Artist: Orla Creative
Artist Statement
“Charging Storms” Orla Creative completed 2025 In a world where suffering is inevitable, the artist asks the question. How do you face life’s storms? When the world downpours trauma at our feet, should we hide or run towards it? Buffalo run to face, the force of harsh conditions, actively confronting the worst quickly, reducing their overall hardship. Facing our fears head on, forces our growth, strengthens our willpower and pushes our limits to see the light sooner, the rainbow, the sign everything is calm. She stands strong ready to charge, determined to tackle whatever is a head. Back up reserves, our internal fire, she stands back ready to push forward at any turn. Scattered past storms lay around their feet. They are old wounds, reminders of their survival. Always push through, the rainbow is on the other side.
Artist Biography
Artist Bio – Orla Creative is a Belfast born contemporary visual 2D and Metalsmithing creator. Orla studied in University of Ulster and National College Of Art and Design in Dublin. In 2002 Orla created, Oh! Designs a successfully jewellery business, exhibiting, selling and creating commercial and commissioned pieces for decades. Also having travelled, worked and explored, world, for four decades, Orla moved towards painting in 2017 as it expressed her true passion of colour. Orla uses limitless mediums (oil, acrylic, watercolour, fine metals and recycled materials ) to create the final vision of her work. Orla wants to provoke thought with her pieces, using vibrant colours, energic marks and layers of texture, impressionism influences her heavily. From 2020/22 Orla voluntarily created village art. Using trees as a canvas to project message of positivity and hope. The freedom gave her an opportunity to work with large scale sculpture, murals and light for her own curated exhibition. BBC Country File discovered the work and commissioned a portrait of a “Junior Hero” using recycled materials(Aired Nov 2022) After suffering and surviving many of lifes storms, She used creativity to heal. Now what emerges is a new fluorescent optimism, it washes across the canvas to bring the viewer a sense of wild growth and hope. During the last two years, healing has made Orla questions at how trauma effects us and can lead to growth and a new sense of worth.