
Good friends of my parents visited us when I was very young, and they had a Nikon camera with split focusing, they gave me a go of it, and just in the viewing and focusing of the image I came to be in love with the whole idea of creating my own unique take on the world around me. The camera became like an extra limb that enabled me to more naturally express myself in pictures than I could have ever done with words. And as time passed Photoshop and digital manipulation were added and then other media were also included. I have always loved images of all media from whatever source.
What artists or movements have had an l mpact on you?
Many talented people have inspired me from war photographer Don McCullin, Fashion photographers Nick Knight and Ellen von Unwerth, Artists that are friends and new artists whose work I come across all the time, can make an impact that stirs me into creating. When I'm creating I love to listen to music of various musicians of so many different genres, too many to mention have inspired me. Surrealism, Pop art, Contemporary, Conceptual, Digital, my mind is always interested in new ways to see art.
My creations are a way for me to tell a story & evoke a feeling that I hope will be encouraging & spiritual, to make the familiar appear unfamiliar, to capture the beauty in the mundane
What themes does your work involve?
A lot of my work will have many possible interpretations but in the main would capture the connection that we have with the nature that surrounds us in surreal and fantasy like images. I live in Ballybunion in the beautiful scenic west of Ireland, on the Wild Atlantic Way, and the scenery and light just take your breath away so I try my best to equal that experience in my art.
What is important to you about the visuial expierience you create?
My creations are a way for me to tell a story & evoke a feeling that I hope will be encouraging & spiritual, to make the familiar appear unfamiliar, to capture the beauty in the mundane. And that when viewed, people, even if for a small moment will lose themselves within the image.
Above all, keep creating art, as you do not have to be understood to be enjoyed
What is the significance of medium and colour?
In my non digital art pieces, its the depth and surface that gives it its uniqueness, its colour changes according to the angle you view it at, it makes the piece a total one off that has a spirit and attitude all of its own. It will also call out to you and be felt by you internally.
Do you work from memory, life, photographs, or from other resources? Describe your creative process.
My creative process is always evolving, I am constantly intrigued by the endless possibilities of virtual digital technology fused with the real world materials of paper, paint & other materials. I start by using the realism of Photography as the foundation & the starting point of my work & then using computer software as my paintbrush to make alterations, to exaggerate & enhance, to make extreme and unusual changes. To manipulate light, tone & color and then to add layers of paint and other raw materials, such as slate, glass wood etc. to give depth and feeling to my art. I love to see how I can add to my original photographs and make a story come alive from that same image. Above all my images do not have to be understood to be enjoyed.
What is your favorite art accident? Did it change your perspective?
When an accident does happen as often is the case, it happens for a reason and the teaching is in the acceptance that it will often make it better than you could have imagined.
Do you have any artistic goals for the future that you would like to share?
I always have numerous projects put away in my head for the future, the majority will never see the light of day. Right now I am in the process of starting a new project with portraits on connections, but I do want to have exhibitions of my work in galleries, nationally and internationally to maybe start on a coffee table book and to be continually evolving. But to most of all, love what I am so lucky to be doing.
What do you consider the role of an artist today?
To follow your heart as there are no boundaries in creativity. Your work is your feelings and should be about a story you want to convey, in the way that only you can. Try to raise awareness of social issues good or bad. Above all, keep creating art, as you do not have to be understood to be enjoyed.
