Belinda Ireland

 

“There is no beginning or end to the narratives in my paintings and drawings. Each is a moment, an exchange, in a tableau of suggestion”.

Belinda’s work brings together narratives based on her experience of childhood and adolescence, and issues of social convention and aspiration, with the symbols and icons of late 20th and early 21st century culture. In oil, pastel or charcoal she explores vivid imaginary worlds, combining personal memory with imagery from films, magazines and television to create curious scenes that reveal the depth of her inner life, and reflect changing attitudes to gender, race and relationships through her playful presentations of pop culture.

 

Often, she paints herself within a work, a participant in the drama and romance of a fantasy world where longings and fears are mixed with inspirational stories and characters. Her compositions evolve through the cutting out and assembling of drawn or found images that reference her childhood experiences. Her use of light and structure is drawn from both 17th century painting and 20th century cinematography, while her approach to colour flattens the image into a cats-eye of shifting visual information that blurs the boundary between fact and fiction.​​​

 

Bio & CV

Belinda Ireland studied Fine Art Painting at the Central School of Art and Design in London. Her work has been selected for the Pastel Society Opens at Mall Galleries London in 2024 and 2025, and her paintings and drawings are held in private collections. She now lives and works in South Devon.

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Education

BA Fine Art Painting, Central School of Art and Design, London, 1979 - 1982
One Year Professional Mentoring, Newlyn School of Art, Cornwall, 2017 - 2018

Studio Confidential column for Devon Life Magazine, September 2024 issue

 

Press

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Studio Confidential column for Devon Life Magazine, September 2024 issue

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STUDIO CONFIDENTIAL

Belinda Ireland

Words by Mercedes Smith

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Cowboy Dreaming, oil on board | Belinda Ireland

Belinda Ireland’s studio is in the loft space of a small building in rural South Devon. Tucked neatly beneath a sky facing window, and wallpapered with elaborate little sketches and endless daubs of colour, it has the secluded, secretive feel of a childhood den. It is very quiet here, and Belinda herself is a quiet and considered person whose work reveals the extraordinary depth of her memory, her imagination and her intellect. The conversation we share, as I examine her drawings and paintings, is one of the most interesting I have had. It teaches me not just about her work, but about traces of myself that I have forgotten, or maybe even lost.

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Belinda’s work is inspired by the imaginary worlds she retreated to as a child, where longings and fears mixed with the stories, symbols and icons of popular culture. Sometimes she paints herself within the work, a participant in the drama and romance of a fantasy world. Most touching is her painting Cowboy Dreaming, in which Belinda as a little girl sits cross legged by a campfire, beside her cowboy companion, as the firelight throws shadows beneath the stars. They do not speak. They do not have to. He is her protector. A strong, fast horse waits in the darkness to carry them away to new adventures. “I am dreaming of him” says Belinda, “and a life far removed from the mundane childhood I inhabit”. Belinda uses glowing colours to enhance the dreamlike quality of her work, while her use of light is drawn from both 17th century painting and 20th century cinematography. Her works evolve through the cutting out and assembling of images that reference her childhood experiences. Around the studio, these intriguing compilations are pinned beside the paintings they have inspired. I see glimpses of my own childhood everywhere: long limbed figures against a bright sash window; white knee socks and plum coloured Mary Janes; the guarded body language of adolescent girls. We discuss our childhoods, mine a little later then hers, but both of us children of the late 20th century, and we delight in the endless parallels, the now politically incorrect TV programmes and the classic pre-woke toys. I am amazed at the depth and detail of her memory, and I wonder if I am guilty of failing to treasure, or to address my own childhood experiences. These artworks take me far into the past, and remind me that my past is a place I should visit more often.

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Group Exhibitions

 

Works on Paper 7, Blue Shop Galleries, London, 2025

The Pastel Society Open Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 2025

Rapture, Velarde Gallery, Kingsbridge, Devon, 2024

The Pastel Society Open Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 2024

Liminal Spaces, Birdwood Gallery, Totnes, Devon, 2022

Shared Spaces, Birdwood Gallery, Totnes, Devon, 2021

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The Space Between, Gardens Gallery, Cheltenham, 2020

The Long and Short of It, Birdwood Gallery, Totnes, Devon, 2019

A Work of Art, The Biscuit Factory, London, 2019

Aquarium, PZ Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall, 2018

Newlyn School of Art Group Show, Chapel House, Penzance, Cornwall, 2018

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