Norman Teeling is a painter with a romantic impressionist style and a passion for painting En Plein Air. Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1944, it was there where his tutors included Maurice MacGonigal PPRHA (1900–1979), Carey Clarke PPRHA, and John Kelly RHA (1932–2006), and where he earned a Degree in Art and his teaching credential from the National College of Art and Design.

Norman Teeling’s monumental ten painting suite, The 1916 Rising, now hangs on permanent display in the General Post Office, Dublin. Acquired by An Post in 1998, the oils depict events surrounding the Easter Rising, perhaps the most significant societal event in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798.

The artist told the Irish Independant last year about his plans to create a whole new set of paintings to commemorate the Easter Rising. This time Norman has had more time to research the events of 1916 and less restriction in creating pieces that represent the era.

“History was beaten into us and it was all figures and dates. I didn’t put it together until I started doing my own research and what an amazing discovery it’s been! The Easter Rising is the most important event to have happened in this country, yet there’s no pride shown in it whatsoever.

“Other countries celebrate their historic events on an annual basis. Look at how the Fourth of July is marked in America, Poppy Day in Britain, Bastille Day in France. It seems to me that other nations honour their history and we don’t. It’s crazy.”

After twelve years of teaching Art at several Dublin colleges, Norman Teeling took a hiatus from the profession to pursue his creative drive in the Animation industry.

Norman Teeling worked as a background artist on two feature films with Don Bluth Studios. Experience also came as a background artist for Fred Wolf Films, producer of many successful TV series including Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the USA Zorro and The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. Teeling traveled to Norway in 1996 to develop his first animated feature film, Gurin with the Foxtail. Work was also produced for several animation studios in Germany and Italy. Additional work has appeared on RTÉ, the Irish state TV broadcaster, and his creation Fearless Film was produced for Children’s Television, Dublin.