Julie Brennan

Julie Brennan
4 June to 4 July 2026

Studio open to the public Wednesday and Thursday

Portrait Painting in Oils Workshop, Tuesday, 30 June 2026, 10:30am–1:30pm. All materials provided
Free, but booking is essential as places are limited. 6 places available.
Book your place: Email info@westcorkartscentre.com / phone 028 22090 or call into reception to book your place.

Join Galway-based artist Julie Brennan, winner of the Skibbereen Arts Festival Portrait Competition and one of our current artist’s in residence at Uillinn, for a hands-on portrait painting workshop. Come along, learn new techniques, and enjoy a creative morning painting portraits in oils.

This residency will support the research and development of a new body of work. I am interested in exploring people beyond the confines of a portrait to explore how they impact their environment and how they make their presence felt. I would like to use this residency as an incubation of thought and reflection while also allowing the dedicated time and space to develop a new collection of works. Through guided reading and research I will flesh out the themes of ‘people in their environment’ and ‘fragments of human presence’. I will take reference photos and document my new environs while also collecting references from magazines, media and film. Using these I will experiment and create new images to paint from. In terms of the process of my work, it is very slow and thought out. I take a lot of time gathering source material, editing and creating compositions and then carefully drawing and painting each piece focusing on precise colour and detail with emphasis on creating a strong emotional statement.

As part of the residency I will have my studio open to the public for two days a week. I look forward to the opportunity to meet and go through my processes with all who will visit. I would also like to share my skills as a portrait painter and give a workshop on the fundamentals of portrait painting and how to achieve accurate proportions, tones and colours.

I am an artist and designer from south county Galway. With a BA in Visual Communications, I originally studied and worked as a graphic designer and creative director. Since 2017, I have been honing my skills as a painter working predominantly in oils. In the last few of years I have been selected for many prestigious shows here in Ireland including the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Royal Ulster Academy, the Hunt Museum and many more. My artistic practice involves searching for moments that capture emotion, light and atmosphere. I’m drawn to and inspired by people and their character in portraiture and landscape as an environment for my figurative works. I use my design strengths in colour and composition to help create strong visual pieces in a realistic style. I am naturally drawn to detail and love getting caught up in recreating everything that I observe.

@juliebrennanart

Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre acknowledges the financial support of The Arts Council  / An Chomhairle Ealaíon in making these residencies possible.