‘At Sea’ Lisa McGill

Lisa McGill is primarily a seascape artist, living in Rathmullan. As a young girl, Lisa spent several carefree summers on Rutland Island, the island of her forbears, so she likes to believe that this explains the tug of the sea.

Living in Rathmullan also has a huge influence on her art as it informs her work on a daily basis. ‘Every day, almost every moment of every day, the sea changes. Then depending on the time of day, or the weather, or the light in the sky…the sea takes on a different mood.’

Walking the beach and studying the curve of a wave or the reflection of a seagull’s wing on the water is, she happily says, not time wasting, but research. Lisa worked in the media for over twenty years before returning to painting and writing.

She is a published author who loves to paint, or a painter who happens to be a published author. “I enjoy both. Writing and painting use very different parts of the brain. When you are writing, it’s very insular.

Apart from the research phase when you are out and about, you live in your head. Painting is the complete opposite. You are constantly watching…really looking at things. It’s all about the external stimuli.”