CHRONOLOGY

1952 Born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland on the 25th of November and ran wild for 12 
years in a town that seemed only partly in the 20th century.
1964 Had the great good fortune of being sent to the Benedictine school of Glenstal Abbey,     
which has proved to be one of the most enduring influences on my life. ?It is not so 
much what you do as the spirit with which you do it.? It was also a time of a great 
artistic ?renaissance? within the school which was not altogether to the liking of the 
parents.
1970 Became a student in Trinity College, Dublin at a time when Dublin tardily caught on 
to the swinging ?60s. Won first prize at the annual Art Society exhibition and then 
became President of what was probably the most anarchic society on campus, being 
known solely for what would now be known as ?raves? in it?s dungeons behind the 
college.
1974 Graduated with an Honours degree in Business and was promptly advised by the 
college authorities to emigrate if I wanted a job. Withdrew on the dole to County 
Wicklow to paint.
1975 Had my first exhibition in Dublin at the Tom Caldwell Gallery and remember getting 
encouragement from Patrick Scott which overshadowed the almost complete lack of 
notices.
1976 Won an Italian Government scholarship to paint in Florence, but realised quite early 
on that it was impossible to paint anything relevant to the 20th century in a city 
containing the most wonderful art and architecture of Western civilisation. Escaped to 
the Greek Island of Corfu.
1982 Was invited to exhibit paintings at Northeastern University in Boston, in a survey 
show of contemporary Irish painting. While on this trip I met Rosalind whom I 
married in 1984, having sold up in Ireland and moved to New York.
1985 Had my first solo show in New York as part of the ?East Village? scene at a venue 
inexplicably called Beulahland. Slightly in awe of the hipsters, found myself unable 
to network shamelessly. Became Banquet Chef at the Waterclub which provided 
many unfogettable life experiences. The neighbourhood of our loft building in the 
Bedford Stuyvesant ghetto in Brooklyn was shared with many other artists who 
influenced each other greatly.
1986 Moved to Los Angeles and hooked up with a Jamiacan artist friend from New York 
to share a studio in downtown (skidrow) Los Angeles. While painting in this 
abandoned part of the city I was also setting up a restaurant for some entertainment 
lawyers in Beverly Hills. The irony was not lost on me.
1987 The studio on Wall St. again provided the opportunity to share ideas and experiences 
with other inner city struggling artists.
1988 Exhibited at the Los Angeles International Art Fair
1989 Was introduced to Renata Beuhler and exhibited in a group show at her Rivernorth 
gallery. Also took part in an invitational Exhibition sponsored by the Los Angeles 
Arts Council.
1990 Solo exhibition at Renata Beuhler Gallery, North Wells St. Chicago.
1991 Exhibited at the Wilshire Tower Gallery, Los Angeles and at Fullerton County 
Museum.
1992 Exhibited at the John Thomas Gallery, Santa Monica, California. Left Los Angeles to 
return to Ireland via a circuitous route that took in India, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia 
and several African countries. Produced hundreds of watercolour sketches and 
became enthralled by the qualities of light and colour in these countries.
1993 Settled in the West of Ireland but had no studio. Started a business that took me back 
to Indonesia several times a year.
1994 Had a ?Retrospective? exhibition of my American work at the Hallward Gallery in 
Dublin. Realised that the work I had been painting and exhibiting in the U.S. did not 
translate appropriately to 1990s Ireland. Decided on a hiatus from the world of paint 
in favour of starting a family.
2003 Began the year with the intention of sketching solely in watercolour the scenes 
around me in the Wicklow Hills, adapting the time constrictions I had worked to in 
the Far East of never spending more than 10 to 20 minutes in rendering the essence of  
place at a certain moment.
2004 Renovated a studio space and began work on this current body of work, promising 
myself I would strip away the unessential and strive to finish while the spontaneity 
remained clear.
2005 Invited to exhibit work at an International celebration of Landscape painting in the 
Castle Este, Ferrara, Italy in October and to take part in the Biennale Art Fair in 
Florence in December.
2006 Solo exhibition at Gallery Gora, Sherbrooke West, Montreal, Canada in March.
     Solo exhibition at The Mill Pond Gallery, Long Grove, Illinois in May