Dave West was born and raised in South Wales. He came to live in Ireland in 1995 and now lives and works in Balbriggan, North County Dublin.
Dave’s Art practice is divided between the traditional genres of still life and landscape mainly through the medium of oil but also working with a variety of media including charcoal, watercolour, printmaking and soft pastel.
He has had over 20 solo exhibitions to date and exhibited widely in group exhibitions including many of the most prestigious Societies and Academies in Ireland and the UK. In 2023 his painting was selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and he has been a regular exhibitor during the past decade at both the Royal Hibernian, Royal Cambrian and the Royal Ulster Academies. In the UK he shows regularly with the Royal Society of Oil Painters, The Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, The New English Art Club and the Royal West of England Academy.
Much of Dave’s landscape work is executed ‘en Plein-air’ meaning that he paint directly from the subject (in all weathers!) It’s a process very much concerned with capturing mood - not just about a certain place but the interaction between the space, the artist, and the atmosphere. He is a regular tutor at Plein-Air festivals and has won many prizes including the Gold Mayoral Award at ‘Art in the open’ Europe’s largest plein-air festival held annually in Wexford and a first prize at this year’s Paint out Norfolk’, the UK’s largest plain-air festival.
