‘Hurricane’ captured in a quiet moment by Banbridge artist

Palomo Bistro was delighted to welcome old Belfast legend Alex Higgins, in the form of a striking piece of work by Banbridge artist Adrian Wright.

The limited edition print of the World Snooker Champion, ironically captures Alex ‘the Hurricane’ Higgins in a moment of calm.

Adrian said: “This is a very different piece for me. Often my sporting pieces capture the action and movement associated with the personality, but this shows Alex in a reflective mood. It’s quite a melancholic piece. Alex is sitting enjoying a quiet moment reading a paper - probably the Racing Post, and in his pocket there is a betting docket.

“The original painting was commissioned and is acrylic on canvas. It very closely captures the photograph I was working from, though I did make a few small changes to better capture the mood.”

Recently Palomo Cafe and Bistro, Lurgan wanted to market some of Adrian’s work and were pleased when the print of Higgins arrived with them saying, ‘We love it’.

Whilst recovering from illness, Adrian had studied at the Upper Bann Institute of Further and Higher Education, and after attaining an A level went on to take a foundation course in Art & Design.

Adrian has been painting for 18 years now, exhibiting and selling through galleries in Belfast and Dublin with some work used in an Artists’ Collective Publication.

As an avid motorsport fan, Adrian’s earlier works concentrated on capturing local sporting legends such as Joey Dunlop and Formula One star Eddie Irvine. But not wanting to focus just on motorsport, Adrian also painted George Best, Brian O’Driscoll, Peter Canavan, and Darren Clarke.

Each of these originals was reproduced in limited edition prints and where possible, individually signed by the subjects. Many of the prints were sold into private collections both at home and worldwide.

Adrian said: “I had 500 prints signed by Joey Dunlop which I sold for around £69. After Joey’s death they sold worldwide for up to £1,950.”

Adrian also sold 33 prints signed by George Best and following his death the price of these soared to ‘silly money’.

With a desire to go back and explore the Fine Art field in which he first studied, Adrian’s later works are more figurative, some based on the female form in ballet, capturing the elegance and movement. His jazz scenes are also a favourite, giving the opportunity to bring colour to the music, atmosphere, and warmth of the setting and reflecting his spontaneous style with confident brush strokes and exciting use of colour.

Adrian is available for commissions and more of his work can be viewed at adrianwrightart.com.

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