Semana Santa Painting

I am an Irish artist living between Dublin, Ireland and Malaga, Spain. I graduated from University College Dublin with a degree in English Literature and Spanish, and went on to train as a beauty therapist specialising as a make-up artist. I don't fit the bill for the average artist, or even the exceptional ones. I haven't been to art-college, I only have a limited academic knowledge of art's wonderful history, I don't follow art trends and I don't know the movers and shakers in the art world. Painting is a deeply personal experience for me. I paint from my heart, allowing my hand to be guided by emotions rather than pre-planned outlines and methods. I come up with a concept, visualise a scene, a moment, a thought, and paint my interpretation of it onto the canvas. My full-time career in the art business started in my mid 30's, painting and drawing having been side-lined to the time that remained after I worked to build up my full-time career, the automatic-pilot one I slipped into after university 'to pay the bills'. I found success in many areas which thankfully allowed me to leave paid employment and concentrate on my attention on writing my first novel, and creating my first collection of artwork. I tentatively organised my first exhibition and was humbled and amazed, at the feedback I received, and sales that I made although like many artists, parting with my work was rather difficult because each one meant an awful lot to me on a personal level. My passion for creating images; that magical buzz of anticipation I feel when I have a blank canvas in front of me, the thrill being inspired by an idea through to its translation into specific thoughts, emotions and moments and into a tangible painting, the excitement of knowing I am creating something that never existed before I put brush to canvas, and the never-ending surprise that others can be moved from looking at my work, which is so incredibly personal to me, fills me with a joy that I can only hope will never leave me. I am lucky to have been able to support myself through the sales of my work in the past and now have committed some of my time and experience to supporting and promoting new Irish art in Ireland and around the world through my website, social media and by organising group exhibitions for them.