Niamh Slack

Niamh Slack is an Irish landscape artist, working primarily in oils. Her work is shown in galleries throughout Ireland, and her impressionistic paintings have found homes all over the world. Niamh’s impressionist style is an exploration of the ever-changing light on land and water. Her paintings are also an exploration of colour and texture. She continuously experiments with the placing of heavy layers of paint on canvas, and she strives to see colour in the seemingly ‘mundane’ and ‘ordinary’ things around us.

Niamh enjoys painting ‘en plein air’. When possible, shelikes to complete as much of the painting outside as possible, in all types of weather! The unpredictability of the Irish weather means that sometimes she can only spend short periods of time outside, completing quick sketches, and memorising the scene before her.

Her favourite stage in the painting process is that magical stage at the very beginning of a painting -once the design has been executed. She is then observed to work furiously and frantically! Layers of paint are heavily placed with a palette knife, as she tries to capture every part of the landscape before her. She works at this rapid pace for as long as her body will allow her. She then stands back and continues to touch up and retouch the painting at a slower pace, before bringing it back indoors. Once dried, even further layers of paint are added. This results in landscapes that have been described as vibrant, energetic, and full of life.

When depicting seascapes her interest often lies in the wealth of colours and tones that can be explored in rock & cloud formations by the sea. She is especially taken with exploring the tonal ranges that can be found in such formations. Woodland and garden scenes have always and continue to strike a chord with her, and her work here focuses on the changing colours of the seasons, both on the foliage and the woodland floor.

Niamh spent most of her adult life in Dublin, before returning with her young family to her native county of Mayo in 2022. There she works from her loft studio, in the heart of the Irish countryside. The rugged landscape of the West coast and the Wild Atlantic Way continues to inspire her. When not painting, Niamh enjoys teaching, gardening, and all things interior design.