Hawthorn And Conker

By Michelle Kettle

ARTIST STATEMENT
“This collection of work for 'Heart & Home' depicts peaceful scenes from my home; items collected for their familiarity and simple beauty.

I like to paint items to reflect my interest in nature. I’ve painted a conker found on a walk with my dog along with a hawthorn cutting from the ditch dividing our garden from the field behind.

Brown bottles which reflect the light so beautifully and eggs arranged carefully in their tea towel nest. The apples depicted are the few that fruited from our trees this year, precious in their scarcity. I’ve decided I’ll paint them every year, to honour the effort of the old and lichened trees.

I vary between overhead and face on compositions, simply to capture the subject as truthfully as I can, in soft natural light. I aim to convey a quiet, contemplative mood and

BIO
Michelle Kettle is a visual artist from Loughshinny, Co. Dublin.

She attended the National College of Art and Design and upon graduating in 2009, moved to Melbourne, Australia. There she embarked on a career as an oil painter, despite having originally studied ceramics. After twelve years abroad she moved back to Ireland at the end of 2021 and now resides in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan.

“I’ve been fortunate to move my practice into a beautifully renovated studio in my new home town of Carrickmacross. I am very grateful to have a work space that I can walk to every day.

In Melbourne, I had been primarily focused on the depiction of architecture but with the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, my work inevitably shifted with this new confinement. My subject matter became items I found in my home instead of buildings I discovered while exploring. Thus began my fascination with still life painting. I love creating compositions I can orchestrate and arrange to my own advantage.”