About

A warning: I'm going to use the first-person singular 'I' a lot in the following paragraphs. No, I'm not a vain little man who likes to look at himself in the mirror. If there is something I hate more than anything, it is talking about my sad little self. But this is an introduction, so there it is.

 

Although I'm not very fond of such a term, I imagine you could 'label' me as a portraitist and a figurative painter. I do not seek plain abstraction, often (though not always) cheap and easy, nor photographic precision (what's the point). One word would summarize my conception of art: interpretation. In terms of colours and moods. The need for a 'message' is not an absolute.

 

I started as an amateur painter in the mid 2010s, exhibiting twice at the Grand Palais in Paris, promising my own self I would 'go pro' once my kids are old enough to fend for themselves. That time has come. It is now the summer of the year 2025 and I'm 50. Yes, 50. I'm an elderly schmuck.

Some would try and soothe me by saying that one can remain forever young in one's head. It's not my case. I've always had the mind of an old fart, even when I was a kid.

 

Beside paintings, I love books, cinema, gardens, old fashioned pubs, fermented beverages, classy/cosy interiors (woodwork & dim lights). I love nature and suffer from misanthropy ('a touch' would be an understatement). I don't seem to fit today's society. Always have the feeling I belong to another century. It's not impossible that I share a few criteria (but not all) that define autism. Let's say I politely flirt with the spectrum. But if it is a predicament for a social being, it might be a blessing for an artist.

 

Becoming a full time artist is a big jump, both scary and enthralling. If you ask me what it is that I pursue, I'd say I strive for emotion, complicity (with the sitter, dead or alive) and — I'm aware it sounds a trifle presumptuous — elevation of thought.

I will never, ever, sell a painting I'm not happy with, and — believe me — there is no harshest critique than myself when it comes to my own work. You may have noticed I use the word 'work'. Because it is work. There is no bluff in my art. I do not belong to that class of artists who conceal the vacuity of their creations behind crazy prices and fancy, hollow words. I do not surf the trend. I endeavour to stay true to others as well as to myself. And if buyers have questionable taste, well, too bad for them.

I value my freedom... and my integrity.

 

My motto? KBO!

 

Donald Sheridan

France

2025