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Ciaran Harper Fine Artist

For four years, this blank canvas sat on our wall, waiting. We always intended to create something together, but we kept putting it off, waiting for the ‘right’ moment. Today, we finally took the leap.

Inspired by the colors of our beach walks, which complement the living room palette. We stepped away from our usual figurative style and embraced abstraction, leaving plenty of raw canvas to maintain a sense of openness. The process was messy, freeing, and full of surprises.

#abstractart #painting

For four years, this blank canvas sat on our wall, waiting. We always intended to create something together, but we kept putting it off, waiting for the ‘right’ moment. Today, we finally took the leap.

Inspired by the colors of our beach walks, which complement the living room palette. We stepped away from our usual figurative style and embraced abstraction, leaving plenty of raw canvas to maintain a sense of openness. The process was messy, freeing, and full of surprises.

#abstractart #painting

Portrait of @kwa_daniels which featured on screen at @thetelegraphbuilding for @solab_northstar24

North Star (produced by Solab, a new collective led by Kwame Daniels) is a live music spectacular, inspired by writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ historic visit to Belfast in 1845.

Douglass, considered a fugitive slave at the time, delivered a landmark speech, declaring, “wherever else I feel myself to be a stranger, I will remember I have a home in Belfast.”

#oilpainting

Portrait of @kwa_daniels which featured on screen at @thetelegraphbuilding for @solab_northstar24

North Star (produced by Solab, a new collective led by Kwame Daniels) is a live music spectacular, inspired by writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ historic visit to Belfast in 1845.

Douglass, considered a fugitive slave at the time, delivered a landmark speech, declaring, “wherever else I feel myself to be a stranger, I will remember I have a home in Belfast.”

#oilpainting

Today I delivered my painting titled "The Isms" to it's new home. It perfectly matches the style of this funky living room.

Check out @coracurates page for the recent interview where we had a chat about this painting and others.

#contemporaryart #contemporaryrealism #oilpaintings

Today I delivered my painting titled "The Isms" to it's new home. It perfectly matches the style of this funky living room.

Check out @coracurates page for the recent interview where we had a chat about this painting and others.

#contemporaryart #contemporaryrealism #oilpaintings

🎨 Bringing the spirit of the wild to life, on canvas.
🐎 Thrilled to share my latest paintings capturing two majestic horses and their riders galloping along the beach at Waterfoot.
🌊 #EquestrianArt #BeachRide #HorseRiding #CommissionedPortrait

🎨 Bringing the spirit of the wild to life, on canvas.
🐎 Thrilled to share my latest paintings capturing two majestic horses and their riders galloping along the beach at Waterfoot.
🌊 #EquestrianArt #BeachRide #HorseRiding #CommissionedPortrait

Shared a fantastic experience with all at @lcclpopupart over the past few weeks with our drawing and self portraiture classes. It was my time teaching! And what a pleasure to spend it with a great bunch.

3rd Slide is a video montage made by the team on after our first session on week 1.

4th slide a new article in Belfast Telegraph.

#LifeChangesChangesLives

#textures #oilpainting #canvas #workinprogress #wip #painting #drips #watercolour #sketch #drawing #palletteknife #artwork #portrait #contemporaryart #art #closeup #detail #paint #collage #photomontage #fineart #brushstrokes #figurativeart #visualart #realism #dailyart #mixedmedia #instaartoftheday

Shared a fantastic experience with all at @lcclpopupart over the past few weeks with our drawing and self portraiture classes. It was my time teaching! And what a pleasure to spend it with a great bunch.

3rd Slide is a video montage made by the team on after our first session on week 1.

4th slide a new article in Belfast Telegraph.

#LifeChangesChangesLives

#textures #oilpainting #canvas #workinprogress #wip #painting #drips #watercolour #sketch #drawing #palletteknife #artwork #portrait #contemporaryart #art #closeup #detail #paint #collage #photomontage #fineart #brushstrokes #figurativeart #visualart #realism #dailyart #mixedmedia #instaartoftheday

"1969"

80 x 80 cm, oil on canvas.

Available.

▪︎The Miss America pageant's long history of excluding women of color dates from its beginnings. At some point in the 1930s, it was formalized in the notorious rule number seven of the Miss America rule book. Instituted under the directorship of Lenora Slaughter, rule number seven stated that "contestants must be of good health and of the white race."

By the 1960s there still had not been a black contestant. Following the advances of the civil rights movement, black Americans set up their own contest in 1968. Black communities had sponsored segregated black beauty contests for years, dating farther back than the Miss America contest. However, the 1968 Miss Black America Contest, held in Atlantic City on the same day as the Miss America Pageant, was organized as a direct protest of the pageant. On that same day, feminists staged a boardwalk demonstration protesting the pageant. The 1968 Miss America Pageant was confronted with its shortcomings on several fronts. ▪︎

#missblackamerica

"1969"

80 x 80 cm, oil on canvas.

