Mary Feeney

The land played a dominant motivation in all of Mary Feeney's works; both directly, as a subject in its own right, and indirectly in its influence over her use of light, colour, atmosphere and shape. The dramatic colour, light and weather of Donegal's landscape dominated her visual memory and made her the painter she was. Mary expressed shape through allowing the paint to merely suggest the form rather than describe it. She prefered not to work from the physical reality; instead Mary prefered to work from a visual reality. Being divorced from the actual subject allowed her to create feeling, yet retain a strong sense of direction. "I do not follow rules and principles. I paint what I feel and I paint boldly and without hesitation, because I have learned it is important to get your first impressions on canvas." - Mary Feeney