Geraldine Leonard
Geraldine Leonard is a renowned Irish textile artist and designer creating unique pieces of handmade art and textiles. She graduated from the College of Marketing & Design in Display Design, afterwards going on to study Visual Communications and Textile Design in America.
She worked in multimedia and advertising during her early years of living in Chicago, working as a freelance graphic designer and then as an art director for the remainder of her time there. After returning to Dublin she set up her own Graphic Design business which she has run successfully for over 20 years working with many prominent clients such as Nestlé, Debenhams, Mars Ireland, Murphy Brewery, Aer Lingus, Motorola, The Ritz-Carlton, The Fitzwilliam Hotel and Thornton's Restaurant to name but a few.
After a fulfilling career as a graphic designer, she rediscovered her passion for working with textiles, it is with these materials that she depicts her own visions of the Irish landscape. Her art strives to create a timeless image of the subject, while simultaneously celebrating Ireland’s heritage and wild beauty.
Geraldine works from her studio in Enniskerry in Wicklow and is inspired by the spectacular scenes she encounters on a daily basis when out walking her dog Bailey. Each piece is made with beautiful luxurious soft cashmeres, mohairs and silks to capture the true essence of her surroundings. The striking combination of sensual, velvety textiles and a vividly rich colour palette allows her to transform scenes from our wild Irish landscape into incredibly unique pieces of abstract art. She sources her natural materials locally where possible to ensure that her work is produced to the highest of standards.
She refers to her own photography on location and the images are then sketched in preparation for each original piece, they are then designed and hand crafted in her studio. Geraldine created her very own unique way of working with these natural textiles, she uses multiple processes which makes her pieces innovative and inspiring. She adds her signature and a title herself before framing.