Lakeside paintings by Dromineer artist
The landscape and flora of Dromineer provides much of the inspiration for the paintings of local artist Judy Hamilton who lives just on the fringes of the lakeside village.
Judy moved to the locality around 20 years ago with her late husband Stuart and set up a studio that is now filled with her wonderful creations.
The couple fell in love with the Shannon and used to have an old Guinness barge which they sailed up and down the river from its moorings in Shannon Harbour in County Offaly.
“But then my children wanted to do a sailing course and we signed them up for a summer course in the yacht club in Dromineer,” Judy revealed.
She and her husband ended up purchasing the old post office property, and an adjoining building which they converted into her studio.
At the time of this interview, Judy, a mother of four and a grandmother of 10, has just returned from New Zealand where she was visiting her daughter and three grandchildren.
New Zealand was in the bloom of summer and when Judy came back to Dromineer at the end of January the snowdrops in her garden were in full flower.
“All of that has got me into the mood to paint flowers at the moment, she said.
In the studio is a little pot of Hellebores, the detail of which were being transferred on to the large piece of canvas mounted on her easel.
“I love painting flowers and I have done quite a few over the years of bluebells,” she says.
CHANGING SEASONS
Her paintings also capture the changing seasons around her. There are yellow and rustic paintings of round bales of straw lying in the harvested cornfields that surround her home. There’s a black and grey painting of Dromineer’s crumbled castle captured in the deep mid-winter.
A keen sailor, and a cold-water winter swimmer, Judy loves the lake itself. Some of her paintings depict the rushes and other flora that grow on the margins of the waterway. Old boathouse scenes from the area also feature as do bog scenes from other parts of the country.
She always has a small sketch book on the go that she carries around with her on her walks, capturing in it the basic outlines of local lakeside and rural scenes that are then brought back and used as the basis for grander works in her studio.
Never intent on resting on her laurels, she periodically heads off to an artists’ residence in north Mayo to hone her skills – indeed, her collection includes some wonderful seascape scenes from that wild Atlantic terraine of that rugged area.
She specialises in still life and landscape and paints in watercolour, acrylic and oils. A small exhibition of her work is currently on display at Peter and Mary Ward’s Country Choice shop in Kenyon Street.
FOR SALE
The paintings are for sale and can be viewed at Judy’s studio or on her social media platforms. Judy can be contacted at email: judyshamilton@gmail.com
Her work can be seen on the following:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/judyhamiltonartist/
Facebook: Judy Hamilton Artist