Eamonn Mullarkey returns to Ballina to exhibit ‘Beyond the Horizon’

The Ballina-born painter first picked up a brush while in secondary school, where he began developing the distinctive style he now expresses through oil painting.

“I spent a lot of time in the art room,” he recalled. “On Wednesday afternoons, when the rest of the classes would go off to play sport - which was basically just Gaelic football at the time - I’d head back into the art room and work away there.”

Some might say the work paid off.

After studying Fine Art in Sligo, Mullarkey began exhibiting his work in galleries across Ireland and the UK.

“One important show for me was in the late 1980s at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios,” he said.

“After that, I exhibited at Kennedy’s Gallery on Harcourt Street. They were major art suppliers in the country and had a gallery upstairs where I held a show.”

Alongside these exhibitions, Mullarkey also showcased work annually at the Linenhall Arts Centre Christmas exhibitions and held a solo exhibition at Ballina Arts Centre in 2000.

Flow and efficiency

While his work and exhibition spaces have evolved over the years, his creative process has remained largely unchanged.

“I usually work on three, four, or even five paintings at the same time,” he explained.

“If I’m unsure where to take one painting, I’ll move to another canvas on a different easel and work on that instead.”

Mullarkey says this approach creates a continuous rhythm between pieces, with each painting influencing the next.

“I often get ideas for the next painting while I’m halfway through the current one. The colours and shapes begin to suggest something new, and I’ll think, ‘That’s the next painting.’”

The process, he says, creates both momentum and consistency.

“You get a lot of work done that way. Nothing feels wasted. If you’re always thinking ahead and allowing one painting to lead into the next, it helps maintain a natural flow.”

A constant source of inspiration throughout his career has been the landscape of Mayo and the Atlantic coast.

“When you grow up somewhere, you don’t always notice its beauty,” he said. “But once you leave and come back, you begin to appreciate it in a completely different way.”

Travel, however, has also played an important role in shaping his artistic perspective.

“You need to go away as well - to experience other places and influences - and then return with that knowledge and use it in your work.”

‘Beyond the Horizon’

Mullarkey is now preparing for an upcoming exhibition in Ballina, an experience he says feels especially meaningful given his connection to the town.

“I’m really excited about it because Ballina is home, and my original exhibition there was back in 2000,” he said. “It’s nice to return now with newer work that has developed over the years.”

“I’ll be looking back on my own journey when I see those walls again.”

Colour remains central to much of Mullarkey’s work, particularly in his latest exhibition, Beyond the Horizon, which draws inspiration from a question he often asked as a child - ‘What’ beyond the horizon?’

“If you look out across the coast from Inishbofin or Galway, the next stop is Greenland or Iceland, and there’s this vast expanse of sky and ocean in between,” he said.

“The colours are constantly changing - every minute, every second.”

Atlantic weather also plays a defining role in shaping the mood and palette of his paintings.

“In weather like this, the blues can be incredibly strong,” he explained. “But when storms roll in and winter nights darken, they create a completely different atmosphere — something more mysterious and foreboding.”

Even the titles of his paintings emerge naturally from the work itself.

“A lot of them end up with names like ‘Expanding Horizons’, ‘Parallel Horizons’, ‘Traversing the Blues’, and ‘Atlantic Mists’.”

While Mullarkey believes interpretation is ultimately subjective, he hopes audiences form a personal connection with his work.

“When someone stands in front of a painting and connects with it, that’s what I really love,” he said. “When it communicates something to them.”

For the artist, the greatest satisfaction comes when viewers discover their own meaning within the work.

“They’re experiencing something from the painting too,” he added. “That’s one of the biggest pleasures of it.”

‘Beyond The Horizon’ will run from June 13 to August 1 at the Ballina Arts Centre in Mayo.