Original Acrylic Painting

Original acrylic by James Donovan

James Donovan’s paintings have been exhibited widely across Wales and in London during a career that began when he was still a student at Swansea Institute of Higher Education. Born in Aberdare in 1974, Donovan is a Welsh painter who has explored valleys culture and the influence that our past has on our present and future. He has spent a lot of time as a painter trying to represent the influence that father figures and family history have had on his upbringing and beliefs, but the roles are now reversed. As a husband and father to two daughters, it was inevitable that at some point in his painting life Donovan would turn to the fairer sex for inspiration. There are personal and universal themes, hidden and open-ended meanings within the symbolism that he uses to represent his relationships with those dear to him.Some images appear as comical and clumsy whilst others contain references to poignant moments. Fools, sentinels, the wise and the beautiful are taken wherever the wind blows on a voyage of discovery and escapism across unknown waters.