'It probably keeps me a bit sane' Laois artist Paddy Critchley passionate about his work
Portlaoise painter Paddy Critchley speaks about what inpires his art and his beloved home town - featured in the Leinster Express’ Laois Life magazine June/July issue
A Laois painter who is gaining international attention, is a proud Portlaoise man who hopes to eventually live and work there.
Paddy Critchley, 27, is a painter in both senses, as a tradesman and an artist.
This summer he is in Paris with his partner, Cork fashion designer Ríon Hannora, seeking inspiration for new works.
Paddy told Laois Live what drives him to create.
“I can’t not do it. If I didn’t have it I’d be depressed. It probably keeps me a bit sane. I love it”.
He has had multiple gallery exhibitions, with paintings snapped up by collectors.
He describes his work as a “visual diary of how I try to go about the world and understand it, reflecting on my lived experience”.
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Paddy paints in warm earthy shades, with pops of colour, creating works redolent with meaning.
“Sometimes my shows are curated about my life. Other times I’m thinking about politics, how the world looks today, genocide in Gaza. It’s an emotional response,” he said.
Growing up he attended St Mary’s CBS.
“I was a house painter since I left primary school. On school holidays, I would paint with Da. I hated it then. It’s a tough job.
“I’ve just been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. For the last four years it’s been getting worse. My spine will fuse eventually. Sitting, standing, driving, walking, lying down, it’s pain all the time. For the last year I couldn’t do much housepainting.
“But my art has really taken off which is good timing,” Paddy said.
Starting with an Art/Craft/Design course for two years in LOETB Abbeyleix, he then got direct entry to second year Painting in Limerick School of Art and Design.
“Halfway through third year Covid hit so my college experience was rough after that. I mostly painted in the shed at home. We had no degree show, I missed out on the main thing.
“I just worked through it then got a job with EVA International in the Biennale, installing artworks. I got a studio in Limerick. I just worked away and shows started to come,” he said.
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His first solo exhibition was in 2023 in The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, called Ragged Trousers. A joint exhibition followed in Limerick City Gallery of Art, then a solo in the Dunamaise, Portlaoise.
He won the De Veres Art Award for Work of Distinction at the 191st Annual RHA Exhibition for his painting Nature Morte (After Beckett).
Recently he was featured in international art magazine Frieze, with a solo show, Painter/Painter in Pallas Projects in Dublin.
“It was the best show I had. I did my first performance, painting the exhibition walls as a house painter. I wanted people to be puzzled at what was going on, where was the art or what was the performance. It was tongue in cheek but also a comment on social hierarchies and the two lives that I inhabit,” he said.
A son of Jackie and Ferdie Critchley, Paddy is grateful for their support.
“They have been at every solo show. They are all creative. My dad writes, so does my brother Eddie, my mother makes amazing crochet and sews. She and my grandmother introduced art to us as children, I have those two brilliant women to thank,” he said.
He reflects on his success to date.
“I’m happy enough, I want to get better. It’s weird, the majority of my college mates won’t be painting after a few years. It’s a very difficult life. Every month is a nervous struggle to make ends meet,” he said.
He is hoping to take up a two year partial scholarship for a prestigious New York art college.
“I’ve been offered a George Moore scholarship. It’s worth over €30,000 but it would still cost me about €60k a year. I’m trying to raise the funds. It’s one of the top five art colleges in the world. It would be great to go,” he said.
Paddy’s paintings are priced from €500 to about €5,000. Galleries can add commission of 50%.
“That’s why it’s good to buy artwork from artists coming up. It’s like a soccer player before they score a good goal,” Paddy said.
He sometimes feels the need to defend his prices.
“I’m an artist but I’m business oriented too. You might pay €800 to get two rooms painted. Then you’re giving out to an artist for charging €2,000 for something you’ll have for generations. I could spend five days on a painting. If I sell it I might have my rent for two months, I’m not driving a Rolls Royce. I’m a socialist at heart, I’m not capitalist orientated ”.
His Laois home inspires him.
“I made a lot of paintings of Abbeyleix Bog, and I’ve a collection of photographs of Hungry Hill in St Brigid’s Place, Portlaoise. I always heard stories of how it was a haven for kids to grow up in. The characters, the nicknames. That spirit built up a whole generation who love the town.
“I’m really proud to be from here. My extended family are here. I love the Rock of Dunamase, the Slieve Bloom mountains. My favourite place for meditation is up past the Glenbarrow waterfall, that’s my memory of happiness.
“But I can’t afford to live here. Hopefully I’ll buy a house some day. There’s no artists’ studio in Portlaoise so I can’t make work here. But maybe I could open one some day. Wouldn’t that be unbelievable?”
Paddy’s next show is in the Glucksman gallery, Cork.