Jackie chosen for prestigious DCU art commission
IT has been almost impossible for her to keep it a secret, but now Jackie Hudson Lalor can shout it from the roof tops!
The talented local artist is one of five award-winning and internationally-acclaimed artists who have been selected for Accenture’s Women on Walls at DCU initiative, which will celebrate the lives of female pioneers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) through a series of commissioned portraits.
Jackie will be painting a portrait of the pioneering NASA mathmatician Katherine Johnson, and she says it is a huge honour to have been selected.
“So many people knew I applied, so it was so hard for me not to tell them, as I have known for weeks that I was chose,” she told the Drogheda Independent.
“I have been waiting my whole life to do this and have no fear or qualms. I saw the movie Hidden Figures a few years ago, and I knew she was an extraordinary woman, so she was someone I really wanted to paint.”
Jackie came to art late, only starting in her 40s, but she has a successful print studio as well as her wonderful painting.
Her daughters Jamie (25) and Katya (20) have followed in her footsteps, and she credits her husband Kevin Lalor as her greatest patron and support.
“Jamie is an illustrator and Kato (Katya) is in second year in art college,and I have always been as supportive as I can, and encourage them to be independent.” she explains.
“It is very hard to make a living from art, and I’m hoping this commission will give me a boost.”
Accenture’s Women on Walls initiative is a campaign that seeks to make women leaders visible through a series of commissioned portraits that will create a lasting cultural legacy for Ireland.
The commissioned portraits will be hung in the Future-Tech building at DCU’s Glasnevin Campus
“This will be the most ambitious project I have ever undertaken and the biggest canvas, at six foot by four foot, “explains Jackie.
“I was given instructions that Katherine must take up at least a third of the canvas, and after that, I am left to my own design and devices, and I have done huge amounts of research into her life, and early stages of her career in order to capture what she was about.”
The other portraits will honour the contributions of Beatrice Alice Hicks, Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, Marie Maynard Daly and Kathleen (Kay) McNulty.
“It’s going to take me about five or six months to complete this commission, so it will take up a lot of my time, but it’s very exciting, and can’t wait to get stuck in,” she concludes.
Born in Dublin, Jackie worked as a Graphic Artist there, creating artwork for the flexographic print industry and later worked for Smurfit Display, producing artwork for point of sale display products.
She recently completed prints for the legendary rock guitarist and singer Suzi Quattro.
You can see more of Jackie’s work on her website www.jackiehudsonlalor.com.