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Lahinch Art Gallery
at Kenny's Woolen Mills, Main Street, Lahinch, Co.Clare, Ireland
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Evening Hooker
A click on the pictures will open an enlargement
Jim McKee
Jim McKee is a renaissance man, a singer, a songwriter, a musician, a bit of a philosopher and very much a visual artist.
He was born in Cookstown County Tyrone in 1970 the heat of the troubles. Some of the violence and incidents and hatred he witnessed in those days haunt him still and memories and evocations of those dark and troubled times are occasionally recorded in his songs and paintings.
For some ten years now, he has lived in the Burren. It has become his spiritual home, a major factor in his life. He finds inspiration all around him... in a cluster of wild flowers, a bend of the lane, a corner of a bog, a tractor in the landscape, Boats at rest at the quay, the colours of the Burren.
He has a story for every painting and each one is important to him. His images are emotional and enthusiastic responses to his surroundings. There is a wonderful spontaneity about his work, as he sculpts with paint while recording and capturing that magical moment that triggered off the response. Some locations in his paintings are identifiable, but most are quiet little corners he has discovered himself.
He is self taught and is fearless with paint. He has developed, in a short space of time, a personal and recognisable style, imbued with life and energy and colour. He uses a palette knife, virtually playing the oils like a musical instrument, and the results are humorous and honest, impressionistic renderings and reflections of Ireland today, its passing traditions, its people and its landscape.
His portraits are strong in expression, vibrant in colour and invariably of subjects who have made a major impact on his life.
Together Alone
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