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“I’ve been able to turn my hobby into a full time career”

Aoife McManus, 8 Jul

Ciara Hampsey is a young artist from Magherafelt who has dedicated her

life to the creative industries.

Ciara has been working around the arts since she left secondary school

in 2015.

Her art is truely eyecatching, particularly her painting of County

Derry born poet Seamus Heaney, which has turned heads since it an image

of it was uploaded to social media.

She studied Art, English and Theatre Studies for A-Level, before

heading to Queen’s University, Belfast to take on an undergraduate

degree in Drama with English. Speaking about her time at uni, Ciara

said: “During my time in uni, I was creating a lot of SFX/theatrical

make-up looks and posting them on my Instagram. These posts caught the

attention of a local nightclub, and I was then offered a spot in the

club to do some facepainting for their customers. Little did I know,

that time in my life would pave the way to where I am now.”

She continued explaining how her career developed after her graduation

saying: “Once I graduated from my undergraduate degree, I decided to

return to Queen’s to do a Masters in Arts Management. It was from doing

that degree that I realised the opportunities that were present in the

arts and creative sectors here. I was still dabbling at face painting

at this stage, but I soon moved from painting faces to painting windows

for Halloween and Christmas, and this eventually led to painting larger

scale murals for clients across Ireland and England.”

Ciara explained how she has always been a bit of a ‘yes’ woman and has

said yes to every single opportunity that has come her way.

“Whether I knew how to go about doing it or not I did it. I believe you

will always find a way, and one opportunity always leads to another,”

she stated.

The Magherafelt woman is primarily an acrylic painter, however, in

terms of subject matter, she is pretty open to a wide variety of

things, whether it’s portraiture, landscapes, animals, tropical

flowers, the list goes on. Ciara says she hasn’t really found her

‘speciality’ just yet. Ciara believes she is living the dream. Speaking

on her career she said: “I’ve been able to turn my hobby into a full

time career. Not many people can say that. I love the freedom it gives

me, I love the ability to travel absolutely anywhere to display my

passion. I’m incredibly grateful to have met so many incredible people

along the way.”

Ciara also enjoys the collaborative nature of the job.

“I love coming together with my clients to discuss ideas. It’s extra

rewarding seeing their happy faces once I’ve brought their ideas to

life.”

The artist believes that being from County Derry is undoubtedly a huge

part of her cultural identity.

She said: “It’s what I’ve grown up with. I believe the idea of

‘cultural identity’ subconsciously inspires my artwork and career. A

lot of my work resides in local hospitality venues, many of which are

family-led. I have lost count of how many fiddles, pints of the ‘Black

Stuff’ and ‘pub grub’ images I’ve painted over the years. But having

partnered with these venues, I’ve witnessed the connection between all

things culture. Art, traditional music, local food and beverage, family

and how they bring local communities together. It all goes hand in

hand.”

Ciara said the sense of community has been integral to her career. I’ve

found that the people of Derry are really keen to celebrate local

talent and share their stories, as seen with my recent paintings of

Seamus Heaney and Liam Neeson.

Ciara’s painting of Seamus Heaney was a commissioned piece for the new

Fiddler’s Rest Bar in Portglenone. This was to match another

commissioned piece of Liam Neeson. The paintings are on display in the

bar, as a celebration of local talent.

In terms of inspiration, Ciara loves street art, and finds herself in

awe of the local talent here.

However she says her biggest inspiration is her family.

“As cliche as it sounds, my family have been my main inspiration when

it comes to my career. Their support and encouragement over the years

has really kept me grounded and we’re constantly sharing ideas with

each other,” she said.

Another inspiration of Ciaras’s is the late playwright Jo Egan.

“During my theatre days, I had the pleasure of working with Jo on her

production ‘Body Politics’,” she said.

“Jo was someone who was incredibly comfortable and confident in her

storytelling. She gave a voice to those whose stories typically went

unheard. In one of our last interactions, I fondly remember Jo joking

that she was ‘running out of steam’, even though she was working on a

new script, and that she was leaving it up to me and other upcoming

artists to ‘carry the creative torch’. I think of those words way more

than I care to admit, but they’ve definitely aided me in times of

creative block or self doubt.”

And last but not least, Ciara admits finding inspiration in song

lyrics!

She said: “I can sit and listen to lyrics and images will flash into my

head instantly. I’ve a huge list of painting ideas that are all

inspired by different songs, from rap to dance to country music. I

actually completed a skateboard design at the end of 2023, which was

inspired by Ultrabeat’s ‘Elysium’.”

You can find Ciara and her stunning work on Instagram and Facebook -

@paintedbyciarah