Description

#firepainting happened by a total accident. I was in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, on a residency and was losing my mind, what I wanted to go down to Kerry to focus on painting was not happening at all. I wanted to paint the coast and its rugged beauty but I couldn’t paint a straight line. For 4 days I spat and screamed at canvass asking and begging for inspiration to come and it didn’t! So on day 4 then I decided to try lose control and let a sort of expression happen, to ‘vomit’ paint and gods knows what onto the canvas. After enough time past of me making what I thought was a pointless mess, I placed it to one side for the bin and didn’t realise that where I was placing it had an open flame right by its side (I was trying to create an atmosphere with loads of candles, it was dusk) it went on fire and in a panic, I started to blow and blow on it but nothing happened so I had to turn it over on its face. When the flame went out and I turned it over again the results were amazing, I instantaneously loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. The rest of the residency was spent dabbing my hands, fingers, and arms with burn spray. 13 years later I still haven’t gotten enough of #firepainting, only now I have become to master it a bit more, to manipulate it my way as best as I can, after all fire is an element and can never be tamed no matter how hard you try or thing you can. I decided 2 years ago to mainly focus on #firepainting and use it in landscape art. I love being out in nature and exploring the landscape I may be in at that time, and the studying the light that is present. (I love light for any of you who doesn’t know my art. Light is EVERYTHING) After two years of manipulating fire and nature and 13 years using fire, I have only now begun to build up an equal relationship with fire as strange as that sounds and to understand it. Some days the fire is too much and you just have to let it burn out. Usually when its cooled down the canvas falls apart and flakes away. Lucky the frame is still intact, so after my first initial rage at the fire painting going wrong and sometimes throwing a tantrum (and some body and facial hair being lost to the cause) I re-stretch the canvas and start from the beginning. I have to respect the fire and keep remember it will always be worth it in the end. Within the last two years I have also learned when to step away from a piece, all too often, paintings, mine in particular are over worked and the painting is suddenly gone from you. It’s a travesty when this happens, if feel like it anyway.