Available.

▪︎The Miss America pageant's long history of excluding women of color dates from its beginnings. At some point in the 1930s, it was formalized in the notorious rule number seven of the Miss America rule book. Instituted under the directorship of Lenora Slaughter, rule number seven stated that "contestants must be of good health and of the white race."

By the 1960s there still had not been a black contestant. Following the advances of the civil rights movement, black Americans set up their own contest in 1968. Black communities had sponsored segregated black beauty contests for years, dating farther back than the Miss America contest. However, the 1968 Miss Black America Contest, held in Atlantic City on the same day as the Miss America Pageant, was organized as a direct protest of the pageant. On that same day, feminists staged a boardwalk demonstration protesting the pageant. The 1968 Miss America Pageant was confronted with its shortcomings on several fronts. ▪︎

#missblackamerica

Alma Thomas
60 x 50cm
Oil on canvas

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an American painter best known for her colorful, abstract compositions. She frequently translated art historical references, natural phenomena, and personal aesthetic through simple compositions of circular and linear form. A major player in the Washington Color School, Thomas was born on September 22, 1891 in Columbus, GA and her family moved to Washington, D.C. by 1906 to escape growing racial prejudice.

Thomas was the first person to graduate from Washington, D.C.'s Howard University's fine arts department in 1924, after which she gained an MA in art education from Columbia University in 1934. Thomas' legacy is defined by critical acclaim and achievements, including a 1972 solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Her work was notably exhibited at the White House during the Obama administration's tenure. “Creative art is for all time and is therefore independent of time,” the artist once said, “It is of all ages, of every land, and if by this we mean the creative spirit in man which produces a picture or a statue is common to the whole civilized world, independent of age, race and nationality; the statement may stand unchallenged.” Thomas died on February 24, 1978 in Washington, D.C.

#almathomas

Alma Thomas
60 x 50cm
Oil on canvas

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an American painter best known for her colorful, abstract compositions. She frequently translated art historical references, natural phenomena, and personal aesthetic through simple compositions of circular and linear form. A major player in the Washington Color School, Thomas was born on September 22, 1891 in Columbus, GA and her family moved to Washington, D.C. by 1906 to escape growing racial prejudice.

Thomas was the first person to graduate from Washington, D.C.'s Howard University's fine arts department in 1924, after which she gained an MA in art education from Columbia University in 1934. Thomas' legacy is defined by critical acclaim and achievements, including a 1972 solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Her work was notably exhibited at the White House during the Obama administration's tenure. “Creative art is for all time and is therefore independent of time,” the artist once said, “It is of all ages, of every land, and if by this we mean the creative spirit in man which produces a picture or a statue is common to the whole civilized world, independent of age, race and nationality; the statement may stand unchallenged.” Thomas died on February 24, 1978 in Washington, D.C.

#almathomas

DMC
60 x50cm
Oil on canvas

This artwork is exhibited @artisannbelfast for the rest of October - representing #blackhistorymonth

#rundmc #Adidas #shellsuit #tracksuit #oilpainting #canvas #workinprogress #fulltracksuit #painting #fashionart #watercolour #sketch #drawing #palletteknife #artwork #portrait #contemporaryart #dmc #closeup #paint #collage #photomontage #fineart #brushstrokes #figurativeart #visualart #realism #dailyart #mixedmedia

DMC
60 x50cm
Oil on canvas

This artwork is exhibited @artisannbelfast for the rest of October - representing #blackhistorymonth

#rundmc #Adidas #shellsuit #tracksuit #oilpainting #canvas #workinprogress #fulltracksuit #painting #fashionart #watercolour #sketch #drawing #palletteknife #artwork #portrait #contemporaryart #dmc #closeup #paint #collage #photomontage #fineart #brushstrokes #figurativeart #visualart #realism #dailyart #mixedmedia

Ella Fitzgerald. First Lady of Song. Queen of Jazz.

40 x 40cm. Oil on canvas.

Available.

#textures #oilpainting #canvas #workinprogress #wip #painting #drips #watercolour #sketch #drawing #palletteknife #artwork #portrait #contemporaryart #art #closeup #detail #paint #collage #photomontage #fineart #brushstrokes #figurativeart #visualart #realism #dailyart #mixedmedia #instaartoftheday

Ella Fitzgerald. First Lady of Song. Queen of Jazz.

40 x 40cm. Oil on canvas.

Available.

#textures #oilpainting #canvas #workinprogress #wip #painting #drips #watercolour #sketch #drawing #palletteknife #artwork #portrait #contemporaryart #art #closeup #detail #paint #collage #photomontage #fineart #brushstrokes #figurativeart #visualart #realism #dailyart #mixedmedia #instaartoftheday

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