Artist’s Statement:
“All of my work is a celebration of landscape, both natural and built, and seeing the beauty in the everyday. My paintings endeavour to capture the spirit or mood of a place therefore it’s most important to me that the viewer feels a strong sense of atmosphere emanating from my paintings. The exact topography of the landscape is not so important, but rather the feeling which inspired me to paint it in the first place.”
Aidan Butler
Brief Biography and CV
Aidan Butler is a mostly self-taught painter, and currently works almost exclusively in the medium of pastel. Already a full member of the Pastel Society of Ireland for over twenty years, in April 2019 he was awarded signature membership status of the Pastel Society of America, one of the world’s leading pastel societies. He is also a member of the Pastel Guild of Europe.
Butler has won awards for his paintings at the Pastel Society of Ireland’s exhibitions, and in June 2021 exhibited at the 38th IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies) Juried Open Exhibition In Chicago, alongside the very finest pastel artists in the world.
His work is in State and Corporate collections, and he has been commissioned to paint many landscapes in his distinctive impressionistic style. His use of pastel is more akin to painting than drawing, and his richly textured paintings are achieved in some instances by using a specially prepared ground covered with many layers of pastel.
An enthusiastic advocate for this underrated medium, Butler gives workshops and demonstrations to spread the message about the wonderful experience of pastel painting.
Occasionally Butler paints landscapes in oils, creating looser impressionistic work with a naturalistic colour palette.
In 2021 he was delighted to be invited to be a member of the venerable Dublin Painting and Sketching Club.
Recent Selected Exhibitions
- IAPS 38TH International Juried Exhibition – Zhou Centre, Chicago, IL USA
- ASPAS-Las Pastellistas de Espana – Online Juried Exhibition (online only due to Covid 19 Restrictions)
- Terzo Concorso on line 2020– Pasit.pastellisti (online only due to Covid 19 Restrictions)
- Winter Open – Courthouse Gallery Ennistymon
- RUA Annual Exhibition – Ulster Museum, Belfast
- Dublin Painting & Sketching Club Annual 2020 (online only due to Covid 19 Restrictions)
Selected Corporate Commissions
- Department of Social Protection
- Tipperary County Council
- Warner Brothers Ireland
- Java Coffee Company
- Boy Scouts of Ireland
- Richard Lewis Fashion Designer
- Irish Pensions Board
- Public Service Friendly Society
State Commissions – (Hospital Related)
- 2001 – Nine Permanent Paintings for Psychiatric Wing of Ennis County Hospital
- 2017 – Seven paintings for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda
- 2019 – Two paintings for Ulster Hospital Dundonald, Belfast
T: 086-0549746