Mrs. Finegan
Oil on Paper
32 x 23 cm
1969

Artist’s Notes

I had been collecting oil paints since I was about 9. When I was a teenager my parents opened an account for me at the Educational Company in the centre of Belfast. I used to go there every Friday on my way to ballet class and bring home one or two items. I had an unspoken understanding with my father that he’d never tell me how much I could spend and I’d never be too extravagant.

Mrs Finegan was the model at art school. I remember that particular day clearly, trying to find a new way of mixing the colours so that each one came from the last one.

At art school everything stopped mid morning and mid afternoon when we drank strong mouth-scalding Irish tea and ate a sugary cream doughnut. In between we went for a pub lunch. It was a lovely time.

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Nude with Poinsettia
Conte crayon and Colour Pencil
76 x 52 cm
1977

This drawing was made while I was an Art Instructor at Concordia University and exhibited at the faculty show in 1978.