Hugh Masterson

Hugh Masterson has been painting in the impressionist realist and classical realist traditions since his childhood. He is primarily self taught and applies his knowledge of light and its interaction with nature to his artwork, balancing compliments of warm and cool colors in light and shadow. His approach is to paint light on the objects rather than the objects themselves, as that reality is what makes the illusion of a painting believable and convincing. His work is rendered directly from nature, “en plein air” and from studio setups, using photography as a tool of interpretation. In the past he has sold his work in galleries in Ireland (his home country) and the UK. His primary gallery “Combridge Fine Arts”, one of the leading galleries for Irish artists, closed in 2007 after the financial crash. At the time, he was focusing more on his professional career in Engineering and suspended selling his work, while continuing to paint privately. He has recently returned to his first love of painting and is selling his work again. He is a scientist by profession, with a PhD in physics and works as an Optical Engineer. Understanding the physics of light helps greatly in interpreting nature as it appears under different light conditions.