Padraig McCaul

 Padraig McCaul is a Dublin born artist who now lives and works on Achill Island, off the Mayo coast. His work is widely collected internationally and at home and is held in many prestigious collections, including the Hottinger Art Collection in London, the President's office, Notre Dame University, USA, the Haddington Hotel, Dun Laoghaire and the Tannery Restaurant in Dungarvan.

McCaul's paintings are drawn from the untamed landscapes and coastline of Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way which has had a profound influence on his work, providing inspiration through the natural beauty and colour of the surrounding landscape. Describing his symbiotic relationship with his adopted home place, Padraig says ‘’It has everything that a landscape artist would want, there is the sea, the mountains, the rolling bog, and the sky and the light that changes every hour of the day. There is no reason to go beyond it, there is so much here to inspire painting’’.

He presents the Irish landscape in a series of colour filled, evocative images, where broad strokes are preferred to fine detail and where simple, uncluttered compositions allow room for the viewer to get lost in the paintings. Houses, roads, farm buildings, country lanes, all feature strongly in his work. His work has evolved to include more figurative work, primarily based on his own family members, using simple colour filled forms to suggest family. The figures have opened up new possibilities to explore colour and emotion, with a particular emphasis on the warmth of close relationships between family and friends.

“McCaul’s work is absolutely amazing – alive and vibrant – with tremendous haunting depth and structure that sticks in your mind.”  

Lucinda O’Sullivan, The Sunday Independent

“Inviting, provocative, unforgettable, the art of Padraig McCaul is a treasure waiting anyone who has experienced the profound beauty of Ireland. McCaul brings the essence of Ireland’s stark and isolated beauty to life.”

Susan Magan, Ohio Irish American News