Sheila McClean, RUA, is an Irish painter, whose work is in the impressionist style.

Life and work

Sheila McClean was originally from Moville

Moville

Moville is a town and coastal resort on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal, close to the northern tip of Ireland.-Location:...

, County Donegal

County Donegal

County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, and is now living in Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. She paints the land and sea around her.

Derek Hill, a great admirer of her work, said, "Her paintings capture the Donegal we all feel in retrospect".

Joseph McWilliams, PPRUA, said, "Her landscapes are painted landscapes, her boglands are expressive marks of paint, on richly textured surfaces redolent of bog cotton and dank brown pools..... Her work reflects a deep understanding of both place and paint".

Commenting on her most recent one woman exhibition McClean stated:

"Painting for me is a necessary means of self-expression. My desire as a painter is to establish a relationship between intuitive imagery, and a spontaneous method of painting. I try to achieve this, through a combination of economic statements, which are personal rather than purely descriptive and keeping myself aware of the life and integrity of the paint itself."

"Paint is the image. Image is the paint"

Collections

• National Self Portrait Collection, Limerick
  Limerick
  Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
  
  .
• Derek Hill Collection, Co. Donegal
  Donegal
  Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....
  
  .
• D.F.P (NI Civil Service).
• UTV
  UTV
  UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
  
   Collection, Belfast
  Belfast
  Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
  
  .
• The Harverty Trust.
• Social Democratic and Labour Party
  Social Democratic and Labour Party
  The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
  
   (SDLP) Offices, Belfast.
• UNISON
  UNISON
  UNISON is the largest trade union in the United Kingdom with over 1.3 million members.The union was formed in 1993 when three public sector trade unions, the National and Local Government Officers Association , the National Union of Public Employees and the Confederation of Health Service...
  
   Collection, NI & UK.

Commissions

• Stations of the Cross
  Stations of the Cross
  Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
  
  , St. Pious X Church, Moville
  Moville
  Moville is a town and coastal resort on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal, close to the northern tip of Ireland.-Location:...
  
  , Co. Donegal.
• Belfast Calendar 1991

Further reading

(Catalogue of exhibition which opened in the Glebe Gallery, Churchill; artists include Sheila McClean.

External links

• Royal Ulster Academy of Arts
• Article on Recent Exhibition Belfast Telegraph (Subscription)