Dublin-based artist Sarah Rossney began working in stained glass and her style has evolved into the more intricate design of her contemporary paintings. Her works are a backdrop to people’s everyday lives and often capture the buildings and memories of city centre Dublin.
She explains, “I’ve had nothing but positive feedback. People seem to love how the paintings have such brilliant blue skies and how the people in them wear such bright clothes.”
A major career highlight was being invited to New York to paint her 12 most iconic buildings, an experience which served as a great introduction to the city. “It was such an honour to be asked to do the commission but also to be given the artistic licence to make the choice myself. It was a great way to discover the city, as I had never been there before,” she says.
The artist’s most popular commissions are for wedding presents, usually by people who met their partners at a particular location, like a man who met his now wife at Grogan’s Pub three years ago and commissioned Sarah to paint it.
Now her works are a burgeoning collection of images of the capital’s favourite landmarks, all of which will be familiar to the viewer but with a style that combines the bold black outline of a stained glass panel with a contemporary pop art feel.
The move from stained glass and mosaic to paint was dictated by circumstance. Sarah says, “I was working in glass and my two year old was crawling around the floor with shards of glass everywhere. It was at that point that I decided to move away from stained glass mosaics to a safer medium.”
Sarah’s work resonates with those who have a connection with Dublin and its buildings. These cityscape compositions whose imagery transcends place have a living, breathing quality and an energy that makes them vibrant and original.
Sarah has a studio in Dublin city centre and can be contacted via www.facebook.com/sarahrossneyart and www.sarahrossney.com
By Rupert Heather
