The first thing one must know about the artist, is that he is not particularly religious. Not only that, he is also not terribly conformist, so, anybody looking for a conventional C.V. here, will be sadly disappointed. Further anyone who has come to, or stumbled across this site, seeking religious connection or relief will be similarly disappointed. The artist asks forgiveness from both parties.

The artist, Michael Duhan, was born into a large working class, Catholic family in the city of Limerick in the Ireland of the Fifties. He was expelled from his Christian Brothers school for refusing to do fifty push-ups in front of his school principal, his entire class and a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For this he is extremely thankful to both the principal and the Sacred Heart, because this event brought him to the Art School in Limerick, which at that time stood proudly across the road from a prison, a slaughterhouse, the madhouse and the graveyard.

The artist has always loved both religion and art (art and religion have been intertwined since the dawn of time). He always adored religious iconography, symbols, language and ceremony. The artist thrilled at the irreverent life stories of its Prophets, Saviours, Buddhas, Saints, Gods and Mythology. He finds it sad that religion has been hijacked by cold churches and dogmas. He respects all Faiths, believers and non believers alike. He just wishes, like many, that they could all get along a little better.

Art school bored the artist. He didn't get to meet as many girls as he had hoped, and not many of them liked him anyway. He took his love needs elsewhere, travelling and working in Europe. He dug graves for a while and then dug swimming pools. A hole is just a hole; we fall out of one and into another.

Although still interested in art, the art industry left him cold. However, he continued to draw. On his return to Ireland, completely by chance he landed a full time blue collar job at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. In that work place he still remains. He is not currently affiliated with any art galleries.

He was surprised, a dozen or so years ago, to find that he could sculpt the human form fairly effortlessly and so embarked on a career of sculpting. Working at first in ceramic, and then in bronze, he soon became bored of making things that either broke or sold for far too much money. This predicament led him onto this path; the path of the art of prayer.

The artist is not a photographer or writer and does not pretend to be. He is also not terribly competent with computers. He would like to think of himself as an avid learner and a jack of all trades. He hopes to hone in further on any missing skills throughout the growth of this project. He would like to thank the many people who have helped him bring artofprayer.com to fruition.

Other artworks may be viewed at my online show case.