Cowboy Dreaming

Belinda Ireland studied Fine Art Painting at the Central School of Art and Design and has a teaching qualification from Reading University. She now lives in Devon and has a studio on the edge of Dartmoor where she works as a full-time artist and runs classes for adults.

As a figurative painter her subject matter is based on autobiography interwoven with references to art history, contemporary media and life itself. Working primarily in oils, she is inspired by what happens underneath the surface of human life and behaviours, creating open ended narratives. Belinda continuously develops her process through her teaching work, taking courses such as the Newlyn Mentoring Programme and The Royal Drawing School and through collaborations with other artists.

Belinda's work is in private collections, she has twice been long listed for the RA Summer Show and has recently exhibited a pastel painting in the 2024 Pastel Society Open Exhibition.

Cowboy Dreams refers to my childhood interior life. The solitary  cowboy sits, musing by a camp fire, rifle at the ready. He is my creation as I sit dreaming of him and an alterative life far removed from the mundane child life I inhabit. The cowboy western as a genre has an uncomfortable history, but for myself it was an escape into adventure, risk and romance. I am interested in the way culture, social mores and behaviours portrayed in the visual arts change through the centuries. I collect images from books, TV, photos and magazines, make drawings and cut outs which I arrange into 'scenes' often referencing them to my own experiences of childhood and adolescence. I work primarily in oils, from very loose beginnings based on values and composition. The image emerges. Colour is an important element, I try to use it in a more abstracted manner so that it is almost independent of the subject matter.

Oil Paint

59.5x60.5cm