Meet artist Eoin O'Connor

Eoin O’Connor isn’t the first person to use farming scenery as inspiration in his paintings. No doubt, he won’t be the last. However, this Wexford-based artist has vibrancy, energy and even comedy in his art, that is quite unique.

So why cows and why farmers for that matter?

“You know, it wasn’t intentional,” says Eoin, sipping coffee out of one of his mugs that has an animated cow smiling back at us. “When I moved to Wexford, I started off painting cows in a field and they sold well. So I tried another few, giving variations and personalities to them, and it all emerged from there. I made a conscious decision to paint rural pictures.”

It wasn’t long before farmers came into the mix.

“I love painting farmers. They have real personalities that I feel can come alive on the canvas. Sometimes I know the farmer, other times I don’t, but if I do, usually they are delighted.”

In fact, the more he paints, Irish Country Living figures, the more experimental he gets. One of his most recent paintings, entitled Pimp My Ride, portrays a farmer on a hot-pink tractor. And his painting of two farmers Having the Craic is guaranteed to give you a laugh.

“Often I try and urbanise the paintings to give them a unique element.”

We can’t help but ask though, how did this Corkonian end up in Wexford, painting farmers?

“I was always good at art, but when I did the Leaving Cert I figured the most sensible thing to do was to study architecture. After four years I knew it wasn’t for me, which, of course, my parents weren’t too happy about.”

Over the next few years, Eoin worked on a number of projects that just weren’t profitable.

“Then I took the decision to sell some of my paintings on Merrion Square. That went well, so I exhibited at Art Ireland in the RDS. When they sold out I knew I was onto something. I have moved to Wexford to paint cows and I guess that was the start of the paintings I have today.”

In fact, he started to make some good money before the recession hit.

“I had to change my tactic and go for affordable, so I created prints out of my paintings. The thing was though, I didn’t enjoy it. Instead of spending my days painting, I was just replicating prints. Also my prints were everywhere, in every second gift shop.”

So a few years ago, when the economy started picking up a bit, Eoin made the bold decision to pull the prints and go back to concentrating on what he does best – creating unique pieces.

Now he only sells his paintings in his shop in Kinsale, Co Cork, and on his website (www.eoinoconnor.com).

“It’s amazing to be able to really give time to the painting. I’m always thinking, I always have the next project on the go. In fact, often I can be painting a number of items at the same time. It takes a huge amount of time, often up to 150 hours per painting, and I work long hours, sometimes coming into the studio at 5am, but it means I’m really happy with the finished product.”

Certainly Eoin’s paintings aren’t quite as accessible as they used to be, coming in with a price tag of €7,000, €8,000 and upwards for a large original piece. However, they are worth it, with Daniel Day Lewis, Cecilia Aherne and Dermot Desmond (to name but a few) proudly hanging his paintings in their homes.

For those who enjoy his work but just don’t have that kind of budget, a limited number of prints of his original paintings are on sale for about €150.

So what does the future hold for Eoin?

“Definitely more scenery paintings. The Sugar Loaf Mountain and the Old Head of Kinsale are popular, and I’m looking at Valentia and the Beara peninsula.

“However, I’m thinking about going outside my comfort zone with some urban scenery, such as the Grand Canal. By the end of my career I’d like to look back and be able to see progression in my work, to see it evolving and improving over time.”

In the meantime, Eoin has a lot more farmers to paint.

Eoin will be exhibiting at the National Ploughing Championships for the first time this year, with a range of his prints available as well as a limited number of original paintings.