Published: Wednesday, 14th July, 2010 5:00pm

Back to school for artist Kevin Flood

It's been a few summers since artist Kevin Flood graduated but this year he is going back to school and hopes to take 10 eager students with him.

The Atelier Project, based at the Old School House in Kinnegad will house an artists' studio where both third-level students and secondary pupils will learn from Kevin and from each other this August.

The project is Kevin's chance to stay in touch with teaching because it has been quite a while since he gave up his day job and became an "on the scene" artist selling his work via both the Oriel gallery in Dublin and Treasures in Athlone. While Kevin confesses to feeling that he was born 100 years too late, it was his nod to the artists of the Belle Epoque that first brought him to the attention of the serious art collectors in Ireland and then further afield.

After graduating from the National College of Art and Design in 1981 Kevin's work was exhibited by Dublin's Oriel gallery which has also acted as the dealer for artists such as Francis Bacon, Jack B Yeats and Markey Robinson and which specialises in 18th and 19th century art.

"What happened was that the people who were buying a very expensive painting, say for example a Russell (George AE Russell), would see something that they liked or recognised in one of my paintings and buy that too. So they would buy one very expensive piece and one less expensive painting of mine and that is how we got started."

When Kevin talks about his work, he constantly uses "we" and not just in referring to Ita, his wife of 25 years. It's clear that the whole painting enterprise is very much a partnership, something which is borne out by the fact that it is Ita's decision about which paintings are kept in the home and she accompanies her husband when he paints in sitú.

Kevin has painted many portraits of his wife and it was Ita who was instrumental in setting up the painting holidays which formed the mainstay of the couple's income before they were able to make a living from art sales alone.

These days galleries look for more art works from Kevin Flood that he can provide but despite the temptation to be in it for the money, the artist is known for only producing a certain volume of work every year.

"I would feel that I was cheating the buyer in some way if I did that," said Kevin. "It comes back to haunt you if you let something go when it isn't finished and its often the case that I keep the paintings that we most satisfied with and Ita usually has the final say on which ones those are. Things have settled down again now but there was a point during the boom when it was crazy because people were buying loads of paintings even though they might not have liked them so well. It was like as if your name was known at all people wanted to have one of your paintings and I remember a gallery owner calling me to say did I not have anything more to sell but I didn't and I wouldn't paint to order.

"Ideally what I would like is that if someone buys a painting a little more of it will be revealed each time they look at it when they sit down of an evening. I remember a time when people would pay up for a painting at the Oriel for however long it took because they loved it so much and I think that things have returned to that."

Things will come full circle for Kevin again this summer as he returns to teaching which was his profession for several years after he graduated. His desire to become a full-time artist was in part fulfilled by his wife's help in establishing and running painting holidays at the couple's beautiful home which is just past the Inny Bridge near Ballynacargy. When the heavy front gate is closed on the cottage and studios on a summer day, the Floods' home is more south of France than middle of Ireland.

The picturesque setting alongside Kevin's tutelage and Ita's famous home cooking meant that for a time the Floods became a victim of their own success as the painting holidays advertised in the UK publication The Leisure Painter became hugely popular. Kevin taught and Ita fed the aspiring artists and at one point people were renting cottages nearby in the hope of getting a place on the course. But by the early 1990s Kevin had become successful enough to stop the painting holidays and concentrate on painting full time.

"I think that really Ita's food attracted as many people to us as my teaching did," said Kevin. "In the end it became such hard work and while we loved it, it was nice to move on as well. The thing is that I always liked the teaching aspect of my art and this summer's project will offer me a chance to get right back into that.

"I love painting still life and that is often how I start my lessons. I will ask students how they would arrange the elements of a still life and we will take it from there. "I would say that my main influence are the Impressionists, well from that era on and by the time we get to say Cezanne, you have lost me. I actually didn't start out as a painter at all. In my final year at art college I was focused on sculpture but at that time I couldn't afford to set up a sculptor's studio.

"I like to paint outside as with the Impressionists and the garden at this house is a great place to draw inspiration from. This year we hope to bring the students to the house for a day and we also hope to take them on a day trip to a gallery."

The students that Kevin is talking about are the lucky 10 who will be subsidised by the Westmeath VEC to train for a week with the artist at The Old School House studio in Kinnegad.

The idea is to set up a artist's school in the real sense of the word which means that students will work on different aspects of the same project which will be supervised by a master.

"We decided that this year we would run the school over the summer months so that we would get students who are really interested, those who want to get to art college and train as artists. We will have two places for students who are already at second level so those who join us and are still at school can learn from them and possibly vice-versa. This will be an amazing chance for those looking to make a career in art and we have to have limited places so that they can have intensive training.

"It will also give some of the youngsters a chance to find out what art college is like because it isn't always as nice an experience as people would believe it to be and in some ways it might help to prepare them. I taught at the VEC in Castlepollard before I moved on to teaching at the painting holidays and this year we are thinking of doing painting weekends again which will be for the serious amateur.

"I like to keep my hand in with teaching because I feel that it's a way to give something back and also just because I do enjoy it so much. The studio in Kinnegad is just amazing and those chosen to take on the week will have a great experience. At the moment we think we will do one week but that could just as easily turn into two weeks, we'll have to see. In any case if you are at school or have just started third level then we would like to hear from you."

To apply for a place on Kevin's course contact him or Ita on 044 9357417 or email info@kevinfloodfineart.com.