November 25, 2025

How I Started Plein Air Painting in Ireland

People are often surprised when they hear that painting wasn’t something I grew up doing. I always loved art — I spent years with a camera in my hand, visiting museums, studying light, noticing details — but I never imagined I’d one day be standing outside in Irish weather with an easel strapped to my bike. I’d always believed I couldn’t draw. At the time I was still living in the US, but from the very beginning I knew I wanted to paint Ireland — the light, the sea, the atmosphere.

My painting journey began in a quiet, unexpected way. During a long stretch of dealing with a bad back, I picked up a paintbrush out of curiosity. I thought it might be a once-off experiment. It wasn’t. Something clicked immediately — not in a dramatic, cinematic way, but in a calm this feels good way. So I kept going back to it.

Later, while spending a year in Castlegregory on the Dingle Peninsula, I discovered plein air painting. It was February, the weather was wild, and absolutely everything was a challenge — the wind, the shifting light, trying to frame a scene before the rain swept in again. I built myself a little mobile studio on my bike and painted every single day for a month. I still have many of those early pieces, and over time a lot of them have found homes with collectors. But what mattered most then was simply being out there every day, looking closely and paying attention. It changed everything for me.

When I moved back to Dublin, I started joining plein air festivals and found a whole new community of painters. Along the way I made close friends, learned from some incredible artists, and even went on to win some prizes. Those early days taught me something important: you don’t need a lifetime of training to begin. You just need a willingness to start, to look, and to stay present with what’s in front of you.

Plein air painting has shaped my life in ways I never expected. It’s how I met my partner, many of my closest friends, and a lot of the lovely collectors I now know personally. And it’s still my favourite antidote to screens, noise, and rushing — just stepping outside, standing still, and letting the light tell me what to do.