More than a picture

Although she is based in London, portrait painter Emma Foale has fallen in love with Ireland. “There is no question in my mind that the Irish are way more sympathetic towards artists than the English, and have an enthusiasm that is really rewarding,” she says.

Having recently completed a portrait of the three daughters of a south Belfast family – her 12th commission here – Foale is coming back again, this time to the Burren in Co Clare, to paint the likeness of an Irish wolfhound. Foale says she aims for “an elegant, honest portrait that shows the sitter at their best without flattering them”.

Foale is the daughter of the Marquess of Aberdeen, and the great-granddaughter of the Earl of Aberdeen, who served twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. She says her association with Ireland started back in the 1970s, when she was engaged to a Dubliner who did the lighting for rock ’n’ roll bands. But the relationship broke up, and in 1980 she decamped to the US, where she specialised in making one-off theatrical opera capes. Foale says she continued to paint for pleasure. “In 1985 I returned to painting full time, working on portraits. Eight years ago I added horses and dogs (above) to my range, thanks to two different Irish clients, who wanted them included in portraits of their children. ” See emmafoale.co.uk

Fionola Meredith