Estuaries: The Creative Habits of Erin Mulligan

Estuaries, the meeting and combining of salt and fresh water. The dilution of both so that a new thing emerges. Like the water, two currents of our minds, the conscious, and the subconscious. The logical, and the not always so logical. The subliminal space in between is where Erin Mulligan’s art finds its magic. Driven by a love of the natural world with a curious fascination towards learning how relationships and interactions within this world function, she views herself as an explorer of realms which oddly reflect reality without being recognizably real. It is Mulligan’s passion to communicate the beauty of life in a different way, hoping to inspire others to contemplate the world more openly and deeply.

Erin Mulligan is a professional fine painter living and working out of North East Ohio. She is known for her meticulously crafted, narrative driven oil paintings. An artist growing up in a family of artists, Erin can’t remember a time when she wasn’t driven by a love to create. With the support and valuable criticisms of her mother and grandmothers, her artistic skill grew in step with her person. In 2004 Erin studied the Flemish glazing technique she uses today with local artist, Frank Dale, who encouraged her to make paintings of the creatures in her sketchbook. With this simple statement he unlocked the entire world for Erin. She creates her worlds by metaphorically weaving very real sentiments with imaginative characters in an expressive bouquet driven by love of nature, curiosity, and in short the experience of being human.