Waxwing Icon Original

Each painting begins as a quiet encounter — a moment of stillness observed, remembered, and slowly transformed in paint. Though inspired by the natural world, these works are not intended as strict studies of particular species, but rather as small, luminous portraits of presence, atmosphere, and fleeting beauty.

Painted entirely by hand in my Dublin studio, every piece is unique. Using layers of acrylic paint on stretched canvas or board, I build each bird gradually through colour, texture, and gesture, allowing the character of the subject to emerge organically. Some appear watchful and alert, others contemplative or solitary, poised somewhere between realism and memory. Their small scale — approximately 15cm x 15cm — invites an intimate kind of looking, drawing the viewer close to details that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

The gilded backgrounds are created using gold metal foil applied through a technique I have developed over time in the studio. Rather than smooth or decorative surfaces, these backgrounds are deliberately weathered and textured, suggesting shifting skies, distant clouds, worn icons, old maps, or fragments of light caught at dusk. As the surface changes in different lighting conditions, the paintings subtly transform throughout the day, sometimes glowing warmly, sometimes appearing muted and atmospheric. This interplay between light and texture gives each work a quiet sense of movement and depth.

Birds have long occupied a symbolic place in art and storytelling — messengers, witnesses, travellers between worlds — and I am drawn to the emotional resonance they carry. These paintings are less about ornithological precision and more about mood, gesture, and connection. A tilted head, a moment of balance, the pause before flight: small details become vessels for feeling. Collectors often tell me that they recognise something familiar in them — not necessarily a species, but a mood or memory they cannot quite name.

Because each painting is entirely handmade, no two are ever alike. Variations in texture, brushwork, gilding, and colour are part of the character of the work and reflect the physical process of making. The paintings carry traces of the studio: layered paint, imperfect marks, changing decisions, and the tactile presence of the artist’s hand. They are intended to feel personal and alive rather than mechanically reproduced.

Their modest size allows them to sit easily in many spaces — on a shelf, within a gallery wall, beside books, near a window catching evening light. Individually they function as quiet focal points; together they form small constellations of colour and atmosphere.

These works are created slowly and intuitively, each one finding its own balance between observation and imagination. At heart, they are celebrations of attention: to colour, to light, to silence, and to the fleeting moments of beauty that often go unnoticed in daily life.
Kevin