Marion McKeever

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The artist studied at NCAD and lives and works on a farm in Co Louth. As a precursor, the great watercolourist Mildred Anne Butler comes to mind. McKeever’s subject matter is, quite simply, the world around her. That includes many kinds of animal, especially geese and goslings, cows and calves, hens, sheep and lambs – and a whippet. She has a real feeling for animals, and also makes very fine botanical studies.

No matter what she is addressing, she is a close, meticulous observer. This is a great strength, especially as her attentiveness extends to the whole composition in each case. The dappled fall of light across a scene is beautifully captured.

It would be easy to categorise McKeever’s work as nostalgic in evoking a pastoral idyll ,but that would be quite unfair. There is an idyllic quality for sure, but it emerges from the subject and not from an attitude she projects onto the subject.