Aspiring art entrepreneur: An interview with Avril Egan

In the great comedy series Fawlty Towers one of the main characters, Polly, was a staff member in the hotel while pursuing her true passion, art, on the side.

Curraghboy's Avril Egan laughs as she recalls how customers in a Chinese restaurant where she worked saw similarities between her and the TV character.

"For five years I worked in a Chinese restaurant in Roscommon. My boss there was amazing and I was able to sell some of my paintings to the customers for a little extra cash flow.

"The regular customers were all comparing me to Polly on Fawlty Towers, because she used to be serving people and trying to sell her paintings at the same time!"

Art has been a major part of Avril's life for years now, and she is making it the focus of a new business she is setting up which will include creating and selling her paintings as well as greeting cards featuring her artwork.

The 22-year-old recently made calendars and Christmas cards of her paintings for the first time. These have sold out, and her work has been stocked by by the Jade and Castle Gift Shop stores in Athlone.

When we meet, she brings along two beautiful paintings, one which shows mountainous scenery that reminds this reporter of a North American wilderness, and the other a darker portrait of a cabin in the snow.

Asked to describe her work, Avril replies: "It’s soothing. I think it’s relaxing but also invigorating at the same time. It takes you to a place that’s out of the ordinary which is refreshing, I suppose, because nobody wants to see the everyday all of the time."

With the paintings, she sometimes brings her dreams to life. "I have very vivid dreams, so what I see in a dream I'll try to paint. Sometimes I'll forget it so I try to write it down in the morning."

Fashion is a big interest of hers and she gets further inspiration for her art from clothes and colours that are 'in' during a particular season.

Avril comes from a farming background and is a daughter of Eileen and Michael. After national school in her native Curraghboy, she attended secondary school in Summerhill.

"Secondary school is kind of where the art developed. As a child, my mother brought me to (art teacher) Stephanie Cuddy in Roscommon. That kind of broadened my horizons, in that I was able to experiment with different styles, but it was in secondary school that I got to perfect the techniques."

After her Leaving Cert she considered doing art in college but instead pursued an Arts degree in Irish, English and Performing Arts in NUI Galway. She completed the course earlier this year and her graduation ceremony took place last month.

She enjoyed her time in college - describing Galway as "a home away from home" - and as part of her Performing Arts studies she had a spell of work experience doing set design in the city's Mick Lally Theatre.

"In third year I was a set designer for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by Max Hafler, so the art really came in handy there. I was the only set designer for it and it was my first time ever being on my own as a set designer.

"I did about twelve hours one night in a really cold shed, painting a rose garden for a set, but it was worth it in the end."

She has also dabbled in acting but prefers set design. "I love acting but I do get nervous, so I tend to forget lines!" she laughs. "As a kid, I used to be well able to act, but now I’m just a goldfish brain!"

As she looks ahead to starting her own art business, she has received great support from her parents and her boyfriend, Athlone man Josh Carney, who recently started a career in the Defence Forces.

She and Josh have been together for the last three years after meeting on a night out in The Castle Inn pub.

"It’s a match made in heaven, you could say, because a lot of his time is in the Army barracks and when he’s doing that I have space then to do (my art).

"Josh was with me every step of the way through college and he’s seen me through the tears and tantrums and meltdowns. Him and my mother and my Dad have been the ones pushing me." 

It's within the last year that Avril started sharing her artwork on social media, particularly on her 'Avril Egan Art' Facebook page, after being encouraged to do so by her friend, Lisa Mannion.

"Up to then I had been a bit shy. It’s grand selling something to a customer that you know and see every weekend or every second weekend, but when you’re putting it out on social media you’re a bit unsure of how people are going to receive it."

She hasn't had any issues to date, as all of the online comments about her work have been positive. "Everyone has been really nice and supportive. Everyone shares and likes the page, and messages me for requests and things like that. It’s really Facebook that has started this (business) and got it up and running.

"I was going around shops a few weeks ago, and some places will take (original artwork) and some places won’t. Some have their own residency for artists and don’t really want a newcomer coming in, so that’s where Facebook has been helpful in taking all of that away. You can be your own boss this way."

She feels there's a market out there for her work, as the year is filled with special occasions that can be celebrated with original greeting cards - such as Valentine's Day, St Patrick's Day, or Easter - while a canvas painting is a versatile gift idea all year.

"A painting is a nice gift to brighten up anyplace – even office spaces. It’s amazing what a bright piece of artwork can do to get you focused and just replenish the mind a bit."

She has also worked on portraits of people which have been ordered by their relatives. These, she says, can be time-consuming.

"I take my time with portraits because a lot of them are of people that maybe have passed and the family want to remember them, so you really need to get every detail perfect. You want to do it well for the person who has ordered it."

One thing for certain is that she is willing to work hard to develop her business and she says her parents and her brother, Edward, have been an inspiration in that regard. Edward recently won the national prize for 'Land Mobility' at the FBD Young Farmer of the Year Awards.

"My brother is running his own farm now and he’s a serious businessman. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as him so I would be inspired by him, his work ethic more than anything," says Avril.

"I've had good role models growing up. I’ve seen my Mum and Dad work two and three jobs, so it’s ingrained in me to work hard."