'Harvest and Heartland,' Acrylic on Linen Canvas by Noelle McAlinden, 2019.

In this painting by Noelle McAlinden, the square format brightly colored, abstract landscape painting is an interpretation of fields and homeland, harvest and source. The Northern Irish artist evokes memories of family and heartland. Electric blue, reds, purple comprise the landscape punctuated with a bright orange and red sky.

Noelle McAlinden is originally from Maghery, on the shores of Lough Neagh, Orchard County, Co., Armagh, N Ireland. Her close association with references to the shoreline and her father’s family business, as a market gardener, the references to the precious cargo of the past and the evolving present of childhood memories and experiences have inspired her work. Living now in Fermanagh over 37 years, a former student of TP Flanagan and Creative Adviser, Artist, Curator and Cultural Broker/ Programmer and Arts Activist Noelle continues to be committed to supporting Arts and Culture across Education, Community, Voluntary, Youth and Health Sectors.

Her work varies in size, scale, subject matter and treatment, from large-scale oil paintings to small mixed media pieces on canvas. Vibrant in colour and texture that appeal strongly to the eye. Recent work consisting of an extraordinarily vivid panorama of colour, light and imagery, abstract and semi representational. The work to date has evolved from the figurative/narrative tradition.

The choice of subject matter and treatment of it has evolved also, in a logical development from previous solo exhibitions, “Waterways of the mind,” “Out of the Blue”, Eve–oloution, Precious Cargo 1 & 2 ,Heartland and Emotional Landscape.

Abstract works are inspired by experiments with colour, texture, light and semi animated marks, traces of life that somehow continue to be figurative. The paintings in oils and acrylics cover surfaces and canvasses that have been distorted, distressed, layered with texture and colour, with fragments that have been constructed and deconstructed exposing colour beneath the surface.