Melita DENARO

As anyone who has stayed on the Atlantic coast of Ireland will confirm, the experience is unforgettable. And, for those lucky enough to live there, even for a few months each year, it is life-enhancing. This is the quality which shines through Melita's small jewel-like, Turneresque oils with their wonderful, lyrical yet intimate titles, so full of the essence one associates with Jack Yeats.

Melita's soul lives on the remote Isle of Doagh, on the Inishowen Peninsular - with it's turbulent sky, dramatic shoreline and intimate farm holdings; her relationship with this unique part of Ireland is touching and personal and so well narrated in these small panels. Melita relentlessly paints from the same fields and, over the years, has built up an enviable relationship with the locals and the cattle - they are her family, her friends and her neighbours. They do not appear in her work but the essence of their importance is always there, reminding us that it isn't just the landscape that holds Melita in awe but also the totality of the place and experience.

Melita originally studied ceramics at Central School of Art 1975-1978 and in 1992 - 1995 went on to take the Post Graduate Diploma, Painting at the Royal Academy School. She has exhibited widely and her work is in many notable collections.

I have been fortunate to be a friend of Melita's for many year's and have always treasured our meetings. There is much to be learnt from someone as dynamic as her. Over the years I have had the pleasure of seeing her work develop, I am a proud owner of one of her earliest large landscapes of Port Bahn, and still it gives me great pleasure, and now I often stand in awe at the work she is currently producing thinking she only gets better and better.

Many of the paintings on our site have been shown at the gallery, the others returned to the artist and her own significant collection. Should you wish to see further work, please ring the gallery to discuss.

Prizes: 1994 The Armitage Prize

1994 The David Murray Travelling Scholarship

1995 The Creswick Prize

1995 The Royal Academy Silver Medal

Collections: Irish State Dublin; Donegal County Council; Guinness Dublin; Guinness London; Allied Irish Bank Dublin; Hambros Bank London; Oprah Winfrey, Chicago; 'Blur'; Donegal County Council; HRH The Prince of Wales.

Laurie MacLaren 2010