Cork painter: Art has been my ‘saviour’

Former businesswoman Wendy Moore says art saved her life.

The Douglas-based artist and writer ran a lingerie shop in Cork city for 20 years. But a car accident ended that career as she “literally couldn’t get out of bed” having suffered bulging discs and sciatica as a result of the crash.

“You think you can balance everything, but you can’t,” she says. “Everything just kind of fell apart. My family and friends were great, but at the end of the day, the can has to be carried, but someone can only hold it for you for a little while.”

A single mother of four, ranging in age from 31 to 19, Wendy says it took four or five years to recover from her physical injuries with a lot of physiotherapy.

“I was in pain all the time, and that brought me to a very dark place. At the time, I needed a release, and that release was painting. It didn’t take away the pain, but it took away concentration on the pain.”

Wendy suffered from depression while she was recovering from her injuries.

“While I got physically better, I didn’t get mentally better. It took much longer to feel mentally well, and even now, I can’t say that I’m 100%. I think everything that happened led to the art, and it became my main focus. I’ve always been artistic. Even with shop displays, I’ve always had an artistic flair for that kind of thing.”

While she didn’t attend art classes, Wendy found her own way into art by reading a Salvador Dali book.

“He said if you want to be a real artist, you have to imitate the work of at least five renowned artists. If you do that to the best of your ability, nobody can say you’re not an artist. I started with Claude Monet. I read all about him. I was fortunate that I picked dead artists. Before I started the Monet painting, I said a little prayer to him, asking him to help me. That gave me a real respect for the work. I felt he was on my shoulder.”

Wendy also copied works by Kandinsky, Edvard Munch, Dali and René Magritte.

“I never wanted my paintings to be identical to the original ones. They’re very similar. They have the characteristics of the originals, but they have my flair to the best of my ability. It gave me confidence to do the paintings as it taught me techniques.”

An autodidact, Wendy also turned her hand to writing, accompanying the paintings in her self-published book, Kindness, with her poetry. The book came out two years ago and Wendy has just published another book, entitled Joy, that combines art with quotations from famous writers.

“I kind of changed my brain, training it to write poems. I probably wrote all my life. I’m not sure if my head was very crowded or I felt under a lot of pressure as I have done so many times. Writing it down is brilliant.”

Wendy says that her life became “very dark” about 18 months ago. Art has been her “saviour. If I’m desperate, I paint because at least I can make sense of what’s happening.”

But Wendy says that when depressed, she can’t always paint.

“It isn’t a quick fix. I also started meditating. I learned meditation at the School of Philosophy years ago and I do it during really dark times.”

Wendy’s new book was inspired by a memory she holds dear.

While running her lingerie shop, La Femme, she and a colleague, Sabrina, used to go to Paris twice a year to shows where they would buy lingerie stock. One year, at the airport on the way to Paris, Wendy bought a book on Oscar Wilde.

“We had really serious meetings with some serious suppliers that we wanted to deal with. I asked each of the suppliers to open a page of the Oscar Wilde book and find an inspiring quote in it for the day. It melted everything. We made every deal we wanted to make. It was brilliant because it relaxed us and it relaxed them. It stayed at the back of my mind and resulted in my book Joy.”

Given the titles of her books, Wendy is clearly aiming to be positive. She says that while there is no magic bullet to deal with the darker side of life, even small gestures can help wellbeing, such as smiling at a passer-by.

“Sometimes, you have to be so brave to be able to do that when you might want to keep your head down and keep walking. I named my first book Kindness because we need kindness. An aspect of what I’m doing is sharing. I think the world needs kindness.”

Wendy will be giving workshops starting on October 6. There will be short meditations at the beginning and end of the sessions that aim to promote mindfulness and wellness through creativity.

Kindness is also the title of Wendy’s exhibition at Old Brennan’s Wine House and Art Gallery on Oliver Plunkett Street that continues until September 22. The official launch took place on September 4. 10% of the proceeds of sales of the art will go to Pieta and Iris House.

• See: www.wendymooreart.com