Cork artist: I get lost in my art, time means nothing’

Cork artist Jim McCarthy has brought Rory Gallagher along with him to show me.

His depiction of the world-renowned musician shows him engrossed in his song, because his guitar is making the lyrics talk. It is just how I remember the Cork star.

Jim’s magnificent painting of Gallagher makes me marvel and makes me talk.

How did he capture the gifted singer’s likeness so well, and make it so life-like?

“I conceptualise my pieces by envisioning every scenario in my mind before I begin,” explains Jim.

He has a remarkable ability to examine objects from various angles, then seamlessly translating that vision to canvas or sculpture.

His greatest challenge is finding time to create, as he balances a day job with his art and being a dad to Luke.

“He’s mad into sports!” says Jim, showing me a painting of Luke as he looks through a glass window to his granny, when he couldn’t interact with her during the covid pandemic.

Again, Jim has captured the unique scene in his mind’s eye, magically transporting it onto canvas via textures and colours.

Jim was officially diagnosed with dyslexia in 2012 and with Scotopic Sensitivity, (visual stress) in 2013.

“I’m extremely dyslexic,” says Jim. “But I have a high IQ and fall into a group called 2e Twice exceptional, meaning very bad dyslexia and a high IQ. 

I left school before my 14th birthday.

He is exceptional in many ways.

“During all my childhood and in life, I found my solace, a place in the world, and lose time in creating art, drawing and colouring and painting and creating sculpture.”

He was recognised as a promising artist from early on..

“I won lots of children’s colouring competitions, winning a bicycle, medals, and other prizes.

As a teenager, I would paint designs and art on motorbikes for clients.

Jim was always good with his hands.

“I worked as a carpenter/joiner in a lot of different locations,” he says.

Did his dyslexia make any difference to his job?

“If I was offered a foreman or site manager job, I would make an excuse and move to another job,” says Jim.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the paperwork.”

Jim has always been industrious.

“I’ve always worked really hard,” he says.

“In 2011, Ireland went into an extremely bad recession. 

The whole economy collapsed, and I found myself out of work for the first time. I could only find a few days’ work here and there but nothing permanent.

Every job advertised seemed to require a degree.

“I figured art was the way to go, as every other subject might be a challenge,” he says.

Jim never found art challenging.

“I created a portfolio and applied to Crawford College of Design.”

His God-given talent was obvious.

“On my interview, because my portfolio of drawings, sculptures and paintings was so strong, the college offered me a second-year direct entry into Fine Art.”

What did that mean for Jim?

“It meant instead of doing a four-year Honours Fine Arts BA degree, I would be doing it in three years, skipping first year.

“The course is a self-directed course, a more academic course, which I found quite hard. Reading art books and articles was a slow process and I often forgot what I had read.”

Then he got a break that helped his studies immensely.

“Seeing a documentary on (American painter and graphic artist) Robert Rauschenberg where we watched a film about his work was a game-changer,” says Jim.

“He spoke openly about being dyslexic and what it was like and the difficulties that he had had in life and in school.

I could see myself in him. I was totally blown away. I wanted to shout out, ‘that’s me!

He was just like other exceptionally talented people.

“Doing a test before an exam, the Clinical Psychologist congratulated me and said I was very intelligent with a high IQ. She told me that I was in the same group as Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh, Rodin, and many more.”

Jim, a hard worker, was now supplied with a laptop which had various programs such as Read 7 Write Gold, Dragon Dictate, and Mind Mapping.

“I still had to work harder than the other students,” he says.

But he got by with a little help from his friends.

“A disability officer checked my spelling before I handed up any essay or seminar paper,” says Jim.

Describe Fine Art for us.

“In Fine Art, you have to have a concept (a subject) to write about and create work about. So I decided to use myself as my concept on how I perceive the world as a dyslexic person.”

How did he achieve this?

“I started to create my paintings and sculpture to enhance my essays and seminar papers. The lecturers couldn’t understand how I was mixing paint colours to create other colours. I just see a colour and seem to understand what colours to mix to get it.

“I still don’t know the name of colours that I use!”

Jim’s approach to mixing paint is unique. He creates his own colours rather than relying on pre-made palettes, seeing depth and texture within each hue.

There is a rhythm to his work that draws viewers in, exploring the interplay of additive and subtractive colours - a rare and captivating skill.

For Jim, music and art are intertwined. Both share frequency and sound, a connection he expertly weaves into his paintings.

“You can find my biography in every brush stroke,” he explains.

“When I saw an ad on Scotopic Sensitivity that some dyslexic people may also have as well as having dyslexia, and because I was using colour in art college, I decided to go. Because I had both dyslexia and visual stress, I now use colour overlays to read and also have colour overlay glasses.”

How does that help Jim create his wonderful work?

It doesn’t cure my dyslexia, it makes it easier for me to read longer and calms everything down.

He is still as industrious as ever.

“I still have to work very hard at reading and writing,” says Jim.

“But the technology for dyslexics that is available today is very helpful and discreet.

“Art has always been a place for me to go, a place to get lost in. Time means nothing.”

Jim sees the world in a whole new light.

“Art has always been a place to escape the world; a place where I could lose myself as time goes by. I can even forget to eat!

“I decided to go public about my art. I started to create art about my dyslexia and how I am affected by additive light.

“I wrote a seminar paper on how colour of light can affect how we see different things, but also how fluorescent light can affect reading. The colour overlay that I use is blue and so are my glasses.

“I wrote a thesis on the colour blue, ‘Catharsis and Reflection through the Colour Blue’. And I created work in relation to how I see the world.”

Jim made a name for himself in the world.

“For this work, I received a BA Honours Degree in Fine Art.’

Jim is a high achiever.

“In 2017 I received an award ranking me in the top 10% of undergraduates in the world for my research and work.”

Jim has forged his way in a world that he sees from both sides now.

“I now have art in England, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Canada, and America in private and commercial connections.

At the moment, I still have a day job and work in the manufacturing of furniture. I still create art in the evenings and weekends.

Jim is hoping to make the big time in the art world. 

“I sign my art with Jim as I want the art to stand by itself. I want the viewer to enjoy the piece,” he says.

He views himself as a little like Rory Gallagher. He shares a parallel with the great man. Both dedicated to their crafts, both celebrated more abroad than at home, and both men passionately represent Cork and Ireland.

Jim says we are all children of the world with a place in it.

“I doesn’t matter what type of background you come from,” says Jim.

He sees no barriers, no obstacles in realising your dream.

“We are the same, we are one. Find something you enjoy, where you escape to, this could be your path in life. Never give up.”

I tell Jim I’ve always harboured the ambition to write a book and see it displayed in the window of a bookshop.

“You have the talent, and you have a dream that can come true. Go for it!” says Jim, who will host art exhibitions in Cork in the new year.

On the way out of the house, we make a deal.

“Come to my next exhibition,” says Jim. “And I’ll come to your book signing!”

Did Rory Gallagher wink at us?

Find Jim’s art on visualartistjim - www.facebook.com/FineArtByJim