POPPY MELIA

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POPPY MELIA (DUBLIN, 1966) IS AN IRISH ARTIST WITH AN INTERNATIONAL SENSIBILITY AND PRESENCE. IN 1989, AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE NATIONAL COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, SHE SPENT A YEAR PAINTING ON THE POLYNESIAN ISLANDS WITH HER MOTHER AND SISTER. ON RETURNING TO EUROPE HER DEBUT SOLO EXHIBITIONS IN LONDON AND IN DUBLIN WERE CRITICAL AND COMMERCIAL TRIUMPHS. SINCE THEN, POPPY HAS TRAVELED AND PAINTED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM SOJOURNS IN NEPAL, CHINA, NEW ZEALAND, NORTH AMERICA, AND EUROPE, IN PARTICULAR, TUSCANY WHERE SHE HAS SUMMERED WITH HER FAMILY SINCE EARLY CHILDHOOD. HOWEVER, HER MAIN INSPIRATION IS ROOTED IN THE KERRY COUNTRYSIDE, ITS MOUNTAINS, LAKES, SEA, FLORA, AND FAUNA, WHICH HAVE SURROUNDED HER SINCE CHILDHOOD. HER ART IS HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER IN THE PRINT MEDIA, LITERARY PUBLISHING AND SHE HAS APPEARED ON MANY TV AND RADIO PROGRAMS. HER WORK HANGS IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS THROUGHOUT EUROPE, AMERICA, AND SOUTH AFRICA.

POPPY PAINTS HIGHLY DETAILED, REALISTIC, RHYTHMICAL WORKS, WHICH CAN OFTEN TAKE UP TO A YEAR TO COMPLETE. SINCE 2004 HER SUCCESS HAS MEANT THAT ALL OF HER ART IS SOLD BEFORE IT IS EVEN COMPLETED. 

 

"HER PAINTINGS, MAINLY IN GOUACHE, ARE A JOY TO LOOK AT ... THERE IS A CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED LINEAR CONSTRUCTION TO HER WORKS." IRISH INDEPENDENT

 

"HER CLEAR OBSERVATION OF HER SUBJECTS, EXACT AND SENSITIVE DRAWING ARE ALL WELL ABSORBED IN HER STRONGLY DECORATIVE COMPOSITIONS." THE IRISH TIMES