Michael Flatley’s paintings, created with his fast dancing feet, are expected to fetch between $24,000 and $37,000 (€20k - €30k) at a County Laois action.

The painting entitled “Rossmore” will go under the hammer at Sheppard’s in Durrow, County Laois, on December 4.

"My painting is a deep passion," he told the Irish Independent.

"It started many years ago. I was performing at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2001 and afterwards the crew sent me a piece of the stage as a memento.

"It had hundreds of tap marks from the shows I had done. I framed it and hung it on the wall.

"It wasn't until months later when I was showing guests at a party that it occurred to me, it was a piece of art."

Flatley told The Irish Times “Rossmore” is part of a series of paintings under the theme of the Great Hunger. The painting is an abstract depiction of the island in Kenmare Bay off the coast of County Kerry where “a torrent of waves crash against the ghostly landscape of a once-vibrant land.”

He said, “the broad strokes of blue, depicting an endless flow of tears, merge with the sea to obliterate the amber richness of the land; and the dark black beneath represents the plagued and tortured islanders as they struggle to escape from the vice-grips of death."

The Irish dancer, currently on tour with his show “Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games” officially announced last year that he was starting a new career as an artist. Flatley converted stables at his Castlehyde estate, in Cork, into studies where he creates his art.

Instead of using paint brushes or palette knives Flatley creates his art by tap dancing on paint-spattered canvases to create the images.

Previously Flatley has sold two of his paintings for charity. The first sold by Shepherd's to raise funds for Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral sold for $6,900 (€5,600) to a Dublin businessman. A second, entitled “Opening Night,” was auctioned in London's Palladium Theatre. It sold for $54,900 (£35,000).

He also gave one to Taoiseach Enda Kenny as a gift. It was valued as one of the most valuable gifts the Irish leader has received at $6,800 (€5,000). “An Ocras Mór” (“The Great Hunger”) was presented to the Irish leader in February 2013. The painting is mounted in a hand-carved wooden frame, made from trees on Flatley’s estate.