MTC ART GALLERY

The MTC community art program presents:

Seamus Berkeley

Paintings from Near and Far

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Seamus Berkeley moved to Taos, New Mexico in 1999 in order to integrate into a more diverse artistic community, drawing upon Taoseños as subjects and inspiration for his paintings. In 2005, Seamus opened a studio in Berkeley, Calif., and divides his time between there and his home in Taos.

Berkeley’s paintings are extensively collected, both nationally and internationally, most of his work being commissioned fine art. For the past two decades, Berkeley has concentrated on oils as his primary medium, focusing on figurative and portraiture in a representational impressionistic style.

Berkeley enjoys creating artwork that speaks to the viewer. “The primary goal is to make a good painting. A good painting has the potential to evoke a memorable experience for the viewer,” he said. Berkeley’s work is not only an expression of himself, but it is his own personal contribution to visually recorded history.

Berkeley has won several regional and national awards for his artwork, including Best Portrait at the Oil Painters of America show in 2000. He is the founder and past-president of the Taos Society of Portrait Artists and a member of the Oil Painters of America. Berkeley’s work has been featured in such publications as Southwest Art, Information Warehouse, The Taos News, Art-Talk and The Trail-Gazette.

Seamus’ influences include esteemed artists Charles Cross, Nancy Guzik, Quang Ho, David Lefel, Ron Sherr, Richard Schmid and Teresa Vito. Additionally, he has traveled worldwide to study first-hand the works of master painters.

“The beauty of art is not only in the completed work but in its process,” Berkeley said. “The creative process in art is a movement — the external world is seen from the artist’s perspective and is then returned to the external world through the chosen media. The result of this reflective process is a work of art to be shared by others.”

Artist's Statement

Why do I paint?

My goal in creating art is simple: I want to bring beauty into the world, share it with you in order that you may experience the same joy of seeing the infinite awesomeness of our world.

A little more on this notion:

Beauty

I consider beauty to be a powerful inner experience, rather than an occurrence outside of oneself. Each individual has the potential to be in this experience of beauty; it is merely choosing to be present to the experience. Painting, for me, is about the active engagement of placing oneself in the state of being in order to see things in a beautiful way. A good painting stimulates and encourages the viewer to enter into this mode of seeing beauty. My aim is to have an observer enter into their own sense of wonder relative to what I was experiencing while creating the painting and to remember that sense of wonder in daily life.

Discovery

Discovery: the process of de-covering or revealing what was previously hidden. I find the practice of discovery entails connecting to an appreciation of beauty that we normally cover or gloss over in our day-to-day activities. Painting can be used as a means of practicing discovery, of seeing and connecting to an incredible, alternative view of the world. Approached in this way, I find painting clears the mind to see the beauty that is already there.

Serenity

Serenity is a state of being that is unaffected by disturbance. It is calm, unclouded, clear. In order to paint well, I believe it is necessary to look intently. By doing so, our preconceived ideas of what we are seeing are left behind and the mind is quieted. We discover beauty — serenity unfolds.
— Seamus Berkeley