Description

Eamon Colman grew up in Dublin, Ireland in a family of painters.  He left school and starting painting in a spare room in his parents house, he took art classes by night at National College or Art and Design and studying horticulture by day.  He has had a professional art career since 1979.  Eamon was only 19 when he had his first solo show. Since then he's had over 40 solo shows in Ireland and internationally.  

He was chair of the The Artists' Association of Ireland and president of the the European council of artists. He was elected a member of Aosdana in 2009 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland.  He has won many awards and his work is in many major collections.

Eamon is represented by the Solmon Fine Art Gallery, Dublin, Hambly & Hambly in the UK and the Stern Gallery in Vienna. He lives in rural Kilkenny where he has converted an old barn into a studio. 

Eamon chats to Éadaoin about :

• How he views himself as a worker who happens to be a painter
• The importance of tenacity
• The challenge of making a living as a creative person
• The gallery system
• His studio practice and the importance of privacy in the studio
• Planning, balance and composition
• The rare magic when paintings happen
• Overworking paintings
• Editing his work
• His love for paper
• Storing works in progress
• Writing and painting titles
• Sculpture helps his painting practice
• The importance of colour
• Having an art career
• Upcoming solo exhibition in the Butler Gallery
• How paintings are political and autobiographical
• His love of abstraction
• The importance of his garden
• Concern of climate change and the change he's seen in the environment in Kilkenny
• Beauty in his paintings
• The best advice he received
• His advice for emerging artists
• Mentoring as communication
• Instagram as a community
• His plans for an open call to his followers on Instagram

Full show notes are available

See more of Eamon's work:www.eamoncolman.com

Instagram: @eamon_colman

His galleries:

www.solomonfineart.ie

www.hamblyandhambly.com

www.sternstudio.at 

Teaching:Eamon teaches at www.artform.ie 

Contact Éadaoin on Instagram @eadaoin_glynn and her website www.eadaoinglynn.com