Born 1972, Deirdre O’ Brien graduated from the Crawford College of Art and Design with a BA in Fine Art Painting in 1994.  She lives and works in Cork City, and has long held a studio with the Backwater Artist’s Group.

Deirdre O’ Brien’s paintings,  while belonging very definitely to the genre of landscape, are not focused on the pictorial recording of a scene or place.  Instead, they concentrate on atmosphere, the elements, transient light and weather conditions and their effects on the landscape.  The excitement first experienced by being these conditions is brought back to the studio and she endeavours to,  not only to recreate but,  build on the mood.  The drama of the elements is echoed by heightened colour, paint texture and markmaking.

She has exhibited on a regular basis with solo exhibitions and two-person shows at the Paul Kane Gallery in Dublin since 1999, while also showing regularly at The Fenton Gallery, Cork and The Lavit Gallery Cork.  Some of her most recent exhibitions have included Silver, A Backwater Artist Group Exhibition at the Wandesford Quay Gallery, Artwork from the AIB Collection at The Hunt Museum, Limerick, Curated by Donald Teskey and CASe 2014 at the Lavit Gallery.

Her work is in the collection of the Office of Public Works, Allied Irish Bank,  Microsoft Ireland, University College Cork, Tralee Regional Technical College, Cork Arts Fest and Various Private Collections.