Laois landscapes and wildlife feature prominently in stunning art exhibition

A SPECTACULAR art exhibition by Portarlington resident Seán Conlon was launched recently in Bloom HQ, Mountrath.

The Newbridge native opened his art gallery and framing shop in the Laois town more than ten years ago.

Speaking to the Laois Nationalist on opening night, Seán said that he started “a little art gallery and framing business” in Market Square in Portarlington a decade ago, where he does a lot of framing for other artists, whose work is sometimes on display there.

He said: “My art was influenced by my father. I remember drawing with him at the age of three or four. He was very good at sketching and drawing. He never got into the painting, but he encouraged me.

“In 1985, I went off to Collioure in the South of France with my easel and I bought my paints and brushes over there. I went to a beautiful promenade by the sea called Colure, where a colony of artists who were all painting away would sell their paintings to passersby.

“At that time there could have been 100 artists on the promenade from all over Europe. I did very well over there. I went back a few years ago, just for old times’ sake, and there were only about three or four artists there.” Seán has mostly evolved as a landscape painter but has always loved to paint wildlife, too, and that he used to use acrylic paint.

He said that working with acrylics allowed him put a lot of detail into his paintings, but he uses oils now because he “figured out a way of getting really good detail using oils”.

Among his works are limited-edition prints from originals that have been sold and Seán paints mostly in his gallery.

Commenting on Seán’s art show, curator of the Gallery of Divine Inspiration at Bloom HQ and fellow artist Kevin McCann said: “Seán was always an artist. As far as I know, he never did anything else. For example, he was never an astronaut or a swimming coach, or anything like that, just an artist, but a fabulous one at that. His works speak for themselves, and to top it off, he’s also a very nice guy.” Seán’s exhibition is on show in Bloom until the end of May and everyone is welcome to visit.

Seán’s paintings are on sale at his shop in Portarlington, which is called Seán Conlon Artist Gallery and Framing. Prints of his works can be purchased online at Fine Art America, which Seán said is “a great way of getting known and recognised internationally”.

The artist can be contacted on 085 1472154 and can be found on Facebook and Instagram by searching Sean Conlon Artist.