Collection: Brian Ballard RUA

Born in Belfast, Brian Ballard trained firstly at the College of Art, Belfast and then at the College of Art, Liverpool. He still lives in Belfast but spends long periods of time living and working in his house on the remote and rugged island of Inishfree, off the coast of Donegal. 

Ballard prefers those moments when the sun infused the landscape with colour and chiaroscuro. Ballard is a rich colourist and is interested in the contrasting colours and textures in simple subjects. Painting directly onto the canvas with vigorous brushstrokes, he uses bold slashes of rich colour with fluid paint in which the bristles always leave their mark of speed and pressure, they are subject to a structural order, as well as a pictorial depth.

Brian is a member of Royal Ulster Academy of the Arts.  His work is held in many significant public and private collections including: Ulster Museum, Crawford Municipal Gallery, An Comhairle Ealaion, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Great Southern Hotels, Haverty Trust, AIB, Saltzburg Seminar, National Trust, Ulster Television, Belfast Education and Library Board, Royal Bank of Scotland, Waterford Wedgwood, Conrad International Hotel, U2, Irish Intercontinental Bank and OPW Dublin.​​