Cloud

About Cloud

This contemporary realistic painting of a cloud was created by James Lahey.

The airy, ethereal quality of a white cloud rising in a deep blue sky is beautifully captured in this oil painting by James Lahey. Known for his masterful realistic landscapes, Lahey’s work is so faithfully painted it appears to be a photograph. The Canadian artist often takes photographs to record significant detail, color and form interpreted in his artwork. Lahey’s cloud has details of pale blue, sunlit yellow and mauve that help create an entirely natural effect. One of a series.

“My representational work is primarily of things elemental and temporal – landscapes, oceans, clouds, flora and the implicit motion within these. I’m interested in these as a way to know the world and phenomenal experience; that is, to know what is often referred to as fleeting experience.” James Lahey

“The photograph has been a source for painters since the appearance of the camera and many of Lahey’s paintings begin with photographic notes. They are, in simple terms, memory aids. Rather than a style of photo-realism, the artist reinvests sight into the pictorial traditions preferring to relay movement, light, luster, and mood as oil paint achieves. Lahey’s art is foremost about the craft and the memory of a moment embellished with time and beauty.” Jennifer Kostuik, Art Historian, Owner—Kostuik Gallery Vancouver

James Lahey completed his BFA at York University (Toronto) in 1984 with studies in Art and Architecture in Italy through a joint program with York University and Lowell University in Massachusetts. Lahey went on to hold positions at The Art Gallery at Harbourfront, The Power Plant, The Art Gallery of Ontario, and Bruce Mau Design. Since 1998, he has concentrated exclusively on his own art practice. In 2001, Lahey was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy. James Lahey's work can be found in numerous private and public collections in the US and across Canada.