Well designed wall art is a great addition to any home but this collection of lighthouse illustrations brings an extra dimension because of the emotional connection we have to these stalwart beacons lighting our shores and guiding weary sailors home. With over 350 images to choose from, you’ll be sure to find the perfect print to grace your home, office or yacht.
The Lighthouse Editions Collection for the first time gathers together the lighthouses of England, Wales and the Channel islands as well those of Scotland and the Isle of Man and the lighthouses that guard Ireland’s coastline. There are also over 100 smaller lights which provide navigation to our estuaries, harbour approaches and rivers, while a selection of our best loved decommissioned lighthouses are also included.
Roger O’Reilly is the artist behind the all the work in the Lighthouse Editions gallery. Roger has worked for many years as an illustrator and storyboard artist for advertisements, periodicals, movies and TV. In 2017 he started sketching the lighthouses around Ireland’s shores, subsequently writing and illustrating an accompanying award-winning book, “the Lighthouses of Ireland” which is now in its seventh print run. The Lighthouses of Britain project started with a holiday in Cornwall, not too far from Lizard Point Lighthouse and as his sketchbook filled with studies of harbours and lights, it occurred to him that a new adventure might be in the offing. He hasn’t looked back!
Illustrating the over 350 prints in the Lighthouse Editions collection has been a time consuming and challenging project, but one that reflects my fascination for these maritime structures.
To guarantee the best possible quality, I design, illustrate and print the works at my home studio.
As part of the illustration technique, amongst other surface treatments, I use my thumbprint as an integral part of the textural process, literally putting my fingerprints all over the work. I also ensure to sign each print so there’s no question of authenticity.
All illustrations are printed on 250gsm archival stock and available in A4 (210 x 297 mm/ 8.3 x 11.7”) or A3 ( 297 x 420 mm/ 11.7 x 16.5” ) framed or unframed.
Unframed work is posted out promptly (2-5 days) in a robust cardboard tube, while framed work takes a little longer to prepare and is shipped out in a handsome cardboard box (7-10days).
As with all prints, please avoid hanging in direct sunlight as this may cause the colours to fade and the paper to shrink and crease.
The Elder Brethern of Trinity House was incorporated by Royal Charter at the instigation of King Henry VIII on 20 May 1514. Today, Trinity House maintains 65 lighthouses ranging from isolated rock towers like the Eddystone to mainland stations such as Whitby High Light.
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man and was formed in 1786. The Board are responsible for an astonishing 65 major Lighthouses with a focal range of over 24km and a further 141 which while less powerful, are nonetheless essential to navigation in Scottish waters.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights, based at Dún Laoghaire, Dublin are responsible for the major lighthouses around the island’s coast. There are 66 lighthouses, 20 beacons and over 100 buoys in their charge ranging from the oldest working lighthouse on these isles at Hook Head, County Wexford to the triplet of lights on Rathlin Island off Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coast.
Included in this section are the (not always) minor lights of harbours and estuaries. While their bigger siblings get most of the glory, these sentinels and leading lights are crucial to the safe passage of waterborne trade at the entrance to ports and working waterways.