Offaly painter Willie Redmond appeared on Sky Arts show ‘Landscape Artist of the Year’
Willie Redmond, who served for more than two decades with the Defence Forces, devoted himself full-time to art when he retired in 2007.
The Dublin-based artist’s paintings, including several new pieces, will now be on show at Art Source at the RDS next month.
Art had been the constant antidote to his demanding day job in helicopter search and rescue as well as air ambulance missions, he said.
“Small, simple missions are the ones that really stick in your mind,” Mr Redmond said.
Artwork by former Air Corps crewman Willie Redmond will be on show at Art Source at Dublin’s RDS. Photo: Art Source
“Children on mercy missions and air ambulance journeys, where a child might need urgent transport to a hospital for a procedure, are the toughest and give you a greater appreciation of life.
“We also transported people after car accidents to specialist units dealing with head and spinal injuries.
“Then the service of the islands in adverse weather conditions was a major role – Go Mairidís Beo [That Others May Live] is the unit motto applied by the crews,” he added.
With the flying, you were seeing the country through a different set of eyes
The talents of the Offaly man were rewarded earlier this year with an appearance on Sky Arts show Landscape Artist of the Year.
Mr Redmond, who is originally from Edenderry and now lives in Killester, said he had been painting from an early age and drawing in his spare time.
“When I served in Baldonnel [Casement Aerodrome], it was my focus during downtime,” he said.
“With the flying, you were seeing the country through a different set of eyes. It made you more aware of how the landscape worked in terms of weather and features.
Willie Redmond on the set earlier this year of Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year show in Snowdonia, North Wales. Photo: Art Source
“In spring, you’d get thundery showers and behind them, it was like a white brush had passed through and made the landscape behind it white with hailstones.
“Or early-morning flights with amber sunlight on fields and white hedgerow shadows from lying frost,” he added.
His work will now be displayed at Art Source, which will run from November 14-16. It will include new pieces titled Cliff Walk, Howth, and Greenwash.
Events such as Art Source were opening up the art world to the public, Mr Redmond said.
“There’s more of a universal appreciation of art now, awareness is coming through and has given people the confidence to take an interest in it,” he said.
Tickets for Art Source are available through the event’s website.