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Paul Delaney - Artist

Written by Staff Reporter

Thursday, 30 September 2010

As Cork celebrated Culture Night 2010 last Friday, one of the many artists on show hopes this can be the start of a burgeoning career. We have all heard that the life of an artist can be trying and at times it seems as if the breakthrough will never come. It is no different for Skibbereen man Paul Delaney, who is trying to forge a career for himself in exhibiting art, but Paul feel he has something different to offer.

Many exhibitions and galleries may feature canvas work and sculptures but Paul is embracing technology with a lot of his work. “A typical piece I have in an exhibition, would have begun with a drawing and this will be scanned onto my computer. I will then work on it digitally using photoshop and other programmes, once this is finished I will then print it out and paint over. What I am aiming to do is combined new with old techniques.

“A lot of what I do is printing what I have created onto metal, which has become very popular. Many of my works have been bought by people to put on their walls at home. It is very unusual and has a nice finish to it.”

Paul describes his work at the moment as “pure abstract” paintings and that is the theme of his work entitled ‘Movement’ currently on show at the Basement Project Space on Camden Place, which closes today (Thursday).

Having been invited to exhibitions in London and Seattle in the US, there is definitely a pedigree and for Paul it is just a matter of trying to get his name more recognised. “It is tough work trying to get into the arts scene but I see it as putting the hard yards in my 20s that will see me working regularly and being established into my 30s and 40s. It is a great experience trying to achieve this,” he said.

Perhaps Paul’s biggest achievement has been a competition he won to design the Cork label for Heineken bottles. “I saw an advert on Facebook saying that Heineken were looking for a design for their bottles. You had to make something that was distinctive and I liked the idea of it. I entered anyway and soon after I got a call saying I had won the competition.

“What I did was take elements of Cork City and mesh them into a striking graphic and it has been chosen as the official Cork bottle for Heineken,” he said. Not only has Paul’s creation ‘Living Breathing Cork’ been chosen as the symbol for the drinks giant in Cork, his graphic has been made into a huge mural, which can be seen on the Grand Parade side of Oliver Plunkett Street.

While Paul tries to forge a life for himself as an exhibition artist, he moonlights as a graphic designer and his website www.pauldelaneyart.com exhibits some of his work. His freelance company ‘Bolster Graphics’ provide his income while his art work supplements this. “Through my graphic designing I hope to drum up interest in my work. My exhibits are starting to get a lot more interest and from a point at the start where it was all family and friends to where I am getting a new flow of people and there are some who come that I’ve never seen before!

“I am now selling quite a few pieces of work so hopefully the future is bright for me. This is my passion and I could not imagine myself doing anything else.”

Name: Paul Delaney

Occupation: Graphic Designer/Exhibition Artist

Location: Cork City but originally from Skibbereen

Favourite thing about Cork: It has evolved so much both structurally and culturally since 2005

Least favourite thing about Cork: I grew up in West Cork, sometimes I miss the countryside when I live in the city