Maeve Croghan

I share an intimacy and love of Nature in my art.   

I grew up being on a small Island in Northern Michigan every summer. The Island had no cars, so we lived much of our time outdoors in the summers. This instilled a deep connection to the Natural world has been integral to my whole life. 

My paintings are often composed to draw the viewer in, so they also deeply experience our natural world. In the work the viewer experiences nature through a lens they may have felt, but possibly not expressed. The paintings are a passage to a reality we often feel, but may not communicate.

I begin most of my paintings outside, deeply experiencing the surroundings as I am painting it. There, I am influenced by the all the elements. Using color and form I often push reality in my work, giving the paintings a life and movement that we may otherwise be only able to sense.  

My work is completed in the studio.  There, I work from my memories and feelings of being at the site, not using photo references. As I build the painting, it evolves, and often changes from the original scene, taking on its own direction. This is a very intuitive and introspective part of my process. The paintings can take months, even years to finish – until they transpire the feeling I hope to achieve.