Qwynn is a native of County Clare who lives in the heart of Clare. From the moment she started reading Ladybird books in first class she has wanted to be an artist and no matter where she went in the world, her heart has never left the bogs and rushes or the thrill of catching sight of the first shimmer of sun on the sea peeking over the wild Atlantic fields. She studied craft design in NCAD, focusing on stained glass, learning the traditions of An Túr Gloine. Qwynn studied design in Holland honing in on dynamic colour before the age of saturation. Finally in the US, receiving her BFA in Illustration/Design. She specialized in capturing figure and form becoming skilled in multi media, and subsequently upon graduation, became an figure painting instructor at the college.
Qwynn went on to develop a diverse an awarding winning multi disciplinary art career before earning a Masters in Design, back in NCAD. Her masters was in Design History and Material Culture which she now uses to fuel her passion drawing and painting her home county.
Throughout the years Qwynn has exhibited her illustrations and paintings of people within their chosen landscapes, be they on the subway, cafes, artists studios, cabaret or out in nature. Her paintings express how living beings are enfolded by their environments in singular moments of existence.
In early 2010’s, Qwynn fell in love with writing during a period of chemo treatment when ‘colours fled the scene’ and she temporarily lost the ability to paint or differentiate between the edges of shapes or hue. It was a long struggle of 12 years to regain what she calls ‘artistic memory’.
In 2024 at the Kilrush Open Mic Poetry event, Qwynn presented a book featuring poems written during the time she was ‘keeping company with cancer’. Its title, Lines Written on a Kimono, is a series of Haiku inspired poems, and her unique interpretation of an ill fitting hospital gown and survival.
She continues to draw and paint life around her in West Clare, passionately capturing Irish life, both wild or (momentarily) tamed. Her connection to the ancestors is a guiding force as she digs deeper into the meaning of who we are as a people and is passionate about visually recording what she sees in this time and place we all – inclusively – call home.
She is currently developing a collection of works that express how she sees the heart of people of Co. Clare.
Please feel free to contact her at the email below. Other links to follow soon.
email: heartofclare@mail.com