By 
CAPTURING special, personal moments in time for people to look back on with fondness is what Castlederg identical twins Brad and Barry Mulhern hope to do with each of their beautiful paintings based on still life.
From humble beginnings do great artists grow, as the pair told the Tyrone Herald that they ‘drew on scraps’ for years before being introduced to painting when they chose to study art for GCSE while at school.
It was then that they ‘found a love’ for painting, and the pair chose to keep the subject on for A-Level to hone their craft.
And when the world went into lockdown with the Covid-19 pandemic, the twins dived deeper into their talents and began sharing their works on social media where they fast garnered a loyal following.
The year 2023 brought with it commissions for people and public art showcases before the pair made a giant leap forward in their artistic careers with the formation of their business, ‘Mulhern Brothers ‘ – Fine Arts & Gifts’.
“We have been painting and drawing ever since,” they said.
“We use acrylic paints mostly, as this medium is something that we have worked with since school – and we will continue to work with this into the future.
“But we have also ventured into using pencil for some commissions as well.”
‘Original artworks’
Working alongside business mentor The Kings Trust for the past two years – something they say has ‘helped them greatly in promoting their work’ – Brad and Barry Mulhern have also grown in confidence when attending business events and exhibiting their works at art shows.
“We want to continue our artistic journey together as a partnership, while still taking on commissions,” they said.
“We’re also keen to increase the amount of original artworks that we produce as this is how we will become known as artists.
“Recently we went on a trip to France and Italy for a break and to find inspiration for our artwork,” they added.
“We took plenty of photos of the mountains, acros and frescos, we saw lots of sights and visited a few art stores too.”
Currently the duo have prints of three of their original artworks for sale, these being ‘Embedded in Sam’, ‘Wild West Tyrone’ and ‘The Onlookers’.
“These prints allow us to share the same artwork to multiple homes, and it works out more affordable than buying the original artwork,” they explained.
“But we hope to have prints of all our originals in the future.
“We have enjoyed our journey so far,” they concluded. “But we are also looking forward to see where the road takes us in the future.
