Seascape, Crashing waves

Valerie Giannandrea McKeag is a Scottish Italian born in Falkirk, Scotland. She graduated from the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Dundee, Scotland in 1985 with a 1st Class BA Hons in Illustration. She moved to London and worked as a freelance illustrator, working for various clients in advertising and publishing over a twelve-year period. Moving to Belfast in 1997, she retrained as a teacher and is currently Head of Art at Ashfield Girls’ High School in Belfast.

Inspired by the natural world, her paintings capture, through her masterful use of paint, the ever-changing effects of seasonal light and weather on the unique and stunning land and seascapes of Ireland. She has recently revisited the subject of the still life – inspired by the works of Morandi and William Scott, these paintings explore her love of colour, composition and the painted surface.