Introducing artist Carolyn Walsh: ‘I don’t wear pink but I can’t seem to not use pink in paintings’

"I take my own photos. I put photos on top of paint. Some of them are collages, other times I use markers.” Carolyn Walsh. Photo: Aimee Monroe

Ciara Dwyer

March 05 2023 02:30 AM

Age: 38.

Born: Kerry, based in Dublin.

Snowed in: “Three years ago, there was a lot of snow and I was housebound for five days,” says artist Carolyn Walsh. Instead of complaining, she got creative. This was the making of her new print venture. Just back from New York, she had some images. “I thought, ‘What can I do with them?’”

Undeterred: A few days away from her office-bound day job as a graphic designer was fine too. So, she started to paint. “I take my own photos. I put photos on top of paint. Some of them are collages, other times I use markers.” The resulting prints are beautifully bright images of landmarks like the Poolbeg chimneys or the bandstand on Dún Laoghaire pier. Now she does images of wedding venues too.

Uplifting: “I don’t wear pink clothes but I can’t seem to not use pink in the paintings.” Two weeks before Covid, she asked if she could go on a four-day week at work to facilitate more time on her art, then she was let go temporarily. She saw it as an opportunity. She took it seriously and it took off. Now the graphic design job is two a days a week and the rest of the time is for her art. Sometimes these things happen for a reason.

Joy: “I love the freedom of this. You get lost in it for a couple of hours. It’s good for my head.”

See carolynwalshart.com