Tomás O’Maoldomhnaigh ((born 1956) is an Irish Contemporary Realist painter, who works in Ennis, Co Clare. He has been a professional portrait/figure artist and illustrator for many years. His works can be found all over Ireland and is represented on the walls of many of Ireland’s top corporate companies. He exhibits on an on going basis in the Mid West. His paintings have been sold to the United States, Europe, Africa and Australia.
Life
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Although a master of both landscape and figurative works, Tomás O’Maoldomhnaigh is chiefly noted for his portrait art, which forms the basis of his thriving practice. He has been a professional artist for many years, and his paintings hang on the walls of many of Ireland's top corporations, like Aughinish Alumina, Roche , Pfizer, SmithKline Beecham, Wyeth, and others. Having exhibited widely throughout Ireland during his career, he now spends most of his time working on commissions, although he continues to show in both solo and group exhibitions across the country. His unique brand of representational art is represented in numerous art collections in the United States, Europe, Australia and Africa. In addition to his painting, he is also an outstanding illustrator in watercolour and other media, as exemplified by The Book of Clare, a captivating Impressionist journey through the banner county.
Born in Limerick, O'Maoldomhnaigh spent much of his childhood drawing and sketching with pencils, crayons and charcoal. As his family had a number of small boats on the edge of Limerick City, his usual subjects were ships, boats, water, people and buildings by the shore. Gifted in both technical drawing, and several forms of art, he was accepted to Limerick Art College but never attended. He went to work instead. Looking at the outstanding works he has produced, exclusively through his own talent and hard work, one wonders just how far he might have gone if he had received a classical training.
As an artist, O'Maoldomhnaigh works in a wide variety of media including oils, acrylics, watercolours, pastels and conte crayon, but his principal focus is portraiture and figure painting for which he favours oils. To hone his painting technique he also produces still-life studies and pictures of local people. As one might expect for an artist devoted to classical realism, O'Maoldomhnaigh is influenced by the great traditionalists like William Orpen (1878-1931) and Sean Keating(1889-1977), as well as the Impressionist portraits of John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).
Work
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In addition to his portraiture and other private commissions, O'Maoldomhnaigh is an expert illustrator. On his website you can find details of one particular book - The Book of Clare - which is a collaborative effort between himself and the writer Daniel McCarthy. It contains 32 watercolour illustrations of buildings, monuments, streets, houses and landscapes throughout the County, from Merriman’s Country to Kilkee, and from Bunratty Castle to Black Head. Each illustration is accompanied by an explanation about the people or customs associated with the area. O'Maoldomhnaigh's corporate work includes a variety of special commissions, all made to order, including paintings of company plants and operations as a monument to what has been achieved. As well as decorating corporate areas, they are typically used on Annual Reports, brochures and even Christmas Cards. O'Maoldomhnaigh has been a prolific exhibitor, and continues to show regularly in the mid-West of Ireland. His most recent solo shows have taken place at the following venues:
Solo Exhibitions
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- Limerick City Gallery of Art, Pery Sq., Limerick (Nov 2009);
- DeValera Gallery, Ennis, County Clare (Nov 2007);
- Clarinbridge Arts Festival, County Galway (Nov 2007);
- Talbot Gallery Restaurant , Talbot St., Dublin (June 2007);
- St Johns Arts Centre, Listowel, County Kerry (Sept 2006)
- Coastguard Station, Tramore, County Waterford (July 2006);
- Mullingar Arts Centre, Westmeath (April 2006)
- Custom House Gallery Westport, County Mayo (Jan 2006)
- Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin (September 2005);
Public Collections
edit- Limerick County Council Public Collection
- Clare County Council Public Collection
- Mayo County Council Public Collection
Corporate Collections
edit- Dolmen Butler Briscoe, Dublin
- Nortel, Galway.
- St. Francis Credit Union, Ennis
- Ennis U.D.C.
- Organon, Swords, Co Dublin.
- SmithKline Beecham Ltd.,Cork
- Shannon MRO Ltd., CoClare
- Wyeth Ltd. Co. Limerick.
- Becton Dickinson, Dun Laoghaire
- Ennis Civic Trust
- Aughinish Alumina, Co. Limerick
- Iarnrod Eireann
- Pfizer, Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork
- Calor Kosangas Ltd., Co. Cork & Dublin
- Roche, Co. Clare
- Forest Laboratories, Dublin
- ExtrudeHone, Shannon
- Wyeth Newbridge, Co Kildare
- Pacnet Ltd., Shannon
- SwartzPharma, Shannon
Art Residency
edit2007 Selected to attend Cill Rialaig Project artist’s residency, Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry
Books
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2003 ‘The Book of Clare’ illustrated by Tomás (40 watercolours of County Clare)
Notes and References
edit- The Book of Clare ISBN 1900935 33 3
- Limerick Leader June 2009
- Clare Champion June 2009
- The Event Guide