Growing up on the outskirts of south county Dublin,
Ireland, meant that the mountains were only a short
distance away. Most of my youth was spent up in
these mountains, walking for hours and hours in all
kinds of weather, I got to know the area well.
In great contrast to the nearby city these mountains
are solitary windswept, magical places indeed.
The clouds come rolling in from the west and with
their passing the light on the land changes constantly.
The interplay between the ever changing light, the wind,
the rain, the sunshine, never failed to inspire me and
left me with a feeling of being intensely alive.

It did not surprise me when years later the memories
of this landscape started to manifest themselves in
my work. About 12 years ago, I took a few handfuls
of turf back to the studio, let it dry and began
experimenting. Its use as a painting medium changed
everything and influenced not only the direction but
also the subject matter of all future work. And so
since then I have been using turf in my work, giving
it the freedom to find its own way on the canvas and
tell its own story.


Gregory Seán Sheehan
January, 2008