Therese Healy Kelly: Life Between Clinics and Canvases
Known to many as clinic director at The Kelly Clinic, where she works alongside her plastic surgeon husband, Professor Jack Kelly, Therese Healy Kelly is also a gifted artist, creating rich and moody pieces, using oils on canvas, in hues reminiscent of Connemara skylines. She paints from her home in Galway city, a beautifully restored 1830s property.
From the classroom to the canvas
“I was always artistic, even in school,” she says. “All my family were doing music, but I didn’t have a talent for it, so I did art.” Hailing from a small town in North Cork, Therese studied Maths and Economics in UCC, before teaching for a number of years, marrying, then travelling to Australia. “Jack had to travel for his training and every time we went to a different country I took up art, doing courses in Australia and Texas.”
“Weeks can go by without doing anything, but then something draws me back to the canvas.”
The beauty in the everyday
On returning to Ireland, she started an art and design degree part-time. “I have kids and in between rearing them, I always painted,” she says. Therese draws inspiration from the world around her, saying: “I seem to reflect what my environment throws at me. So I would say the kind of sappy greens of the West of Ireland landscape and the greys of the ocean and sky in Galway and the West.”
“What I paint is reflective of this but it is also kind of abstract – an abstracted realism, inspired by my environment, both exterior and interior. It could be the dog, a plant, a tablescape, or even glasses on the kitchen counter.”
Balancing the clinic and the canvas
Currently, she is busy overseeing The Kelly Clinic’s expansion into Dublin, which will be just off Dawson Street, amidst some of the city’s finest galleries, so inspiration won’t be in short supply.
“It’s busy right now, so weeks can go by without doing anything,” she observes. “But then something draws me back to the canvas, and I feel the need to relax and paint. It’s like yoga. It takes me into a different zone.”
Therese’s current collection is very reflective of Galway, featuring scenes from the Long Walk and Salthill. “It’s taken me time to build, but I’m quite proud of it,” she says. “It’s pensive, yet it’s rich in the atmosphere of Galway.”
Summer skincare: Therese's top picks
“My main concerns are my under eye, jawline and as the sagging skin on the neck,” says Therese. “To address the neck (which is without a doubt the hardest to maintain and the biggest aging give away) I get RF Microneedling regularly and twice yearly I combine this with CO2 laser. The higher the settings the better the results. These are the days I stick to painting, as downtime restricts me for a few days. The results kick in after about six weeks and collagen boost is evident, skin on neck is thicker and tighter, with the skin under the eyes more taught and less baggy.”
“I have a morning and nightly skincare regime, which I follow religiously, and to top these off I love to get monthly Hydrafacials and peels to keep my skin clean and hydrated. ”
Photography Nathalie Marquez Courtney
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