Hello!
I'm Ailish Malone
Having lived most of my life in Co Clare, on the banks of the majestic River Shannon on the West Coast of Ireland, I have been blessed with an infinite well of inspiration right outside my door. Creativity has always been a very big part of my life in one way or another. After finishing school, college and living in London for a few years, I moved to the midlands to start married life and motherhood. I found great solace painting in the evenings after a busy day. However, my heart always felt the call of the sea, the call of the West Coast.
My Inspirations
Shannon Estuary & Scattery Island
My daily inspirations
My daily walks take me past wonderful views out to the Shannon Estuary and Scattery Island. I am constantly in awe of the tides coming and going, ever changing, the light, the skies, the shoreline and further across the Loop head peninsula to Kilkee, the cliffs and the power of the Atlantic Ocean. I can spend hours on the cliff top watching the waves travel towards the shore or the cliff edge down below. This turns up continuously in my paintings. The colours, shapes and textures all around me. I also spend time during my daily walks with my dogs, ‘shorecombing’, examining the rocks, shells, stones and seaweed. Every walk brings some new piece of treasure to be stored in my mind, finding their way onto my canvas, sometimes unexpectedly. They appear like an old friend, a pleasant surprise, almost saying, ‘how did you get here’!
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The Sea
Along the Wild Atlantic Way
If fate allows, I will live by the sea always. It grounds me in a way I find hard to describe with words. The cry of the seagulls, the screech of the heron as he takes flight at dusk, and the lonesome cry of the curlew are soothing sounds to my soul. My paintings are an expression of my view of the landscape in which I live and spend time. I travel throughout the Loop Head Peninsula and up and down the Wild Atlantic Way in my little campervan finding places to stop to observe the ocean, the waves, the weather, the skies. Spending time as close to nature as possible at every time of day fills my cup and my inspiration well and keeps my work fresh and new.
My Paintings & Me
How I work
My paintings are like long lost friends I have been searching for all my life and when I start them, we go on a journey together. I work in layers with acrylic paints, inks, texture mediums, pastels, pencils and glazing. The paintings sometimes begin heading in one direction but then take me unexpectedly somewhere I didn’t even know I was going. It is so rewarding when it reveals itself to me, as if it has always been there just waiting for me to give it permission to come to life. I find when I am in my studio or in nature painting, I can access the most authentic part of myself, where nothing matters except what the painting is trying to reveal from deep inside. I feel privileged to be able to live this wonderful life in this wonderful landscape. My hope is that my paintings bring some joy. To feel the sea breeze or ocean spray on your face, the peace a calm day brings or the exuberance of a rough tide……
