I was born and raised in London, but have lived, worked and painted in Ireland for nearly half a century. My career was in commercial art and design where in the pre-computer age, the ability to draw was essential.
Initially, I started painting to relieve the stress of working in a pressurized, deadline driven industry. Having no formal training in fine art, the illustrative skills I’d honed in commercial art gave me a solid base to build on when I started painting. After that it was a case of trial, error and practice, practice, practice. For many years painting was a hobby and I sold my work in various Dublin galleries, primarily the Hackett Gallery in Baggot Street and the Hangman Gallery in Bray. In 2000 it became a full time job.
I have worked in many mediums, but my love of watercolour has endured over the years. It is never easy, always unpredictable and at times it’s like trying to herd cats. A reviewer once described me as being “an artist totally in control of his medium”, which I found hilarious, because when working I usually feel that I’m teetering on the edge of total disaster, a feeling that most painters in watercolour will recognize. I am a landscape painter pure and simple. My work is unapologetically representational, but I try to bring light and mood into quite mundane subject matter by using the full range of watercolour techniques from wet-on-wet to fine suggested detail. My paintings are of the ordinary streets, landscapes and the coastal details that surround us. I am particularly drawn to old decaying buildings and machinery, in places long abandoned and forgotten.
My paintings are in corporate and private collections throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, the Middle East, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. In 2006 I was commissioned by the Office of Public Works to produce a series of paintings of St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin.
For the past few year I have been running an advanced watercolour painting course for a talented group of artists in the South Tipperary Arts Centre.
Annually I exhibit in the Kilkenny Arts Festival and for many years I was one of the invited participating artists in the Art in Action Festival in Townley Hall and Farmleigh House, Dublin.
I am an award winning member of the Water Colour Society of Ireland and exhibit with them annually.
Initially, I started painting to relieve the stress of working in a pressurized, deadline driven industry. Having no formal training in fine art, the illustrative skills I’d honed in commercial art gave me a solid base to build on when I started painting. After that it was a case of trial, error and practice, practice, practice. For many years painting was a hobby and I sold my work in various Dublin galleries, primarily the Hackett Gallery in Baggot Street and the Hangman Gallery in Bray. In 2000 it became a full time job.
I have worked in many mediums, but my love of watercolour has endured over the years. It is never easy, always unpredictable and at times it’s like trying to herd cats. A reviewer once described me as being “an artist totally in control of his medium”, which I found hilarious, because when working I usually feel that I’m teetering on the edge of total disaster, a feeling that most painters in watercolour will recognize. I am a landscape painter pure and simple. My work is unapologetically representational, but I try to bring light and mood into quite mundane subject matter by using the full range of watercolour techniques from wet-on-wet to fine suggested detail. My paintings are of the ordinary streets, landscapes and the coastal details that surround us. I am particularly drawn to old decaying buildings and machinery, in places long abandoned and forgotten.
My paintings are in corporate and private collections throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, the Middle East, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. In 2006 I was commissioned by the Office of Public Works to produce a series of paintings of St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin.
For the past few year I have been running an advanced watercolour painting course for a talented group of artists in the South Tipperary Arts Centre.
Annually I exhibit in the Kilkenny Arts Festival and for many years I was one of the invited participating artists in the Art in Action Festival in Townley Hall and Farmleigh House, Dublin.
I am an award winning member of the Water Colour Society of Ireland and exhibit with them annually.
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Google Plus; Twitter; Facebook; Instragram; LinkedIn; raymondosborn.com and all other on-line platforms,
are copyright of the artist Raymond Osborn