Roy Wallace
Roy Wallace is well known throughout Ireland and internationally for painting Irish characters and pictures of the Old Wild West. Roy describes his recent paintings as ‘surrealistic’ each telling a story based on a curious juxtaposition of characters. His themes on Hollywood movies, jazz musicians, The Beatles, Elvis, James Joyce and many others are where Roy shows his artistic gift and creative imagination in full flow.
‘Born in Belfast’s Dockland, my uncle who was in the Merchant Navy, used to bring each time he returned home, stacks of American Comics which were shafts of sunlight in what was grey, austere postware early 50’s world. These provided early inspiration and gave me the impetus and interest in art, although I only took it up full time in about 1974. I always had a talent for drawing so it was just a matter of honing and developing it to a professional degree. Art-wise my comfort zone is from 1920’s to the 1960’s, as the buck of my reference material covers these decades. I prefer the surreal school of art, though in my time I have dealt with golf, field sports, shooting, Victorian life, old cottage life, horse racing, Irish life and music, and American West. Though I much prefer doing what I do now as I’ve just about had enough of the 19th Century! About the only influence I feel were the early illustrators of ‘MAD’ magazine of the late 50’s or early 60’s. I simply try to come up with a picture that never has existed before in a professional manner.’ – Roy Wallace.
