Contemporary Scottish landscape artist Ellis O'Connor talks about her artistic inspirations.
Summary
Ellis O’Connor discusses her artistic influences, inspirations, and advice for aspiring artists. She names Francis Walker, Kate Downie, and Barbara Rae as key mentors whose adventurous spirit, expressive mark-making, and masterful color use have shaped her approach. Beyond visual art, she draws inspiration from poetry, especially Seamus Heaney and Norman MacCaig, for their evocation of landscape, and from music by Fleet Foxes, Sigur Rós, and Ludovico Einaudi, which helps her reach a creative flow. Dividing her time between Skye and Glasgow, O’Connor finds balance in nature’s solitude and community life. Her advice to young artists is to believe deeply in themselves, promote their work confidently, and cultivate an authentic, evolving style rooted in personal inspiration.
TRANSCRIPT
I think the main artists I think of that really have inspired me and that I've looked to like throughout art school and since are I really love the art of Francis Walker, who's such an incredible artist based in Scotland and she's in her 90s now and still very much painting. And I remember I used to look at her—she had a lot of art books when I was younger in art school—and she spent a lot of time traveling around the islands, Antarctica, the Arctic, and is such an incredible printmaker. But you can really get across a sense of her love and joy of being in these places through her work. So I used to look at her practice a lot when I was younger and I still do, and she's amazing.
I also really love Kate Downy's work because again, it's got so much energy in it and so much power, and I just love the playfulness of the mark-making that she has. Again, such an amazing person, and I actually reached out to her when I was in art school and just sent her an email because I loved her book so much, and she had a phone call with me for like half an hour and gave me some amazing advice, which is great because as artists it's so important to support each other and cheer each other on as well. There's room for all of us.
And lastly, Barbara Rae—because her use of color is incredible. I love her work so much and I've looked at her work for such a long time because she spent a lot of time again in the Arctic and places that I love to go to and immerse myself in, but the way that she depicts them and her interpretation of those places is so unique and so individual to her style. Her use of color and line and energy in her work as well—it's amazing. So I think those three women come to my mind when I think of that.
But I have so many inspirations really in general. I think in terms of inspirations, it's so important to think outside the box of it not just being about other painters or visual artists because I get a lot of inspiration from reading poetry. I love the work of Seamus Heaney and Norman MacCaig. Both of their poetry in terms of how they experience such visceral feelings of being in the landscape of Ireland or the Highlands of Scotland is exactly how I feel when I'm in those places—that feeling of being very small and insignificant and the power of the land around you. But I express that through painting, and they express it through words. So I love both of their work. Poetry is a huge thing for me.
In terms of music, I really love the work of Fleet Foxes, Sigur Rós, and Ludovico Einaudi, the pianist. I think it's because when I listen to their music, it really puts me into a flow state. When I'm painting in my studio, I need to listen to quite specific music because if I listen to other stuff, I can get quite distracted and it doesn't really inspire me. So I'm quite selective—I'll listen to certain music constantly, the same songs one after another, because I get quite hyperfocused on certain music. I get a lot from listening to those bands as well because you can feel the emotion in their work. The work of Sigur Rós in particular—their visuals for their music videos are so beautiful and so evocative, really quite haunting and atmospheric. I find them very inspirational.
So yeah, lots of things—walking outside, going up north. There's no end to the kind of things that inspire me in general. I'm going between Skye and Glasgow actually. I don't live in Skye full-time because I've realized that I need both in my life, and if I can carve out a way of existing between them, that's perfect for me.
In terms of being drawn to a place like that, it was very much because of the power and significance of the landscape there. I would argue it's possibly the most dramatic place in Scotland—so powerful, so dramatic. The landscape and environment have such a deep sense of culture and feeling and emotion; it's so ancient. The community are wonderful—so many people drawn there from all around the world and wonderful people that have always lived there, making really interesting things happen. Skye’s got an incredible balance of landscapes, hiking, climbing, and a strong sense of culture and community, which is incredible.
Thinking about your own—what advice would you give to aspiring artists?
The advice I would give to an aspiring artist is to believe in yourself so deeply on such a strong level that no one else’s opinions can affect how you feel about yourself or your art. Being an artist is a career that people will always project onto, saying things like, “Can you actually make money from that?” or “Why don’t you do something else?” But if you really believe in your work and know you want to create and express yourself, you have to validate that so much.
Honestly, the biggest thing that makes things happen for artists is having a strong belief in themselves. You have to not be scared of taking up space and promoting your work, getting your work out there as much as possible, and not being afraid of that—because no one’s going to see it otherwise. Take up space, be loud about your art, be your biggest cheerleader, and be proud and in love with what you do.
I’d also say to cultivate your niche, your style—because when you’re low on inspiration or unsure what to create, if you know what inspires you, that helps. For me, it’s going on a massive walk in the Highlands, climbing a Munro—I know I’ll get inspiration from that. So find what gives you passion and inspiration, and cultivate a unique style that people can identify as yours. Allow yourself to grow and change that style too, because artists with an authentic style will always stand out. And why would you not want to be authentic?
