A relationship with her bucket and mop … but actually in love with the sea

MAJELLA O’NEILL COLLINS

A relationship with her bucket and mop … but actually in love with the sea

By Lynda Cookson

The last house on the there-and-back road on Sherkin Island, a brown-stained cabin sitting on a lawn just metres from the lapping sea, belongs to artist Majella O’Neill Collins and her husband Michael. They live there with their children Michael (12) and Fiona (10).

Majella’s abstract paintings, vibrant in their blues, crimsons, greens and yellows, hang against fresh white walls, looking back at the reality of themselves - the real sea - through large windows and the open front door.