My Career: ‘Being an artist feels like an identity’

Name: Siobhán Collins

Lives: Ballinlough, Cork

Job title: Visual artist |painter

Salary bracket: €0-20,000. I don’t earn enough to make a living from my art practice, yet. Much of what I earn as an artist is reinvested in materials. To support myself, I work in other paid employment.

Education background: I have a varied educational background. I studied fashion design after leaving school. When my children were young, I returned to college and studied English and Philosophy. I have a doctorate in English from UCC. I have since completed a diploma in Botanical Art with the Society of Botanical Artists, London, and Fine Art in the RHA, accredited by TU, Dublin.

Hobbies: Walking and spending time with family and friends.

Describe your job in five words: Creative, challenging, fun, difficult, and absorbing.

Describe yourself in five words:

Emphatic, curious, creative, enthusiastic, self-motivated

Personality needed for this kind of work? I don’t know if there’s a specific personality type needed to be an artist. Although,you’d need to be quite resilient as it takes a long time to establish oneself and there will undoubtedly be a lot of rejection along the way.

How long are you doing this job? five years.

How did you get this job? I’ve always been passionate about art for as long as I remember. I would have liked to go to art school directly after doing my leaving cert, but it wasn’t feasible at the time. Instead, I studied fashion design and worked in this field for about 10 years, in various capacities: as a designer; boutique manager, and as a visual merchandiser.

After a short break in my career, I returned to UCC to study the humanities, and worked as a tutor there for several years.

I then became a technical writer in the IT industry.

After my mother passed away in 2016, I found myself reassessing my life and decided to return to my first and lasting passion: fine art.

I became a professional artist in 2019. This is a self-employed position. Being an artist, for me, feels like an identity as much as it does a job.

Do you need particular qualifications or experience? You don’t need any particular qualifications or experience to create art. However, there are a lot of different skills required in maintaining an art practice so it would be helpful to have a qualification in fine art or a related subject. Experience comes with time and practice.

Describe a day at work: Days vary. As much as possible, I try to spend up to four hours in my studio developing ideas and painting, but there are many other demands on my time as well, such as marketing, writing proposals for funding, submitting work for exhibitions and applying for residencies.

Today, for instance, has mostly been spent framing and packing work for my upcoming exhibition.

How many hours do you work a week?

Lots and lots more than 40.

What do you wear to work? I wear overalls or an apron to protect my clothing from paints.

Is your industry male or female dominated? Male dominated traditionally, but there are many females working in the field and increasingly getting the attention they deserve.

Does this affect you in any particular way? No, I don’t think so.

Is your job stressful? How? Rate it on a scale of 1-10: It can be stressful leading up to deadlines, but generally not very. I’d give it a 6.

Do you work with others or on your own?

I work mainly on my own, but I also enjoy collaborating with others on projects and exhibitions and learn a lot from that process.

I’m currently collaborating on a project with artists Ciara Fitzgerald and Emmett McCann to create a zine about the cultural symbolism of hair.

I’m also showing work in a group exhibition, Final Figures, which involves collaborating with two other artists and a curator. I’ve included details of this show below.

When do you plan to retire or give up working? Never

Best bits: Creative freedom. It’s extremely satisfying to create work that you’re proud of, to create something that wasn’t there before. And it’s so fun to play with ideas.

Worst bits: With creative freedom comes a lot of choice, indecision, and doubt. Also, the constant admin and lack of funds.

Although there is more funding available for artists today, it’s a highly competitive process to apply for it, and only a small percentage of artists receive support.

Advice to those who want your job?

Go for it! The best advice I can give is to seek the support of fellow artists. Without that support, it can be isolating. I’m a member of Sample-Studios and Backwater Artists in Cork. The support they provide is invaluable and makes all the difference in building a sustainable and enjoyable career.

Any other comments?

You are very welcome to visit the exhibition, Final Figures, which is Sample-Studios’ first group show of 2025 and curated by art historian, Dr Matthew Whyte.

It is taking place at the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Fitzgerald’s Park until February 22.

I’m delighted to be exhibiting several works alongside two fantastic Cork-based artists: Emmet Brickley and Joseph Heffernan. It is free to enter and all are welcome!