Dave West is a full time artist and tutor living in North County Dublin.
Dave was born in Penclawdd on the North Gower Peninsula and grew up in Swansea, South Wales. In 1995 he moved to Ireland and now lives and works in Balbriggan, North County Dublin.
Dave’s Fine Art practice is divided between the traditional genres of still life and landscape in oil and soft pastel.
The still life paintings feature a variety of objects, some have a very personal story behind them and others are found objects with stories of their own to tell.
He has had 20 solo exhibitions to date in both private Galleries and Art Centres including Draiocht in Blanchardstown and Iontas Arts Centre in Castleblaney.
Dave has exhibited widely in group exhibitions and is a regular exhibitor at many of the most prestigious societies and academies in Ireland and the UK, in Ireland at the Royal Hibernian Academy and the Royal Ulster Academy and in the UK at the Royal Society of Oil Painters, The Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, The New English Art Club and the Royal West of England Academy. He is a regular exhibitor at both the Irish and Uk pastel societies and in 2013 won the Schminke Award for his nocturnal scene.
Much of Dave’s landscape work is executed ‘en Plein-air’ meaning that he paints directly from the subject (in all weathers!) It’s a process very much concerned with capturing mood – not just about a certain place but the interaction between the space, the artist, and the atmosphere.
During the 2017 International ‘Art in the Open’ Plein-air festival held each year in Wexford, Dave won first prize (Gold Mayoral Award) for his large painting at Kilmore Quay. This piece was subsequently acquired by Wexford County Council.
Dave’s work is in numerous Private and Public collections including the Office of Public Works, The Dept of Finance (Northern Ireland) and Fingal County Council who have a series of 7 of his paintings hanging in Balbriggan Library.
Dave is much sought after as an Art tutor running a regular schedule of Adult Education classes privately and with several Arts academies and schools including the Schoolhouse for Art in Enniskerry and Artform in Dunmore East. He has given guest lectures and courses for Private companies and colleges including Marino Institute of Higher Education.