Why do you create art?Good morning, Galia good to see you and talk to you, so to answer the question why do I create art, I would have to say that it is impossible for me not to….and still feel good.! It's a really deep and profound feeling and need and I can honestly say that art and painting gives my life meaning and purpose! I love everything about painting from the paint handling, to the materials and the expression of self
Tell us about your journey to become an artist?To become an artist was quite a convoluted journey even though I feel in many ways that I've always been an artist ..My earliest memories were all to do with drawing but I didn't have art as a subject at school as I lived in a very rural area and art was not considered essential but I took the exams anyway and got into Art school.
I didn’t know HOW to paint.. Had no idea about what the materials could do, and I felt it was essential to learn.. Just as , if you went to music school, you would have to master an instrument.. No one would just hanYed you a violin , for example, and say work away with that and see what you come up with..doesn't matter what it sounds like, just what your intention is.. Yet, that is what happens in art school sometimes
I was so hungry to learn..at that time it was difficult to get any instruction ..there was no youtube or Art is Magic or any of the wonderful resources we have now and I really needed instruction on the technical aspects of painting.. How to use the materials and techniques ..but sad to say, the Teachers at the Art school at that time were only interested in the Concept of painting and they were very dismissive of my interests..I was very young, just 17 and very sensitive and I had a very difficult time with it and consequently I failed the exams as it was based on an oral exam where you were supposed to explain your concept...I was absolutely devastated….It was the worst thing that has ever happened to me and my whole identity was gone..I didnt pick up a pencil for the next 20 years and tbh was in deep mourning for all that time..I knew that something deep and essential was missing from my life but I had lost all confidence in myself. My mother sent off a University application for me and I got in and studied Art history and Archaeology ..I was still in deep shock and depression and although I graduated with double honors I didn't enjoy my years at Uni ..although in the summers I was the site artist for an archaeological dig called Ceide Fields in Belderrig County Mayo, so I was always very connected to Irish art from ancient times and really appreciated and loved our heritage. It was not until another great sadness took place in my life years later that I was moved to paint again. My Mother died in 1997, a terrible and huge loss and after struggling with the grief for a few years I took a painting class ..and that was the beginning of my recovery ..From then on, there was no stopping me. I went back to Art school 10 years after that and later, finished my studies at an Art Atelier in Florence. I learned the traditional aspects of oil painting ..everything that my soul had been hungering for!! And then I discovered Encaustic and that was it..It was as if my soul had come home to its purpose. My very first Encaustic portrait I completed with tears running down my face..I felt as though I had come home! So here I am now, living my dream and my purpose ..in love with life and Art.
Tell us about your journey to claim te title artist?Well I remember sitting in a grief counselors office and it was before I had gone back to to take a painting class. I was really struggling, many things had gone wrong in my life and I had never really come to terms with both my Mothers death and the loss of myself. I remember telling her that in my soul I felt like I was an artist even though I wasn't working at it or painting or anything else creative. If anyone asked me to fill in a form, I would say I was an artist because that was what I most wanted to be ..and she said have you seen the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, I hadn't but I got it and I was on my way!!!
What is it about making art that stirs your soul? Everything! Everything about making art stirs my soul from the physicality of the paint to the quality of the brushstrokes..The capture of light ...The feeling of the brush on linen or wood ..
What is currently inspiring you? The beauty of the area in Ireland where I live! It's the most amazing place, right on the westernmost edge of Ireland looking out over the Atlantic..and I am so inspired by the students and teachers who come here to paint.At present my subject matter includes not just portraits but also Peonies and Ravens! I found the most wonderful bunch of peonies at the grocery store yesterday and I am going to paint a huge painting of them! So beautiful … they have personalities. I love Ravens too, and somehow they have become a consistent and meaningful part of my work
I used Celtic motifs in my work from the beginning although they are not always obvious.I have become fascinated by and very saddened by the stories of the Women of the Magdalene laundries and I have based years of my work around their plight. My ongoing series of works, called The Lie of the Land was based on these stories and was an attempt to give these women back their beauty and identity.
What does your creative Practice look like?I go to the studio every day and from the moment I arrive and put on my apron I am transported to a universe where normal everyday life is transformed into the most magical expression of itself
How do you keep your creative practice fresh and inspired?I study ..a lot. I am constantly trying to find new things that will work with encaustic and as time has passed I am moving more and more into the mixed media world..I hate the limits that people sometimes impose on materials..instead of experimenting, they cling to outdated beliefs ..things they read somewhere or someone told them and instead of celebrating the materials and pushing boundaries, they limit themselves. I constantly hear, in the world of encaustic that to be archival, work must be xyz ...that to sell work, it has to last 500 years etc etc ..We dont buy a couch or a phone or anything else expecting it to last 500 years, why do we expect artwork to be eternal? Its crazy.. And another thing is the vast majority of what any of us produce will never be hung on the walls of an Art Museum ..so why on earth are we limiting ourselves with this silly idea? So instead of experimenting and playing we stick rigidly to someone else's notion of what works.. And if your work does end up in a museum,and at the end of 200 years, its a bit faded, that's what art restorers are for ..
I am also fortunate to be surrounded by artists working in all kinds of mediums ..and I find when you are in touch with other creatives, your work will naturally grow.
What sort of creative walls do you hit?Hmm, I really cannot answer that as it's not something I struggle with .. If I have an off day, I just potter about in the studio..and sometimes when the expectations are lowered, real breakthroughs can happen..It's all about playing and joy
What do you do to move through them?Turn the music up or listen to a podcast. Set out 5 boards in a row and tear up some collage materials ..then just start gluing them in place, no time to think or make decisions, just start
How has your process evolved?My process is encaustic primarily and there has been a huge evolution in my work. I have rediscovered and invented methods of working with wax and I think I have pushed the boundaries of the medium. I have worked to develop a Portrait colour set with Enkaustikos, who are based in NY and are one of the two largest encaustic paint manufacturers in the world .. I have experimented with old recipes and adapted them to fit modern materials safely
What do you wish you had known at the beginning of your creative journey? That Art college was not the most important thing in the world.. That just to show up and paint was ok and that other peoples opinion really didn't matter very much ..AND that playing is really important
Do you have any creative rituals?Yes, when I get into my studio, I light a tealight in my alabaster lamp which comes from Egypt and I put some Spikenard oil in my oil burner ..This is the Mary Magdalene oil and it sets the mood for me ... I feel an enormously profound connection to my female ancestors and a deep responsibility to them, to live my life and practice my passion with the awareness that, it is their struggle that has allowed me to live and paint with freedom and equality. To paraphrase Maya Angelou from one of her wonderful poems, “I come as one, but I stand as 10,000.” (The Grandmothers), resonates very deeply with me. To me, this means not just my ancestors but also the family or lineage of artists to which each of us belongs.
Where can we find you? 
