Pauline Bewick

Pauline Bewick (b. 1935 Northumberland, England) is an Irish artist.

Pauline Bewick at Féile na Gréine, Waterville, Co. Kerry, in 2012

Bewick was born in 1935 in England, and with her mother Harry and sister Hazel, moved many times between England and Ireland, before finally settling in County Kerry where she now lives and works, near Caragh Lake. She claims to be distantly related to actress Meryl Streep, through her mother.[1] She is a descendant of 19th-century artist Thomas Bewick.[2]

In her teens Bewick started studying at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, and after graduation, moved to London. During her time there she illustrated a children's animated television series for the BBC, and also produced illustrations for books and magazines.[1] On her return to Dublin she took jobs in singing and acting, and in 1957 opened her first exhibition there.[1]

She married her husband Pat in 1963, and gave birth to two daughters, Poppy and Holly. During the 1970s, she got to know folk singer Luke Kelly in Dublin and had a sexual affair with him. She had another affair with a local man during a stay with her daughters in Samoa in 1989; when she returned she discovered Pat was also having an affair, which she accepted. By 2015, Pat had contracted Alzheimer's disease.[1]

A prolific artist, Bewick paints in oil, sculpts, and works with cloth, but is most associated with watercolours. For the last decade or so she has been working on her Yellow Man project, a large collection of works featuring a cartoon-like yellow horned figure. In 2006 she donated a collection of 200 works including tapestries, wall hangings, watercolours and sketches to the state, now on permanent display in the Walton Building at the Waterford Institute of Technology,[3] and in the Killorglin Library, Co. Kerry.[4]

During Bewick's career she has illustrated several books and published several books of prints of her paintings.[5] In 2015, at 80 years of age, she published her memoir "80: A Memoir".[1]