Through his practice, Derek makes choices of colour, form, and gesture, he set abstraction against representation, line against wash, dry against dripping brushwork and texture against smooth. Through these different techniques, Derek captures these transitional places that sit between land and sea. Derek graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 2006 and since has exhibited widely in solo and group shows, including the Royal Ulster Academy, Villa Tittoni (Milan), Barbara Stanley Contemporary Irish Art (London), Hallward Gallery, Glasthule Gallery, Trinity Gallery, Chimera Gallery and various art centres and galleries around Ireland. His work features in public collections including that of OPW, Ardstone Capital, Unicorn Restaurant and Cavan Arts Centre as well as numerous private collections in Ireland, UK, Europe and USA. He won The Cill Rialaig Studio Residency 'Scholarship' for a Young Emerging Artist in 2006 and was shortlisted for Backstage Theatre Emerging Artists Award. I hope my paintings will awaken the imagination of the public to remind them of the beauty of the landscape and their surroundings, with the ongoing threat of climate change worldwide which is a constant. Derek's oil paintings range from small to large scale and bespoke commissions can be arranged through us here at Duke Street Gallery.
