I was born in New York in 1961 to Irish immigrant parents. My sister and I returned to my mother’s native Mayo when I was four and spent an idyllic year on the family farm with my Auntie Bridgie until the family joined us to begin a new life in Cork. While Cork has been my home for much of my life, Mayo captured my heart and has been part of me ever since.
With an idealistic view of life and an instinct for helping, I qualified as a nurse in 1982 and became a midwife a year later. I trained in paediatric oncology and neonatal care at Stanford USA and completed my ICU training in Baghdad where I was held hostage for 5 months during the First Gulf War. After 15 years working in ICU, I moved to general practice in 1999 and have worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist since. Being a nurse and a healer has been an incredibly important part of my life and it has given me a unique caring lens through which I see the world and people.
I am a Pieces and the theme of much of my early work has been overarchingly nautical. I’m drawn to the sea by nature and nurture amongst a family of sailors, sea captains and boat builders. The sea has been such a deep part of my history that I find it impossible to separate it from the innermost part of my being. It appears as a thread running throughout all my work, ever recurring as the tide itself.
Implicit in a relationship with the sea is the understanding of its impact on our island nation. The tension between land and water is fascinating to me, the gift of it and the dependence on it, living as we are, on the edge of a continent. This
tension prevails in the play of nature’s elements and in the play of all human interaction.
Kept in balance,the relationship between earth and sea is a symbiotic duality. The balance is preserved where love and respect prevail, a metaphorical bridge between the two, on the edge of both, keeping us safe from chaos.
Love and Respect... the great moderators, balancing the duality of human nature and the human impact on nature, creating a safe harbour at the edge of earth and sea.
The essence of my current work is Big, Bright, Bold.
Moving from the dark days of the pandemic, a craving for freedom and light forged large brush strokes and vibrant colours on roomy canvases.
Working in layers was instinctive. A sense of moving forward from what was, step by step, building layer upon layer.
A metamorphosis where the timeline remains visible. The new becomes manifest yet the old is not obscured, allowing our eye to oscillate back and forth through the layers of paint and time.
The Visual Arts
My journey started with the purchase of an SLR Pentax K1000 camera in Washington in 1980.
Photography courses and art classes followed over the course of 40 years. Tutors include printmaker Ken Parker in Bandon, who taught the exactness of collographic printing and the concept of design, Kerry artist Maureen Cahill, who gave me the invaluable understanding of colour and composition, and Cork artist John Adams who introduced me to new abstract techniques and to a way of working that allows greater freedom of expression moving flamboyantly beyond the restriction of convention. Under the guidance of Michelle O Donnell at Glasshammer Studios, my work with enamel and glass resulted in a feature of my work on Nationwide in 2022. I have had solo exhibitions at the Jennings Gallery, Cork and at the RDS Artsourse. I love creating art, the actual ‘tedium’ of it, the ‘other worldly’ feeling and the pleasure of being totally absorbed in the work. Beyond that, to see my work hanging in public spaces and in homes around the world is a privilege and a thrill.
Having primarily worked with land/seascapes, a transition to portraiture in oil emerged from my curiosity about people and an increasing awareness that the only legacy of true value is the impact of one life on another. Working with portraiture crystallises my lifelong focus on interaction and engagement with people both in life and on canvas.
Drawing two important strands of my life together in a powerful symbol of service and freedom, my artist logo was created by combining the Rod of Asclepius and Poseidon’s Triton; trademarks of the mythical Greek gods of Healing and of the Sea.
