LEARN MORE ABOUT HARRY
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Harry Foy was born in Belfast in 1955, where he would begin to draw and create his first landscape paintings during his early years.
His father was a prolific Irish oil painter, so in the home paintings were regularly on the easel and clients would be calling to view works for sale. The process of making art was on show to Harry during those early formative years.
After retiring in 2009 from a lifelong career as a Chartered Surveyor, he would revisit his long-lost desire and begin to create art. At first, he realised the ruler straight line mentality had to be removed from his habit and practice. This had very much been part of his previous career.
He then started to properly learn art theory through courses and online tuition and would start painting landscapes from life or “en plein air” a few years later.
Without formal art education Harry through hours of patience, dedicated practice, painting with fellow artists learned how to draw and paint in oils.
The subsequent years of painting landscapes both locally and in other countries and enjoying the great outdoors have inspired his current direction.
In 2023 Harry spent 7 weeks in his small retro camper van touring Europe and painting en pleinair. In 2024 he would embark on a similar tour and visit Northern Italy, Venice and Austria. When asked where he would go after Austria, he shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I don’t know - it depends upon the weather”.
Nearer to home he paints in County Down, the north coast of County Antrim, County Donegal and Connemara in County Galway.
Harry Foy is an award-winning artist and has won competitions in Northern Ireland and abroad. He has exhibited in Ireland, London as well as in Australia. His work can be found in collections in Australia, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Sweden and the United States.
His current works are created in his purpose-built studio in Lisbane, County Down as well in the outdoors, and create an atmosphere of the place and evoke emotions of peace and calm.
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For my oil paintings, I mostly paint local scenes from life outdoors or “plein air”. I start by finding suitable subjects, which is one of the most difficult aspects to master, since a composition in my head rarely transmits to the finished work, I find it better to simply and spontaneously look for something that catches the eye on the day.
While painting, I often put myself under time pressure, as the light and weather in the outdoors is always changing. It also allows for a more intuitive and free painting process, as my aim is to allow intuition and colour to guide me towards a pleasing composition and design.
I enjoy the freedom of oil paints which allow me to change, re-draft, mix on the canvas, and do many things I couldn’t do in watercolour. In addition, my weekly practice of life drawing serves as an invaluable way of teaching the eye to guide the hand.
For my art, having a focus, meaning and story are crucially important, since my works serve as a testament for transforming the mundane into the beautiful.
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Thanks for your interest in Harry’s paintings. If you are considering investing in a painting you’ll find more information here.
Included in all paintings is a carefully chosen frame unless otherwise stated on the details.
The buying process explained.
Please go to the Available Paintings section where you’ll find Harry’s paintings. Click on the image and the details of the painting will be shown.
When you click “Purchase” you will then be taken through to the payment section. Please be aware this can take up to 3 weeks and will depend on if the painting needs framing.
How is my payment taken explained.
All payments are tank via Stripe. This is a PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) compliant system which collects and processes your details. You can learn more about this here. None of the card details you provide are collected or stored by either Harry Foy art or the server.
If you have any questions, please send an email to Harry direct.
Shipping.
The delivery cost depends on the weight / size of the package and the destination it is being sent to.
Once you provide your address details you can review the total cost before you make the payment.
Shipping is arranged with UPS (or another trusted carrier if more convenient) and can be sent to almost any country.
Duties, taxes and charges may be payable locally. This depends on your own country’s regulations. If you are charged these it will be for you to pay them before the item can be delivered. These are not included in the quoted cost here. Shippings are insured and well packaged. Delivery inside the UK is included. For local pickup please select that option on checkout.
We would plan to call you inside 2 days from placing the order to personally thank you for placing the order and arrange a delivery date to suit you.
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