Specialising in the medium of textile, Patricia Kelly creates intricately detailed pieces inspired by the landscape surrounding her Fermanagh home. Here she talks to The Impartial Reporter about her artistic influences, where she exhibits her work and why she likes working with fabric.

JC: What is your artistic background? Are you self-taught or did you go to art school/do courses?

PK: I attended The Ulster University in Belfast where I completed an Honours Degree in Fine Craft Design in 1986. I continued there to complete a PGCE in Art and Design Education.

JC: What inspires your art?

PK: I am very inspired by the local landscape around my home. I especially love the intricacies of trees set against the ever changing skies that we enjoy here in the west coast of Ireland.

JC: Who/what are your biggest influences?

PK: My artistic influences are many and wide ranging from Rothko and Van Gogh to our own William Scott, Sean McSweeney and Elizabeth Magill to name but a few.

JC: Is there a specific place that you do your work? Do you have a studio?

PK: I am very lucky that my sales some years back, allowed me the opportunity to build a studio at my home in Cashel.

JC: What has been your most ambitious piece to date?

PK: My most ambitious and favourite project to date was a solo exhibition which I held in the Clinton Centre. It was the largest collection of my work shown in one venue and my first big show in my home county which made me rather nervous. However, I was very happy with how the work was received.

JC: What artistic medium do you use?

PK: I work in the medium of textile. I create a base, often using recycled fabrics from discarded family clothes. I work over this textile base with the sewing machine needle, very much as you would draw or paint on a canvas. I used to work from preliminary sketches, but now I work directly from the image onto the fabric. I love the textural quality of the fabrics, I find working with this material very therapeutic. I need to always have a piece of work in progress.

JC: What are you currently working on?

PK: I am currently working on new pieces for an exhibition in The Yeats Gallery in Sligo. I have been selected to show with seven other artists there in November of this year. I am planning to go to The Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig in July to focus on this work. My work can be seen in Hambly and Hambly.

JC: What are you up to when you aren’t making art?

PK: When I am not making art, I enjoy teaching Art and Design to the pupils in St. Mary's High School, Brollagh, where I am a full-time teacher. I am also passionate about Iyengar Yoga and I have recently trained as an Iyengar Yoga teacher.