Ethel McVeigh is the co-owner of the Morpheus gallery and a very well known Leitrim artist. Her work focuses on the colours within the Leitrim landscape and the how they change over various time frames.
When did you first get interested in art?
When I was about eight I made a get well card for my teacher when she was sick. I painted a rose on it and I got a lot of praise for it off everybody. It was then that I discovered my gift for art.
At what point did you decide to make painting your full time profession?
About eight or nine years ago I began to paint seriously. I can't remember the way it happened. I started painting and then shortly after I began teaching.
Did that take off straight away?
Well I was on my own with four kids at the time so I gave painting classes, did work for the V.E.C., sign writing, whatever paid the bills.
How has being an artist affected your life and perspectives?
It built up my confidence, because I was working with the public. I also found myself a career that I loved.
You have four children, how do you think they feel about you being an artist?
I think they feel proud and they like my work. They are all interested in art, mostly the oldest and the youngest but the whole lot of them have a talent for it. They've all won prizes for it at some stage.
You have been teaching for many years and have been involved with lots of community art projects around Leitrim, how has this affected your thought process?
I enjoy watching my students discover they can paint. It gives me energy and feeds back into my own discoveries. I had a woman in an art class who never painted before and she went on to got to college and study art. I suppose I was proud that she discovered her ability through me, if that makes sense I don't know.
What inspires your art?
The Leitrim landscape inspires me. The variety of colours in the land change so dramatically, from hour to hour and from month to month.
Who has been the biggest influence on your art?
My father, because of his encouragement. It is because of his kind words I am where I am now. Also Vincent Flannery, my art teacher in secondary school, in different ways they both inspired me to follow my dream.
You launched the Morpheus Gallery with Gareth Curtis last September, how have you handled this new challenge?
I find it very difficult being a curator, because it's difficult when you have to tell someone their work isn't good enough, or that it's not what your looking for.
What have you learned while running Morpheus?
It's easy to get into debt!
What are you currently working on?
I'm working on a new technique that mixes ink, watercolours , pastel and the colours of the Leitrim landscape. I'm trying to explore new ways to express the Leitrim landscape using these different media.
What are your plans for the next year or so?
I intend to explore the technique I told you about. I have an exhibition coming up in may and then another in September 2011 in the U.C.C. art gallery. I also want to delve into life drawing and develop a body of work around my drawings.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Here in Carrick-on-Shannon, running the gallery and painting full time.
What advice would you give to any artists starting out?
Be free with your work and don't be afraid of making mistakes.
To see some of Ethel's work take a look on the Morpheus Galleries face book page, www.facebook.com/themorpheusgallery
The Morpheus Muse
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