My paintings of The Galway Hookers chart a journey of some 20 years in time through which I have had the greatest honour to travel whilst learning about the ‘Sailing Work Boats’ of Galway Bay, their history and the people who build, maintain and sail them.

Living and working almost on the doorstep of Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, I am also privileged to have access to an area often frequented over the years by the Galway Hookers and their incredible crews.  Those who journey here must navigate the waters of the Irish Sea and then face the famous ‘Bar Mouth’ to enter the lough before negotiating the Narrows (without engines) as they head for the safe anchorages of Portaferry or Strangford.