Ballymena artist Carly Wright with her poignant pandemic painting ’Falling From Grace’.
Talented local artist, Carly Wright, is celebrating as she takes the next step on her own personal journey with having her stunning paintings featured and on sale in a local gallery.
Carly only started painting three years ago in
2018, and discovered just how much she enjoyed being able to release and express feelings and emotions through her paintbrush.
Since beginning her journey as an artist, it has indeed been this expression of emotion that has hallmarked the 33 year old‘s creativity ever since, as her paintbrush places shape, colour, and texture across the canvas.
Carly shared how her own life has been a journey that continues to influence her work and creativity.
“Since I started painting three years ago, I found painting to be a way to release what’s inside my head and express the experiences I had grown up with,” Carly said.
“I paint emotions and feelings of circumstances and situations which I have personally encountered and experienced as a young person growing up in Ballymena.
“During my younger years, and navigating life in a town where drugs became such a big problem, I took a lot of wrong turns and went on paths where, even now, I still feel I let myself down. I was going nowhere fast.”
Carly continued: “When I discovered painting, I found an escape, a way to be free from everything that surrounded. I realised a sense of purpose in my painting that was not only a type of therapy for myself, but also a means to help others who had, or may still be, experiencing the same challenges in life as me.”
In early 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit globally and at a time of fear, uncertainty and pain, the skilled local lady captured immense emotion in her poignant painting, titled, ‘Falling From Grace’, that captured and expressed the feelings of many.
In particular, the emotions carefully crafted in painted colour across the face of a NHS Nurse was striking.
Carly commented:
“The pandemic piece I painted expressed how the pandemic made me feel as a person going threw it. I wanted people in 20 years time to be able to look at my painting and feel from it, the changes, challenges and the pain, but also to see the fun and laughter of the world before the pandemic hit.”
Just recently Carly has managed to produce a high quality print of the painting, as well as some of her other pieces, and are now on display and available to purchase in Midtown Makers, on Church Street, Ballymena.
Carly will be donating this piece to the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. She also recently painted a piece for Autism awareness that was donated to the local charity Love, Hope and Faith.
The piece was used in a competition by the charity, and Carly was grateful to have the pleasure of presenting the painting to the winner at a charity ball event.
Talking about her present endeavours, Carly commented:
“Currently I am working on a mental health piece which I will then donate to the charity Turning Point NI. My desire is that my painting will help anyone going in and out if the charity’s local hub, and give them a bit of hope if they are going through similar hardships in life.”
Pop in and check out Carly’s work at Midtown Makers in Ballymena.
You can also check out Carly’s creative talents on her Facebook page Painted Creations. The artist is working to have her own website published in the New Year.