Let your fingers do the painting

Trying to fathom how the mind can create order is what drives artist, Bill Griffin, whose exhibition, A Song for Deirdre, is showing at the Cork Vision Centre until Jul 23.

Eleven of the 36 oils on canvas sold on the opening night. Griffin’s exhibition is bold and vibrant with its use of bright colour, daubed onto the surface using his fingers instead of a paint brush.

“I use my fingers because of their speed. With 10 fingers, you can have the equivalent of 10 paint brushes going at the same time. I could be painting six or seven paintings at the same time, going from one to the other.”

The exhibition includes a painting of James Joyce in a café, as well as more abstract pieces. And there is mischievous humour in much of the work.

“I try to make my work entertaining. I think it should be about more than just visual effect. A bit of entertainment is good because you have to live with a painting for a long time.”

As well as amusing the viewer, Griffin is motivated by philosophical questions about the nature of being.

“The works have no counterpart in reality. By assuming guises, I can reflect my desire to create beauty. In the end, all a painter can do is keep on painting.”

The exhibition is Cork-born Griffin’s 24th solo exhibition. Griffin, who worked in the oil business for 28 years, says he was never frustrated that he wasn’t painting during those years. He says he could never have been a Sunday painter. “It was all or nothing. When I was working in the oil business, every year was supposed to be my last year at it.” He was all the time looking ahead to a career as an artist, having unsuccessfully given it a go in London in the 1970s.

“Being a young Irish fellow in London then was very hard, particularly with the Troubles. I had a show there. The work was recognised by my peers but I didn’t have any sales.”

In 1999, Griffin, who is nearly 66, became a fulltime artist. He believes his work has evolved since. “It may be a regression. I don’t know. Only time will tell. But certainly, it has changed. I think I’ve become a better painter but I don’t know if I’ve become a better artist.”

Griffin never trained formally as an artist. “I think it’s the worst thing an artist can do,” he says, citing what he sees as the uniformity of work created by the students of colleges of art.

Surviving as an artist in the current economic climate is difficult, says Griffin. Thanks to the support of his partner, Deirdre Ní Dhonnchadha (to whom the exhibition is dedicated) and his brother, the West Cork-based artist is able to pursue his passion.

“Even paint is very expensive and sales are very bad. They were very good during the Celtic Tiger,” he admits.

Griffin noticed the decline of the economy after his 2009 exhibition at the Cork Vision Centre.

“I sold practically nothing that time. Buying paintings is a real luxury. I’m hoping to sell more at this exhibition. One woman bought five of my paintings last night. She’s a great collector of mine.”

Griffin hopes his work will be appreciated by future generations. “That’s immortality – or the closest thing you can get to it.”