The Good by Brendan Kennelly, 1967

The good are vulnerable
As any bird in flight,
They do not think of safety,
Are blind to possible extinction
And when most vulnerable
Are most themselves.
The good are real as the sun,
Are best perceived through clouds
Of casual corruption
That cannot kill the luminous sufficiency
That shines on city, sea and wilderness,
Fastidiously revealing
One man to another,
Who yet will not accept
Responsibilities of light.
The good incline to praise,
To have the knack of seeing that
The best is not destroyed
Although forever threatened.
The good go naked in all weathers,
And by their nakedness rebuke
The small protective sanities
That hide men from themselves.
The good are difficult to see
Though open, rare, destructible;
Always, they retain a kind of youth,
The vulnerable grace
Of any bird in flight,
Content to be itself,
Accomplished master and potential victim,
Accepting what the earth or sky intends.
I think that I know one or two
Among my friends.

Friends Passed

Last week two very special human beings passed away.

Many of you will have heard of the Irish Artist, Patrick Scott.
Patrick and I were introduced first in 2008 by a mutual friend and art collector Liam Ayudhkij O'Keefe.
I had the chance to spend a day with Patrick and Liam in his studio that year and presented him with a catalogue of my work created in Thailand. Liam was responsible for sourcing and sending Patrick his treasured gold leaf for many years from Thailand where Liam was based. I remember Patrick as such a kind and warm gentleman who was lighthearted and full of love for his friends, his work and of course his cat who he adored!

I had the chance to see Patrick at work on some small drawings or watercolours and he showed me a beautiful limited edition book featuring prints of his work that had just been produced by Stoney Road Press in Dublin. Both Liam and Patrick have now passed away and I will miss their support, fun and friendship.
Patrick Scott who was a founding member of Aosdána, was conferred with the title of Saoi in 2007. Saoi is  the highest honour that can be bestowed upon an Irish Artist.

Patrick's work can be seen in many collections around the country.
I particularly like his 'sunburst series' a couple of which can be seen at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin.
Right now a retrospective of his achievements in art, in a career that spanned seventy five years, can be viewed at IMMA.

I was also deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Jimmy Murakami, who has been hailed as the founding father of Animation in Ireland. Over the years I had many chances to meet with Jimmy to paint together at the Royal Hibernian Academy. He was such a wonderful man and the more I learned of his life, background and the projects he was directly involved in the more astonished I was at the sheer breadth of his creative mind and capabilities.

Follow this link to just some of the award winning animations he directed and worked on.
They are just brilliant. At the bottom of this page is a really interesting and informative interview with Jimmy where you will hear of just a handful of the influential people that wanted to work with him - including David Bowie. In the background of the interview, partly visible, hangs a Patrick Scott painting!

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/rip/when-the-wind-blows-director-jimmy-murakami-rip-96140.html

Rest In Peace, Jimmy and Patrick.

A Virtual Tour

Jorgensen Fine Art - The Rural Idyll by Richard Hearns from Richard Hearns on Vimeo.

Just last night I put the finishing edits to this short Virtual Tour of my current one man exhibition at the Jorgensen Fine Art Gallery in Dublin.

I thought it would be a great way to document this solo show for my records, and a brilliant way to share the exhibit with all my friends and collectors both at home and abroad in the U.S and around the world who were unable attend the opening.

This exhibition 'The Rural Idyll' will now run until Friday 28th of February 2014 at Jorgensen Fine Art, 14 Hibernian Way, Dublin 2. You can call the gallery or email me for a catalogue, as well as view a selection of the works on display here on the gallery website - www.jorgensenfineart.com

Lone Holly, Cappawalla

Lone Holly, Cappawalla - oil on panel - 12"x8" - sold

Here is an image of another more recent landscape that features in my current one man show at Jorgensen Fine Art. I pass this beautiful lone tree and limestone paving most days on a walk or jog along a road hugged by two large burren hills.

A great deal of the landscapes I created  in this show reflect my immediate surroundings in the Burren close to our home. The show 'The Rural Idyll' is now scheduled to run until the end of this month - February 28th. I hope this will give people plenty of time to get into see this collection at Ib Joregensen's Gallery.

- Richard 

'The Rural Idyll', launch night photos.

Overwhelmed by the turnout and response to the show opening last night. 

Sincere thanks to all who attended the launch and for all the wonderful messages I have been receiving. 

- Richard 

With the wonderful artist and draftsman Maria Levinge.

Enjoying the show !

A wonderful turnout - Many Thanks!

I always get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes when I talk about Van Gogh!

Ib Jorgensen.

Ib Jorgensen with my wonderful sisters and Father.

Classical Arrangement & Exhibit Details

'There is a self-containment to the work of Richard Hearns which draws in the viewer in a highly seductive manner. There is no barrier, no sense of a proscenium arch between the artist and the viewer. He presents his mises-en-scène in an almost sacerdotal manner. By a sleight of hand his brush becomes a magic-wand which conducts the image through his eye into the viewer’s. His still-lifes are reminiscent of those by Jean-Baptiste Chardin, of whom the eminent philosopher and art critic Denis Diderot wrote ‘To look at pictures by other artists it seems that I need to borrow a different pair of eyes. To look at those of Chardin I only have to keep the eyes that nature gave me and make good use of them.’ Like Chardin, Richard carefully crafts an overall balance of shape, texture, tone and colour, slowly releasing the objects from a dark background or, as Marcel Proust said of Chardin, ‘summoning them from the everlasting darkness in which they have been interred.’

-Síle Connaughton-Deeny, 
Art Historian and Jorgensen Gallery Curator.


This painting will feature in my solo exhibition 'The Rural Idyll' which opens with an official reception this Thursday 6th of February from 5pm to 7pm. 
Jorgensen Fine Art, 14 Hibernian Way, 
(off Dawson Street), Dublin 2.

Classical Arrangement with Brass Pot and Blue Plate, a study after The Imari Plate by New York Based painter and playwright Gregg Kreutz- oil on canvas - 40"x30" - sold

Classical Arrangement with Oranges, Brass Pot and Blue Plate - oil on canvas - 42"x32"

(tribute to Chardin and Kreutz)  after the original 18"x24" painting 'Imari Plate' by Gregg Kreutz.
(amended 24th FEB 2014)

Private Collection, Beirut, Lebanon

SEPIL Commission 006 - How to Choose?

There are so many interesting aspects to the Corrib project that it has become so hard to choose which ideas and elements should be recorded on canvas. Each of the people I have met and am working with at SEPIL all come to the project and this commission with their own personal stories, interests and preferences.

It's such a huge project with such an interesting past, so much going on now, and so many milestones to come and be captured in the future, that we are all still struggling to figure out how to best represent the Corrib project!

How do we choose from the myriad developments and centers of interest at the different sites at Corrib? How do we incorporate all important aspects of this project, from the incredible engineering feats to the vast surrounding wilderness of Erris and the people involved on the ground, the daily lives of the workers, as well as the history of protests, controversy and reconciliation?

Last week I had a very welcome visit to my studio here in the Burren from Peter Colleran, Christy Loftus and John Egan of SEPIL to discuss these very issues now that the project is underway. We are all still coming to terms with the immensity of the task at hand, but all getting on the same trajectory - to make this a great body of work!

Among all the paintings finished and in progress we all agreed upon the inclusion of this painting which depicts two pipe welders at work in their 'welding habitat'. It was truly amazing for me to have had the chance to spend time with these welders, observing them at work. In this painting there is great use of line, which adds a strong action and dynamism to the scene. The painting is still a work in progress, but I am very happy with how it's working out.

- Richard