Brush with the pandemic led Navan artist to revive passion

An artist from Navan has opened up about how lockdown inspired her to pick up a paint brush for the first time in ten years and gave her the courage to peruse her passion.

Gail Guildea says “art is everything to her” but when a busy pace of life got in the way she admits neglecting the creative pursuit she loved so much.

Earlier this year she found the perfect opportunity to revisit her talent and despite being “terrified” she might have lost her ability after so many years says she has found her true calling.

The young Navan woman who works in Ode Design in the town has created an array of work under the name “Art by GG” featuring buildings, local landmarks and shop fronts and is more eager than ever to make this for her life’s work.

Speaking on rediscovering her love for art Gail said:

“I was always into art when I was a baby a toddler a child, a teenager. I was constantly drawing and painting in my spare time it was all I wanted to do.

“Even when I was in secondary school I was art captain in Loreto and I was always known as the girl who was good at art so it has always been a passion for my entire life.

“The idea of drawing and painting never left me, I didn’t pick up a pen or a paint brush in at least ten years but it was always in the back of my mind and I guess when I wasn’t working during the first lockdown I had all the time in the world so it was kind of like now or never let’s try this.

“I was terrified at first because I thought would I still be able to do it and that thought really scared me but the first one I did was of The Royal Meath Pub in Navan because during the first lockdown when we had gorgeous weather I would just walk around the town and ended up taking pictures of all of the buildings so I just started drawing what I saw everyday and it just flowed from there.”

“There is such an emphasis on shop local, support local and I didn’t stray too far afield from the local land marks.

“I’ve also done St Mary’s Church, Trim Castle, The Yellow Steeple in Trim and Slane Castle.

“The buildings in the town are absolute beautiful, if you look up above eye level there is amazing stone work.

“I like detailed work and fine lines, precision and I think that is why I like doing the buildings, I do a lot of house portraits, wedding venues and I have branched into landscape work but it still done in my pen and ink style so it is detailed.”

Gail describes what returning to her passion has meant for her.

“Art means everything to me. I think having come back to it after ignoring it for so many years I’ve learned that art is what makes me as an individual, it’s what I do it’s what I love it’s how I like to spend my time so art for me is me, it is my personality.

“When you are young you are trying to figure out who you are as a person and that is just always really complicated and having rediscovered it I can say with more confidence that it is me and what I do and what I would love to do with my life.

“I’m upset with myself for ignoring it for so long but I think timing in life is everything and I feel like I have come full circle having gone off and tried to do other things and now I’m back to square one like the Gail who was art captain in Loreto, I’ve come back to her and that has been really important.

“I feel like I have an extra spring in my step I feel like I have a whole new lease of life now.

“Art has become my life, I absolutely love it, I’m working really hard behind the scenes to make sure that it continues. I don’t want to ever let it go again.”