ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE
MARGO IN MARGATE
SINCE 2014 , MARGATE-BASED IRISH ARTIST MARGO MCDAID , BEST KNOWN FOR HER VIBRANT WORKS AND STRIKING FEMALE PORTRAITURE , PAINTS EVERY DAY FROM HER COASTAL STUDIO . WITH A TRUE PASSION FOR THE NATURAL CREATIVE PROCESS , FEMALE ROLE MODELS AND A RECENT NATIONAL BRAND COLLABORATION UNDER HER BELT , MARGO ’ S UNIQUE WORK CONTINUES TO CAPTURE THE ATTENTION OF BOTH ARTISTS AND ADMIRERS .
What led you to becoming an artist ? All my life I ’ ve dreamt about being an artist . One of my happiest early childhood memories is being around seven years of age doing a painting of a clown at an easel . As I was painting , the teacher got the class to stand around and have a look at the picture of a clown and I remember thinking ‘ I really love this ’.
It ’ s truly a lifelong dream . My mum said that as a young child I was always colouring , drawing and writing , so it ’ s a dream to still bring that to fulfilment daily ; I cannot believe it has happened - I feel so unbelievably lucky .
What do you find inspiring about Kent and Margate specifically ? Renowned British artist J . M . W . Turner spoke openly about his love for Margate ’ s skies and the light in Kent and I agree , the light here in Margate is exceptionally beautiful . There is a true science behind the light , it being brighter here because the light reflects off the sea , so therefore it ’ s brighter towards the coast . Margate and Kent as a whole is truly a lovely place to live , which certainly inspires a lot of artists .
You ’ re committed to painting daily ? Was this a natural process born out of love for the artform , or something you ’ ve deliberately set out to achieve ? I didn ’ t really start that until I was around 44 , and I remember having this revelation that I was actually quite talented and I wasn ’ t doing anything with it so therefore I made a decision then to start . I asked myself what would happen if I did something that I loved every single day with a really powerful passion and then committed to do it every day for 10 years , questioning where I would be once that decade has passed . That was the goal . It ’ s certainly an energy more than anything else ; a power , an act of rebellion to do something against all odds and to just keep doing it . The natural process always remains the same because I genuinely , absolutely and completely love it , it ’ s addictive ! I can ’ t tell you how happy the act of painting makes me .
Has female portraiture always characterised your work ? Why ? I think getting to know yourself is really important and , for me , I feel like now that I know myself it ’ s clear that female role models have always been a source of inspiration for me . I love female musicians and have done from a very early age , right the way through from Madonna to Annie Lennox and even Taylor Swift . I have always admired that female voice and female identity , they speak to me in a way that other music just doesn ’ t speak to me whether through music or art . An example is meeting Katherine Ryan at the Gusto photoshoot , a powerful woman that is authentically brilliant and a great role model who is honest and fearless . Women do inspire me a lot , but when I first started I was drawing anything so it certainly was a gradual process of creating original pieces that come from the soul and lived experiences .
What were your initial thoughts when Gousto approached you to create a plate collection for the Off My Plate campaign ? They were an amazing team to work with from the very first meeting at my studio in Margate . What was really lovely was they told me what they liked about my art - because you do become blind to what you do - and they loved the way that I used my writing . I have always believed that how we use words is really important , so they wanted to put those words on the plates and turn it into artwork as a fun showcase highlighting that dinner doesn ’ t have to be a chore caused by the pressure of putting healthy , nutritious , well-balanced food on the table every day . I loved getting inside that team and working out what the designs were going to be just as much as I enjoyed making them !
How did you approach the creative process for the Off My Plate range ? There was a real conversation with the team because although they were using my graphic lettering , it was somebody else ’ s vision . I really liked that collaborative feedback process although I suppose I did find it challenging when they shared opinions on each piece , but it wasn ’ t a problem , it was more of an opportunity for me to go back and reassess . It ’ s really good to be outside of your comfort zone and it was definitely out of my comfort zone to work with such a big brand to deliver something that was of a really good quality , yet fun and different to what I normally do too . I ’ ve never worked with a big brand before , so going back and forth with the designs was really interesting . I had visions of it being really complicated , but actually the team were experts at feeding back so it was really enjoyable .
You don ’ t necessarily see what you ’ re going to get out of it at the time , but there is a real growth in terms of mindset . I think every single painting or artwork that I do , I learn something from it , but to take somebody else ’ s vision was a massive learning curve . I ’ d love to take on more briefs ; it ’ s a great way to grow as an artist and experience growth in your ideas , plus learning to accept somebody else ’ s opinion about what you do is both informative and transformative .
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