Plein air at Hook Lighthouse, Co. Wexford
Marie Kelly — Contemporary Irish Landscape & Seascape Painter
Professional artist · Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan
Marie Kelly is an artist based in Monaghan — a contemporary painter living and working in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. Her oil paintings distil the fleeting light and quiet presence of the Irish landscape into permanent, collected form — rooted in direct observation and refined in the studio.
She grew up at Maghernacloy Castle, just outside Carrickmacross, and this rural landscape shaped her early love of nature.
She paints en plein air with the Drumlin Plein Air Painters and exhibits her work nationally and internationally.
Her paintings are held in private and corporate collections across Ireland and abroad, and have been selected for prestigious open exhibitions including the Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition.
She signs her paintings simply as mari — the name by which many collectors and fellow artists have come to know her work.
Professional Memberships
- Drumlin Plein Air Painters
- Dublin Art Society
- Visual Artists Ireland (Professional Member)
Painting en plein air — Rostrevor, Co. Down
Painting en plein air — National Botanic Gardens, Dublin
In the open air
From the French — "in the open air"
Much of Marie's work begins outdoors — easel pitched among the wildflowers, light changing by the hour, weather rarely co‑operating. Painting from life sharpens the eye and keeps the work honest.
These small plein air studies become the source material for larger studio paintings, carrying the warmth and atmosphere of the day they were made.