Ian Delaney – Rua Red art exhibition
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A MAN who spent his teenage years indulging in his love of art before stepping back from it out of “fear and doubt” when he reached adulthood, has returned to the easel after nearly two decades and is now preparing to host his first solo exhibition in Rua Red in Tallaght today, Good Friday, March 30, from 5.30pm to 9.30pm.
Kilnamanagh man Ian Delaney had dreams of pursuing a career in art as a teenager, and even got accepted into art college, but turned it down after deciding that pursuing steady employment was paramount at that point in his life instead.
Ian Delaney and wife Amanda
The 44-year-old’s passion for art was reignited in 2011 when he was on a family holiday with his wife, Amanda, and their four children.
Ian joined in as his children were sketching and drawing, and he decided to draw a dragon which the children loved, and Ian then realised that his passion for art was still there.
Ian told The Echo: “My wife has been a major contributing factor in this, as my art is very personal, but she has been instrumental in saying that people need to see it.
“I took such a long gap in painting, I only came back to it in 2011, but it’s really exciting to see how much better I’ve gotten in the last seven years, and I love watching the progression as I go along.”
Inspiration from nature
Ian, who works as a security engineer, draws a lot of inspiration from nature, adding: “If I’m walking in a forest, then I want to paint the forest, and if I’m walking by the sea, then I want to paint the sea.”
However, the talented artist’s work is incredibly varied and versatile, as evidenced by his stunningly intricate painting of Trinity College’s Long Room Library, and all manner of landscape paintings that play with darkness and light with finely detailed vistas and cloud formations.
Talking about his upcoming exhibition, Ian said: “I just want people to see my paintings, and the best that I can hope for is that my paintings will uplift them and take them away for a minute.”
Anyone is welcome to come along to the free exhibition in Rua Red on March 30, from 5.30pm to 9.30pm.
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