Brenda Flannery Artist
Inspired by the Sea
I’m an Irish contemporary seascape artist based in Erris Co Mayo. I create seascape paintings inspired by the wild and abundant beauty of the rural landscape and miles of sandy beaches along the West Coast of Ireland. Capturing light and atmosphere is at the core of my work and the sea is a consistency I seek out to ground and root myself and has the ability to produce a feeling of peace and belonging, a sense of being ‘at home.’ The creative process of painting helps me to connect to those same feelings of serenity, lightness, peace and belonging.
My background
I have been painting and creating for over 30 years but early in life, I believed art just wasn’t going to be a viable career, so I worked in all sorts of jobs, before deciding to follow my dream and attend Art College, graduating with a First-Class Honours Degree in Fine Art Painting from the Centre of Creative Arts & Media, Galway in 2015. It took me another six years of juggling conventional work with painting and completing a Business Masters before I made the decision to finally devote myself full-time to my art. During the pandemic I moved to a beautiful cottage by the sea and now paint daily in my home studio space.
My Process
I spend time walking the stunning beaches locally and always have a camera and sketchbook at the ready and use this information as starting points in my work. I paint mostly using oils on stretched canvas, board and aluminium. My paintings are built up in layers to create a richness and depth of colour and experience. I encapsulate the feelings and sensations encountered in the landscape through light and spaciousness in the work. One collector has described my work as “having a delicate touch, with stark contrast using marks in a very minimal way to express the grandeur of the picture.”
Brief Work History
I am grateful to have received funding over the years from Mayo County Council Arts Service. I also received the Travel & Training Award from the Arts Council of Ireland to go on a month long residency to Reykjavik, Iceland in 2017. I have participated in the RUA Annual Exhibition in Belfast and held a Solo Exhibition in Aras Inis Gluaire, Belmullet in July/Aug 2022. I am a member of Visual Artists Ireland and have exhibited as part of group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. My work has been commissioned and bought by many art collectors in Ireland, Europe, UK and the US.
