Moyra Keatings

Exeter-born Moyra grew up in Belfast when the family returned to their roots in Northern Ireland.  In her early teens she went to the south of Spain, attending the excellent if eccentric St Anthony's College.  After sojourns in Redhill in Surrey and Shepton Mallet in Somerset (where she and her then partner used to walk over to Mike Eavis's Worthy Farm for cider) she returned to Spain, spending most of the 1980s in the artists' community of Altea, the 'Spanish St Ives'.  Following a bereavement she returned with her young son to settle in Banstaple where some of the family have long-established North Devon roots.  Twists and turns of career path have included waitressing, administration at an import agent, designing needlepoints, secretarial, journalism, translating, making replica Roman and Celtic costumes, museum object conservation, mountmaking and exhibition installation.  Artist's Statement: 'Art has always been an enormous part of my life, as a child I was always encouraged to paint and make things.  I am an introvert and an extrovert, excellent at daydreaming yet delighting in being practical.  Looking at objects people have made, be they antiquities, paintings, jewellery or tribal art engages me, as does the process of designing and creating things myself.  My mother's study of archaeology and more recent work at Exeter Museum (RAMM) have inspired me.  It is a pleasure to explore myth and nature themes and interpret them in silver and copper.

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