Eileen Healy

About Artist:

Eileen Healy completed her studies in Fine Art at the Crawford College of Art in 1988, when she won the Student of The Year Award from the Lavit Gallery, Cork. After a year as artist in residence at The Lavit Gallery, she became a studio member of The Cork Artists Collective, where she organised weekly life drawing sessions for artists in the community and this where she developed her interest in drawing from the human figure.

When she finished at The Collective she was accepted as a member at Backwater Studios, Cork in 2001.

In the following years, Eileen was selected to show in several open submission exhibitions including the Arnott’s portrait award, RHA annual show, Iontas Small Works, EVA. Others included the Backwater Group Shows, Crawford Art Gallery, UCC, Triskel Arts Centre and featured in shows abroad … Brittany, Berlin, Latvia and New York.

She has taken part in many residencies in Ireland including Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Burren Art Centre and Cillriallig. In 2010 she was invited to be artist in a residence at the prestigious Art Student’s League, New York.

In 2007 she was commissioned to do a portrait of Cork playwright and novelist Conal Creedon for the Crawford Gallery series of Irish writers by Irish artists. The image was used for the cover of his publication, 2nd City Trilogy which was launched both in Japan and New York.

In 2018 she was invited to show in the Crawford’s highly successful exhibition, “The Naked Truth”. Her landscapes feature in The Crawford’s permanent collection and her work is also in the art collections of University College Cork and The OPW.

Eileen has been teaching life drawing and painting at the Crawford College of Art for many years.

About Artwork:

Drawing from life is what keeps my work alive. This was done in my studio in Cork City, Ireland of nude model Angelica. I asked her to bring in a fur coat for warmth ,the texture of which I enjoyed drawing in pastel, against her rich skin tone