about
Working outside
Kieran’s paintings begin outside, in the form of sketchbook drawings, watercolour and gouache studies and oils on panel.
He works often in the landscapes of The Cotswolds where he lives and also in Cornwall, where he originally trained studying Fine Art at Falmouth.
Each is a unique expression of a particular place. Layers of oil paint are superimposed with fractured marks, dashes and splatters that capture the spirit of a continually changing landscape. These evocative images are full of vitality, fizzing with life and electric colour.
Studio work
Kieran's larger work is developed and refined over
subsequent weeks in his riverside studio in Oxford.
Kieran's process
As Kieran puts it: Colour is exciting and experimenting with it can provoke all kinds of questions. Life is abstract and vision can be beyond conventional realism. This way of working allows me to paint what I feel and imagine, not what I know.
Browse and Darby, Cork Street, London (solo exhibition catalogue).
Training
Kieran studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art. BA (hons) and PGCE at Brighton University.
Gallery representation
His work is represented by Browse and Darby Cork Street Mayfair London, Lemon Street Gallery Truro, Cornwall,
and Brian Sinfield Gallery Burford Oxfordshire (see exhibitions page)
Collections
His work is also held in many influential and distinguished collections internationally including the permanent art collection of Merton College Oxford University.
Kieran's teaching
Kieran specialises in art workshops and educational events where the focus is on exploring creative ideas through the physical experience of drawing and painting process. His workshops are produced in innovative formats allowing participants to experience and engage creatively with artists, galleries and museum collections in new and exciting ways.
Kieran founded Oxford’s independent art school established in 2000 offering a range of themed lectures, films, tuition and art workshops.
Merton College, University of Oxford
In 2019 Kieran was Visiting Research Fellow in the Arts at Merton College, University of Oxford. This creative position was designed by Merton College to initiate synergies between the arts and academia, and to increase the profile of the college as a centre for research and innovation in the arts. Kieran’s continued fellowship research also explores the neuro-scientific connections between creativity and psychological well-being. Kieran is now an Associate Member of the college and continues to provide lectures and events there including directing and producing a forthcoming Merton College Festival of Arts in 2023. The programme consists of several events specifically focussed on the importance of drawing and what it can provide.
Reviews
The Visiting Research Fellowship culminated in exhibition ‘Lightscape’ curated by Flora Fairbairn which had over 600 visitors and was listed as a Top Pick in the Saturday Times by Rachel Campbell-Johnston. (review right)
The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Kieran tutors in specialist themed presentations and creative events which are connected to the Museum’s major exhibitions (Including ‘Raphael’, ‘Cezanne’, ‘Drawings in Venice’, and ‘The Pre Raphaelites’ as well as the permanent collection. He has produced and held over 30 events since 2014 including the production of a film ‘Seeing the Light’ commissioned by the Ashmolean (in Association with The V&A Museum) about how light works in painting relating to the contemporary painting methods and ideas within Kieran’s paintings and the Ashmolean’s permanent collection.
See film page
The St Ives School of Painting, Porthmeor Studios, St Ives
Kieran’s work here includes in person workshops, live broadcast lectures and online creative events which are closely connected to the concepts and methods of the 1940s-80s British Modernist movement. See Films page
Compton Verney, Warwickshire
Kieran has also taught at several creative events in connection to their major exhibitions, most recently The John Nash retrospective.
Kieran has also held positions at the following institutions:
-
The Architecture Association Schools, Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, London. 2010-11
-
Modern Art Oxford. ‘Abstract and conceptual representation in modern painting’, 2016
-
Asthall Manor, Burford, linking with the biannual ‘On Form’ sculpture exhibition. 2016-22
-
Oxford Chamber Music Festival. 2019
-
Mansfield College, undergraduate tuition. 2012
-
Les Bassacks Arts in Provence, Luberon, France. Annually from 2010-21
-
The School of St Helen’s and St Katharine’s in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, where he previously held a permanent part time post teaching painting and drawing at A-level from 1994-2011.
-
Summerfields School Oxford, art scholarship pupils visiting tutor in painting and drawing 2009
-
Radley College, Oxford. 2021/2022
-
Headington School Oxford, 2009
-
St Clare’s School Oxford, 2019/2022
-
Over 30 additional public and independent art educational institutions and societies across the South-East and London.