About M. O'Rourke
Maura completing a studio painting of French fowl
From early childhood Maura always had a love of painting and drawing, participating and winning awards in competitions such as the Texaco Children’s Art Competition, alongside other wins in a Cadbury’s Creative Writing competition and the National Irish Fish Cookery competition. Maura’s creative talents blossomed at Dominican College, Eccles Street, gaining honours in Art, and the cookery and sewing side of ‘domestic engineering’, amongst other subjects – both at Intermediate and Leaving Cert level. The honours in art was gained one year ahead of schedule and that momentum continued at The Grafton Academy where she completed a three year course in Fashion Design & Art in a one and a half year period.
Initially she began her career in the creative industries within the fashion sector. Maura progressed within that career from cutter to designer, gaining experience in all areas of the industry and working for several fashion houses over a 7 year period.
After her marriage, she took a career break to raise her family, but being a qualified tailor – continued to work on a freelance basis designing contemporary tailor made clothing, including bridal wear. It was at this point in time that Maura began painting again seriously; submitting work for exhibitions and developing a reputation for selling everything she exhibited. During this 10 year period of development Maura was also invited to teach tailoring, industrial knitting, crafts, sewing and flower arranging in the Vocational Education College, and also to teach on Dublin Corporation’s Adult Vocational Community based courses. That background in teaching led to Maura becoming artist in residence at Ardgillan Castle, where she has tutored art students since the mid 1990s.
Jim Glennon TD, opening Irish/USA exchange exhibition in Ardgillan Castle
Since Maura’s first Professional Solo Show in 1995 she has had over 20 Solo and International exhibitions and to date had sold over 2,500 paintings. Maura has received grants, bursaries, sponsorship and support from local development agencies, awarding bodies, commercial firms, trade associations and private individuals – many of which have been in the form of painting commissions. An unusual aspect to Maura’s art practice is the production of collections of work, such as the Tara Collection and the Famine Collection both of which were exhibited in the USA and have subsequently been sold as collections.
Painting in La Flotte Harbour on Ile de Ré, France
Maura has been leading painting holidays throughout Ireland and France over the last decade, introducing students to new outdoor painting techniques and to a fuller appreciation of French culture, cuisine and the product of it’s vineyards. Maura has played a pivotal role in various arts development activities on a local, regional, national and international level. She has been involved in developing exhibiting opportunities for artists across Ireland, UK and USA, and in artist exchange, residency, and collaborative projects through the ‘Grasses’ and xChangeVisions projects.
CJ Pressma, Joyce & Gordon Garner with Maura O'Rourke at the launch of the 'Links that connect us' exhibition in Belfast's Waterfront Hall
Her increasing reputation as an internationally renowned artist has led to invitations to take part in the ‘Art in Action’ event at Slane, and has brought her ‘full circle’ with the invitation to judge the Texaco Children’s Art Competition alongside other artists such as Frank Clarke – a competition which she herself won awards in as a child.
Ian Fleming
University of Ulster
