Spoken State, Artevolve, RDS Dublin, 2026
PROCESS
Each Spoken State painting begins with a prepared aluminium composite panel. I draw the layout in pencil, using a T-square to organise the words across the flag.
The lettering and surrounding colour are painted by hand in acrylic. Working word by word, I gradually build the image, keeping the speech readable within the structure of the flag.
These photographs follow that process through the Ireland and Canada paintings, from the first pencil lines to the completed works.
Early morning in the studio. A T-square rests on the primed aluminium composite panel.
Pencil and T-square, ready to lay out the text
Drawing the letters by hand along the pencil guidelines.
Building the Proclamation, word by word.
Halfway through the lettering.
Painting the outline of each letter before filling the surrounding space.
Building the flag’s colour around the lettering.
The green section is complete. Work begins on the orange.
The completed Ireland painting on the studio wall.
The pencil layout is complete, with the speech drawn across the Canadian flag.
Painting the outline of each letter by hand.
Adding red around the maple leaf.
Winter evening in the studio.
Carefully painting the maple leaf’s outline.
The main areas of colour are established. Further detail work follows.
Folded watercolour paper serves as a blotter.
The letters are more visible now, white on the red background.
A towel provides cushioning during long painting sessions.
Painting the spaces around each letter.
The speech becomes readable as the painting develops.
The completed Canada painting, incorporating words from Mark Carney’s Davos address.
SPOKEN STATE SERIES
IRELAND — 1916 Proclamation
CANADA — Mark Carney, Davos Address, 2026
UNITED KINGDOM — Winston Churchill, “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat”, 1940
USA — Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream”, 1963
USA — John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 1961
UKRAINE — Volodymyr Zelensky, “We Are Here”, 2022
FRANCE — Charles de Gaulle, Appeal of 18 June, 1940
SOUTH AFRICA — Nelson Mandela, Rivonia Trial Address, 1964
INDIA — Mahatma Gandhi, “Quit India”, 1942