Siobhan McNutt: The Galway Artist Capturing Ireland's Coastal Mood
Siobhan McNutt grew up discussing colour, texture and material, which won’t come as a surprise to anyone familiar with her evocative, west of Ireland seascapes.
Her father worked in the family business, Irish weaving mill McNutt of Donegal. “He would always bring home little bits of cloth for me to look at and discuss,” she says. “We would just talk about that for hours.”
I’m obsessed with all these beautiful places we have along the coast in Ireland
A stylish start
While her career started in fashion and took her around Europe, she always practised drawing, mark-making and kept sketchbooks. “It was something I really enjoyed and found relaxing,” she recalls.
When she started teaching in Galway, she found herself doing more drawing, then painting. “I also loved swimming, so I started experimenting with depicting some of my favourite swim spots. I’m obsessed with all these beautiful places we have along the coast in Ireland. I found that really enjoyable, and things grew from there.”
Her chic and simple studio, nestled amid evergreen shrubs and foliage in the garden of the Galway city home she shares with husband Didier, and daughter Evie, 11, is a calm and quiet space.
“I’m starting from scratch each time, so I would rather not have heaps of colour around me, I want to have a clear head when I lock into something, so I went for a more neutral vibe. I love it being in the garden, because it feels away from the home, but is still just there – that’s important when you’re a mum!”
Creative evolution
More recently, Siobhan has been drawn back to mark- making and completed an MA in Creative Practice at ATU. “I loved writing my thesis,” she enthuses. “I’m happy I gave myself that time to go deep into research instead of always just scratching the surface.”
“I’m interested in how certain colours and marks can convey a mood and a feeling, and that’s what has led me to explore abstraction,” she says, adding: “Even in my seascapes, they’re not completely representational, a lot of it is about how the materials work.”
She likes to “let the ink do its thing” before adding details that are true to the place. “But it’s more capturing the mood and the feel of the place, and then a hint of what it is literally.”
Originally published in the Winter 2025 print edition of Galway Now. Portraits and studio photography by Nathalie Marquez Courtney.
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