Let the Great World Spin

I'm not talking directly about Colum McCann's incredible novel but it's so true - the time and tide waits for no one and our great world just keeps on spinning!

Right now I'm a busy busy boy getting ready for two coming exhibitions.
This morning Gordon D'Arcy, Professor of Irish Heritage Studies and published author visited my studio in Ballyvaughan to view the paintings I have selected for inclusion in my coming local exhibit of representational still life paintings.

It was really enjoyable spending some time with Gordon explaining my interests, various approaches and ways of working. Gordon who paints and draws himself and has illustrated many books on Irish wild life has kindly agreed to open my exhibit 'Rhyme or Reason' on May 8th with the Burren Chocolatiers at Hazel Mountain Chocolates. He will call back to my studio again this Sunday to talk some more about my art practice and career to date over a cuppa.

This evening I put the finishing  touches to this painting below entitled 'Valencia'.
The image your seeing here is not the finished piece but it's close enough.

During my time in Barcelona I became absolutely hooked on freshly squeezed orange juice! I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to! This addiction was compounded further during time spent in Valencia where copious amounts and varieties of oranges where readily available. many of which were sampled in jugs of Aqua de Valencia (look it up). The oranges were literally growing on the side of the roads there.

- Richard

Exhibition in Oughtmama.

I'm really excited to be announcing my first 'local' exhibition/event here in the Burren, County Clare.

Teaming up with Burren Chocolatiers, Kasha Kola and John Connelly at Hazel Mountain Chocolates, myself and Boo will present an exhibition featuring a selection of my original Still Life paintings.
Some of which feature here on my website http://richardhearns.com/still-life/

Plus after the opening night I will make a number of my Limited Edition Giclee Prints available
for purchase at the exhibition space in Oughtmama. See here for the entire range to of these prints created to date. http://richardhearns.com/limited-edition-giclee-prints/

Opening my show will be Gordon D'Arcy a renowned expert in Irish heritage and wildlife as well as a published writer and Head of Irish Studies at the Burren College of Art.

The Exhibit will be open daily 10AM to 6PM, Monday to Sunday and runs until Friday 22nd May.
I hope many of you can come to visit us there in this incredible location in the Burren, County Clare.

Ways of Working.

This morning I gently heightened the colour of a plum in a delicate still life painting using a soft brush with a touch of pure cadmium red, then an hour later smothered part of a large format canvas in an oily black viscus!

What does your art practice consist of? What is your process? How would you define your practice? How important are definitions and definitives? These are questions I force myself to answer at times. Or questions I feel I should want answers to, as I tell myself an academic discourse demands it!

I know when I listen to a group of musicians and enjoy their sound it can be off putting or disappointing when they dramatically change their style. Perhaps humans always seek the familiar?
In a conversation with artist Katie St. Claire, she pointed out that humans have this ancient inbuilt recognition pattern identifier and build up 'a story' or 'picture' through repetition.

On the other hand when a group or artist changes their style and it's successful for us it becomes a revelation. They take us along with them on an important evolutionary journey. The band Radiohead for example have continued to evolve and change over the course of their long career but we still recognize them as unmistakably 'Radiohead'. A painting by Gerhard Richter is still a Richter whether it's a photorealistic piece or a pure abstraction. So, what is it in the work that becomes that identifier? A certain quality? Is the artist even conscious of that innate sensibility?

My interests in music, film and the visual arts span a gigantic field. Knowing what I like and don't like - what I understand and what doesn't appeal to me. I've always enjoyed engaging in multi disciplines and different aspects of the arts practice but I'm most defiantly committed to painting.
A chat in my studio with the Dean of Academics at the Burren College of Art, Conor Mc Grady illustrated one thing that has been a constant in my practice. That is an 'Engagement - Reflection' ethos or pattern as apposed to the 'Thinking - Executing' process which would be more akin to the way most illustrators might work.

Finally, posing these questions of style and evolution to a young painter from Michigan today - Marc Ferraro, I confided that at times I pine for sure direction - the known, the familiar! He quickly displaced my concerns as only a young fresh and agile mind can by saying 'I'm more engaged with painters that change and develop through different processes and ways of working. Painters that repeat things bore me'!

As Deepak Chopra said, 'What is the known? The known is just the conditioned past, there is no evolution in that, absolutely no evolution whatsoever'.

Marc Ferraro's studio space at the Burren College of Art undergrad study abroad programme.
In this body of work Marc has been using free association and instinct to generate imagery for these painterly works.

A sequential series of images of me putting down some initial gestural strokes and marks onto a large format canvas. Trusting 'accident' and 'chance' as well as my physical movement to bring about something new and undiscovered.

Limited Edition Fine Art Prints

About two weeks ago I collaborated on producing my first ever run of Limited Edition Fine Art Prints. With the help of photographer and printing technician Robert Ellis we created a series of the highest quality Satin Rag Giclee prints in the Burren College of Art digital printing lab.  

The fine art prints are looking incredibly amazing if I say so myself - I'm so happy with them. 

Please give me a shout if your interested in an image or three from this first run!
These Fine Art prints have been produced with great care and to the highest quality possible.
Each print is Certified, Signed and Stamped by the Artist. 

Each image is limited to just 15 prints! Prints can be purchased at a cost of €300 each ex. postage.

Purchased work will arrive in professional packing and framing advice and recommendation can be given.

Contact: Richard Hearns Email: info@richardhearns.com  Phone: +353 (0)86 2161135.

Here below images of the first six images to be produced and a link to a folder on my facebook page containing images of the first six prints. P.s I'll be posting out my Spring Newsletter in the next couple of days. You can subscribe to receive this quarterly on my website homepage www.richardhearns.com  

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kindest Regards,

Richard Hearns