About the Artists
Carol Graham PPRUA
Carol Graham has been a professional painter since leaving Art College in 1975.Her early work was highly realistic, often taking months to complete one painting and her portraits continue to use this technique. Carol came to public attention with her painting of ‘The Striped Skirt ‘in the Ulster Museum collection. The last decade has seen a surge of creativity. There has been a broader painterly technique and subject matter ranges from still life, mountain landscape, figurative, symbolic, and abstract and portraits recently including President Mary McAlese (Queens University) she is a past president of the Royal Ulster Academy.
Vincent McDonnell
Vincent was born in West Sussex England. Moved to Northern Ireland when he was two years old. Studied fine art at the Art & Design College, Belfast. Moved back to England but returned to Belfast in 1992. Vincent has been a full time professional artist since 2001. His work is well represented in private and public collections.
Grahame Booth
Grahame is a painter of watercolours, a professional painter who shares his knowledge by teaching and demonstrating his techniques to various groups. All his paintings have a unique freshness about them; they give you a feel good factor.
James McNulty
After some years in London, James moved to Kinrosshire, Scotland where he began his painting career. In 1982 he moved near to Sligo in the West of Ireland and set up a studio and gallery in an old Victorian Glebe house. He continued painting full time and also began to teach. After a successful one man show in Belfast in 1990 he returned to live in Northern Ireland and now lives and paints on the North Coast. At various times James has had his works hanging at the Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Hibernian Academy, Scottish Watercolour Society and the Royal Ulster Academy. His work is currently in private and corporate collections in Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe and the USA.
Patsy Dan Rodgers
The last surviving member of the original group of four painters known as the Tory Island School of Painters. The English artist Derek Hill was the catalyst behind this group. His style of painting is naïve, primitive, pure innocence but most of all refreshing in its mood and atmosphere. Patsy Dan’s contribution to Tory Island has been recognised by his fellow islanders who gave him the title ‘King of Tory’
Darren Paul
A full time professional artist, born in Belfast in 1944. His style is impressionistic and figurative, greatly influenced by Desmond Kinney and Neil Shawcross. He loves to capture the atmosphere of the situation he is painting should it be landscape or inside a pub.
Julian Friers RUA
Born in 1956, the son of a wood sculptor attended Art College for a short period. He is now a wildlife artist of international reputation.
Tom Stephenson
Works and lives in Carrickfergus, his bright, colourful, whimsical paintings have developed over the years from a more traditional style into a fresh and humorous take on the Irish landscape and its characters. A regular exhibitor at the RUA his work is well represented in private collections world wide.
Ross Wilson ARUA
Born in Northern Ireland now lives and works near the North Coast of Northern Ireland. Ross graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in Fine Art from the University of Ulster, and then completed a Masters degree from the Chelsea School of Art; London. He has been a visiting speaker at Harvard and Oxford Universities. Several of his works are in the National Portrait Gallery, London. A very collectable artist.
Ian Fraser (Artist Statement)
‘I am an ideas painter. The artistic challenge is to paint the idea that forms in my imagination, while maintaining, as the work develops, the surprise and delight that are my motivation for the painting in the first place. An ‘aha’ moment, say, or ‘Where did that come from?’ I paint to surprise, amuse and excite myself and the viewer.
What influences me is the feel of the paint, the tones, the colours, the lusciousness and surprise of a dot of cadmium red in an area of tertiary brown.
I paint mainly on canvas with oil paints. I love the texture of oil paints and use brushes, old socks, my finger anything to achieve the effect that I want at that moment.
My background as a cartoonist has influenced me with an impressionistic approach, to suggest rather than literally paint something and let the viewer complete the picture.
I am influenced by other artists who surprise and motivate me with use of colour, choice of subject, composition, scale of work such as Basil Blackshaw, JB Vallely, Barrie Cooke and Francis Bacon.
I need stimulus and change. The more I change my environment, travel, look at other painters work, and read; the more ideas I have to paint.
Paintings by Ian Fraser are in private collections in Ireland, Switzerland, England, Italy, Canada and USA.
R.T. Killen RUA
Bob Killen has travelled widely to further his knowledge of the various mediums in which he works. To this end he has visited France(with a particular liking for Brittany)being very much influenced by light in the area,Italy,USA,Canada and the western parts of Ireland, especially Connemara.
A source of inspiration has been the work of the Irish impressionists of the late 19th/early 20th centuries and at an earlier stage he was heavily influenced by the work of the Group of Seven in Canada. At present, he works in an impressionistic/expressionistic manner with the subject being painted influencing how the paint is applied.
His work is in private collections all over the world.
Mary Christie
Born and still lives and paints in her native Co.Londonderry. Her unique style, bright colours and use of light and shade makes her paintings very appealing. She gives a new meaning to the Irish Landscape with all its different moods and tone’s. A regular exhibitor at the RUA.
Lorcan Vallely
Lorcan was born in Armagh in 1979 he is a member of a very well known family in the world of art and music. He completed his foundation course in art and design at Belfast Art College 2000 and then went on to study Fine Art at Bath school of Art and the Chelsea College of Art in London. Lorcan then spent a year working in Oxford as a member of the artists-run Magdalen Road Studios. He has exhibited in London, Dublin, Bath, Italy and Ireland; Lorcan now lives and works in Belfast.
David Gordon Hughes
David Gordon Hughes was born in Belfast in 1957 he still lives and works in the greater Belfast area. Gordon has been greatly influenced by Vincent Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Jack Butler Yeats, Paul Henry and Markey Robinson. Gordons success as an artist can best be explained in his use of colour and indeed his layers of colour applied on gold leaf which forms the underlay to most of his work.