Johnny Dee: Background to his paintings

I grew up in County Kildare, Ireland and have fond memories of driving through central and southern County Kildare to visit family members mainly in Kildare town and Athy . This part of Ireland is particularly flat, renown as race-horse breeding country and boasting numerous racecourses. Between Kildare town and Athy the road is bordered by flat bog land with few trees. The other main route I passed through as a kid in the back seat of the car, the Curragh, is an expanse of sheep grazed grassland, frequented by jockeys exercising horses from the studs surrounding the near-by Curragh racecourse.

The paintings I have made available through Blackbird Prints, inspired by the wide horizons of the landscapes I have alluded to, are not meant to be a literal representation of the landscapes as would be achieved by painting from direct observation, rather they are an exercise in capturing the memory of the moment, an attempt to reflect the memories of driving through this part of Ireland while the setting sun briefly charges the view through the car window to a fusion of pinks and purples.

The relatively sharp focus of the paintings’ distant horizon and skies contrast with the horizontal banding at the base of the frame (which represents the blurring of the foreground when observed by the passenger of a speeding car). The foreground "banding" blends with the flat Bog of Allen and Curragh landscapes in the middle ground.

I used a combination of acrylic paint and printing ink on both board and paper when making the pieces, and enjoyed the process of combining the two media for the effect one had on the other and the manner in which the pigment of one would combine with the other at different stages of the drying process.