Patrick Walshe - Biography

As I began my recent body of work I read a quote somewhere that resonated with me. It was somebody making the distinction between painting and photography.

A great photograph is a moment captured, while a painting is a moment imagined. Where this leaves the super realist painters I'm not sure, but it certainly stimulated me. I set out on a journey to realise the essence of the world around me, the great beauty of the countryside where I am fortunate to live as a metaphor for the spiritual and emotional reactions one has to the day to day events of ones life.

The places I paint are not captured but are more reminisced upon.


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 Millpond Gallery, Long Grove (Chicago), Illinois, May

Residency at Cill Rialaig Project, County Kerry, September.