ARTIST
My Story
Learn about the inspirations behind David’s art.
As a graduate of the Limerick School of Art & Design, I have always had a passion for creating. I enjoy working on 2 very different subject matters, animal portraits and studies of objects which catch light in interesting ways.
With animal portraits I enjoy the process of capturing the personality of the animal in its form or the look in its face. They are a study of the creatures of the world around us. A particular animal can be reminiscent of a particular time in a person’s life, or hold a special memory for them so they are a way in which I can connect with other people as well as the natural world. Textural work has always intrigued me and helped me to constantly achieve to reach a higher level of ability, and these wonderful animals are a wonderful way of push myself forward.
With my object pieces they are really a study of how light and dark fall on the item and how descriptive I can make the contrast and the shine on the surface of the object. They are a way of working which allow me to slightly embellish the qualities of the world around us and I can make colours a little louder than they usually are, I can push the contrast between light and dark to a slightly harsher level or be dramatic with highlights to accentuate the design. They are a way of having fun with what’s around us. These objects allow me the luxury of being able to break away from adhering strictly to the truth of the object which is where I find a lot of fun in creating.
I was introduced to a world of creativity by my mother who is an incredible seascape artist specialising in traditional oil painting. Watching her work through the years I adopted a lot of what her focuses are, such as capturing the true nature of the subject. For her, this was accurately capturing the essence of white water foam on rolling waves or the depth of the darks in large coastal rock formations. For me it’s accurately depicting hair texture or the glassy shine in an eye. The subject may be different but the self-critical practice is the same.
Artists are frequently asked how long it took them to create an artwork. I feel like the pieces I create have taken up until now on my artistic journey to be able to create, so I think it’s fair to say they have taken decades to achieve. The only way to approach such a long journey is one piece at a time. Every time a new sheet of paper is prepped and ready to be drawn on another challenge begins, and how well the last piece went has no bearing on the next set of obstacles. This beautiful fact of creating means every piece needs to get the same level of effort. Achieving the work’s full potential has to be a challenge which is was makes the outcome so wonderful when it works in our favour.