Venture with us into the mystical world of Isabelle Mulvany where folkloric symbolism and ethereal beauty meet in the form of colourful portraits, atmospheric interiors and striking prints. After studying sculpture at Central St. Martins, Isabelle continued to develop her artistic practice in the form of painting. Under the pseudonym of The Meadow Mind, she creates captivating gouache and oil studies featuring a band of colourful characters who bring ancient rituals into the contemporary world. Today we have decided to pick the artist’s brain to find out more about her work and its influences. 

Why do you paint? 

If we’re going for the simple answer. I can’t not. It would be impossible for me not to. 

 What is most important to you in your work?

Conveying my love of nature combined with interest in the ancestry, iconography and symbolism within paganism. 

Summarise your practise in three words  

Contemporary contextualising folklore 

Jules Breton, The Song of the Lark, Oil on canvas, 1884, Art Institute of Chicago

Nikolai Astrup, Midsummer Eve Bonfire, 1915

A. Kindberg - Swedish School 1984 Oil Colours Of Summer

Who is your biggest artistic influence?

Probably Jules Breton or John William Waterhouse - With Breton what I love is the joy in the communal activities and the happiness in hard work that he gets across. Both artists, even though they are men, had a profound respect for women and portrayed women as strong, bizarre and magical beings. There is a lot of witchcraft in Waterhouse’s paintings, and lots of ritualistic moments in Breton’s work. 

When did your individual style develop? 

Four years ago, when I had my son and I was stuck at home in the evenings with nothing to do. The style initially started when I got into comics and started reading a lot of underground publications. A lot of Robert Crumb and books on superstition and ancient English lore Those two things started to converge when I was painting. 

What is your favourite artistic movement? 

For my artistic practice it is probably Barbizon school and the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. For my own personal enjoyment and aesthetic, Bloomsbury school and mid-century Swedish painters such as Nikolai Astrup. 

What is your favourite Sulis painting? (that isn’t your own!)

It has to be: A. Kindberg - Swedish School 1984 Oil Colours Of Summer

Why?

There's a couple of things I like about it - it looks mid-century when it was actually painted in 1984 - it has a lot more style than most things from that era. I like the madness in it. You don’t often see that in floral still lives. I particularly like the way one iris sticks up from the bottom of the picture completely separate from the vase.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists? 

Don’t let making your art be primarily about money. I live by Patti Smith’s words : everything you do is art, drinking coffee, reading a book, smoking a cigarette. Make everything you do in your life art. 

What does your dream studio look like?

It would be very full of flowers - I’ve always wanted to have a flower cutting bed where I work - almost like a greenhouse. Plenty of radiators so it would be warm (I get very cold extremities). I’d also have a very large and handsome ginger cat to remind my of my darling Scrumpy, my childhood cat, who would always sit with me whilst I was painting.