Lily Harley is twenty-three and grew up in the wilds of West Cork, surrounded by mountain landscapes. Nature has always been a big part of her life and that is reflected in her art pieces where animals, plants and folklore are her greatest inspirations and direct her artwork. Lily has spent the last year living on an island in Lough Derg where she shares a space amongst Ireland’s rarest wild animals and birdlife in their natural habitat. Being without electricity in her rudimentary dwelling on the island, a lot of her paintings were completed by candlelight and firelight which threw up misleading shadows which only add to the atmosphere of each painting. She says: “I was born with a natural affinity and connection to nature which my family can attest to”. She believes that if everyone was as influenced by nature (and its natural rhythms) the world would never be the same again.

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