Richard Hearns, painter

One of Ireland’s leading abstract painters, Richard Hearns walks the mountains of the Burren most mornings with his dog. As he does, he told me, he is in awe of the locale’s history and endlessly fascinated by the light and colors reflected in the surrounding limestone.

On a typical day, he may wander for hours in the morning, absorbing what he sees, hears, feels; then he retreats to his studio (next to his house) to paint. He doesn’t paint landscapes but insists the influence of the landscape is there, in each of his works. And he told me that sometimes, after he’s just finished a painting, he will carry the large canvas outside and into the rocky hillside, where he’ll prop up the painting among the stones. Then he’ll stand back and study it to see how his art looks in nature.

Richard was born, and orphaned while still a baby, in war-torn Lebanon. He was adopted by a visiting military peacekeeper from Ireland, who brought 6-month-old Richard back home to the Kerry area and raised him there. Coming from that area in the south of Ireland, Richard didn’t find his way further north to the Burren until he was in his twenties.

Once he saw and experienced this part of the country, he knew immediately that it was where he belonged (Richard told me that the landscape of the Burren has some striking similarities to that of Lebanon. Though he left that country as a baby and hadn’t returned, he wonders if it’s possible something in him experienced a sense of connection to the place of his birth).  

During my May 2025 visit, Richard brought me and my wife Laura into his studio to show us where and how he works.

In my in-depth talks with Richard in his studio and out in the Burren hills, he shared terrific insights on the creative process—from how to begin a project to how to maintain momentum and get to the finish line. For example, he said that when it's time to start a painting, if he just does some action—even just making a mark on the canvas—it will lead to something else... and then gradually, my intuition takes over."

I plan to feature more of Richard (and other Burren artists) discussing their creative approaches and techniques in the Find Your Burren book, in hopes of inspiring readers as they work through their own creative projects.

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See more of Richard’s work at RichardHearns.com, and check out his Milking Parlour and Meadow Sauna Airbnb, located just around the corner from the impressive Corcomroe Abbey ruins.