John Morris

John Morris was born in Dublin in 1958. He has been painting since the late 1990’s and is primarily self-taught. Morris’s paintings of streetscapes and landscapes are described with raw and vibrant strokes of paint giving his work great vitality and freshness. He demonstrates the ability to capture a glimpse of passing time and light. It is this observation of a moment and relaying it to canvas that John finds both exciting and challenging.

Morris has shown work in over fifty exhibitions across Ireland, including solo exhibitions in London and Gormleys Fine Art Gallery. His work can be found in many collections including those of the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh, The National Council for the Blind of Ireland, Mount Juliet, Co. Kilkenny, Conor Lenihan Minister Of State, Aghadoe Heights Hotel Killarney, Co Kerry and The Parknasilla Hotel Collection. The Special Olympic Council presented Bertie Ahern with a painting of John’s and he is also mentioned in Norman Teeling’s book ‘Norman Teeling paints the Irish landscape in oils’.

“My paintings are about light and the effects of light on objects such as figures, water, landscape; they are about minute colour changes. Composition is important to me and I spend a lot of time getting it right before I start to paint. I make sketches with pencil, charcoal or oil. These sketches, along with photographs, make up a sort of visual diary which I use as reference material for my paintings. I make a quick charcoal sketch working out the composition that most appeals to me. I start to paint, quickly at first, then slowing as the painting becomes more resolved. My aim is to make the work look fluid, spontaneous and not laboured.” – John Morris