Since starting my embroidery kit business Rosie's Rags, I have started to use the technique in my own artwork. The first of my embroidered portraits seen here is of my husband musician Wayne Soper. Hour Glass and is a portrait of Grace Gifford. Grace Gifford married rebel leader Joseph Plunkett the night before his execution in Kilmainham Jail. I got married in 2016, 100 years after Grace and Plunkett and I found a resonance with her story as she was also an artist and studied at NCAD where I also studied. Grace went on to spend time in the same jail herself for creating political cartoons for a radical newspaper. I felt compelled to pay tribute to this strong woman. The piece represents the last ten minutes Grace and Plunkett were given together before his execution. The rising sun represents the rebellion; the clouds show the uncertain future Ireland would rise into. The shamrocks represent the Irish cause that they believed in so much they were willing to sacrifice their lives. 

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The third portrait here is my short-listed piece "Quiet Revolution" for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2018, it was exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland. I choose to create a portrait of doctor, mum and campaigner for T.F.M.R. (terminations for medical reasons) Siobhan Donohue. Siobhan was diagnosed with a fetal fetal abnormality and had to travel to the UK for an abortion. I first heard Siobhan speak at the Repeal march on International Women’s Day, her story brought tears to my eyes. I met Siobhan just three days after the referendum result at the National Gallery after making contact with her on Twitter. We decided to meet after the result so the portrait could be appropriate to the outcome. I took some photographs that I worked from to create the piece. The portrait captures both her strength and her relief after the result. The portrait was completed in just two weeks of constant stitching. I choose the hand embroidery technique as it was originally associated with a past time to keep women busy in the home. The style in contrast is reminiscent of masculine painters like Lucien Freud. The process is similar to painting, but with the mixing of colours happening on canvas by blending of threads rather than on a palette. The intersecting and overlapping strands of colour are evocative of the complexity of the struggle for women’s rights in Ireland. Here Siobhan and the thousands of individual stitches represent all the women affected by the 8th amendment and those that fought to repeal it. I am so happy that the portrait was able to acknowledge and commemorate these women on a National platform. Thanks so much to everyone who encouraged me along the way, it really meant a lot to me and kept me going through the physical pain of creating this peace in such a short space of time! Huge thank you to Siobhan Donohue for agreeing to be part of this project and for helping to make Ireland a better place.

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The fourth portrait was Highly Commended in the Zurich Portrait Prize 2020 at the National Gallery of Ireland. "Trailblazer" is a portrait of activist Ailbhe Smyth, who has done so much to mould the Ireland we live in today. Ailbhe Smyth is a feminist, LGBTI and human rights activist and campaigner. The founding head of Women’s Studies at UCD, she has published widely on feminism, politics and culture.  Ailbhe played a leadership role in the same-sex marriage referendum campaign in 2015, and was co-director of the Together for Yes abortion referendum campaign in 2018.  Nominated to various State boards over the years, she also chaired the National Lesbian and Gay Federation for a decade. Currently, she is Chair of Women’s Aid, and of Ballyfermot STAR Addiction Services, and is a member of the board of Age Action (Ireland). She was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2019 for her work in repealing the 8th Amendment.  I met Ailbhe at her home after a few short emails in January 2020, we had tea and chatted about how Ireland had finally taken a big step forward for women's rights. I admired her obvious love of reading due to the books stacked neatly in every corner. I took some photos to work from and was on my way, little did I know that the portrait would be created during a global pandemic, while I worked remotely with my one year old son. I didn't think I would get it finished in time, but Ailbhe Smyth had inspired me.