Description
Josephine’s subjects, which are interiors of her two homes in Ireland and France, and the flowers and plants growing in her two beautiful gardens, with views through windows; all have personal meaning for Josephine. Light and colour, and the effects of light on colour and form, are what interest Josephine. She says “the textures are ones I feel and have contact with every day – fabric and textiles are fascinating in themselves and present a challenge to paint.”
Painting in both watercolour and oils Josephine captures with great effect natural light and strong sunlight passing through the windows of her homes, falling on polished floors and furniture, casting wonderful shadows on oriental carpets, ornate draped fabrics, detailing a cup and saucer, a pile of books and capturing a relaxed cat Finzi. The same individual attention to light and shade is given to the terraces, gardens, flowers and landscape seen from her windows. She excels in her use of colour, tone and form, painting in intricate detail the minutia of each exact period detail.
Artists Statement:
Josephine writes….
“It is no accident that the intimate subjects covered in these paintings are the personal, cherished objects that surround me in our house and garden.
During the last four years of my husband’s illness and the isolation of Covid lockdown, I turned to the flowers and plants in our garden, as well as the pieces of China that I have collected over the years. I painted them together, separately, in close up, and sometimes with my other muse, scarves in silks and wool.
The paintings divide naturally into plants in the garden, and those picked for the house to pair with porcelain and scarves. Books, ever present in our house and lives, tend to appear in the pictures at times too.
2020 to 2021 was a forced introspection, when we were all more confined to our homes; turned in on our lives, as I was increasingly with my husband’s declining health. However, there is always a compulsion to paint, and submitting to it has been a form of escapism in these times bringing, a respite from the sadness with which I was living, by immersing myself in the intimate details and beauty of my home and garden.
In addition, painting has been a release; stolen moments where I could lose myself in capturing the intimate intricacies of nature’s masterpieces amongst the comfort of my china and textiles.”
Josephine has shown her work in many solo exhibitions in Washington DC and Dallas, U.S.A., France, Mexico City, Ireland and the U.K., and Group Exhibitions in New Zealand, Spain, and The Netherlands. Her work in the last few years has included commissions from the Hon. Desmond Guinness, painting interiors of his home at Leixlip Castle.
Solo Exhibitions:
Kilcock Art Gallery, Co. Kildare Ireland ’05, ’08, 2011. ’15, ’18, ‘22: Newtownbarry House 2011: Galerias Louis C Morton, Mexico City 2003: Naomi Children’s Hospital, Lymington, UK, 2002: Le Choiseul, Amboise, France 2001: Atlantic Gallery, Georgetown, Washington DC, USA ’98, 2000: Boyd Levinson Gallery, Dallas, Texas, USA 1997: Upton Lodge Galleries, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, UK ’98, 1994, 2011:
Selected Group Exhibitions:
Kilcock Art Gallery, Co. Kildare, Ireland: Galerie Le 5, Riberac, France: The Wren Gallery, Burford, England: Newtownbarry House, Bunclody, Co. Wexford, Ireland: The Hunt Museum, Limerick: John Noot Gallery, Broadway, U.K: Jonathan Grant Galleries, Auckland, New Zealand: Casas y Gente Magazine, Mexico: Atlantic Gallery, Georgetown, Washington DC, USA.
