Roisin Derbis

Your paintings often focus on the sky and its movement. What draws you to the sky as a central subject in your work?

I’ve been exploring the idea of human connections across landscapes and it seems to me that the sky is our common link. Across countries, over oceans and forests or jungles, the sky is shared. The sky in its infinite mystery, represents wonder and longing. It has been a connecting force where humans, through time, have built a rich history of looking to the sky for answers to all kinds of mysteries. It’s the heavens, it holds our childhood wishes, we study its astrology and formations. I find that quite fascinating. Wherever I’ve been in the world, in different climates and landscapes, there are still clouds and sunsets, winds, rain and the same ranges of blue. It’s our constant in the natural world.

Roisin Derbis | Room For Joy | 2026

How does your childhood experience of growing up close to nature influence your artistic vision today?

I consider myself lucky to have grown up in the 80s where childhood was spent outside and imaginations ran wild. We were encouraged to use our curiosity daily and I’ve carried that over into my painting. Though I do often use a particular landscape or memory to guide a painting, there’s a lot of my own interpretation put into the composition, and it’s all learned imagination. Since I was given the freedom to explore so much in nature as a child, it’s become a part of me. I need to immerse myself in a forest or by a body of water or just be barefoot in my yard to be able to find my balance. Being in nature throughout my life has given me appreciation and love for the wilderness around me and built an understanding of my connectedness with the earth. If I can share that in my art, then I feel like I’m following my path.

Roisin Derbis | Storm Over Huron | 2025

Your brushwork gives a strong sense of motion and energy. Can you describe your process when capturing the changing sky?

I try to think about what kind of sky I’m hoping to bring out in my painting. Is it calm, are the colours changing, is it stormy? My brushwork tends to mimic that mood. Very often, I put the paint directly on the canvas and mix the colours as I go, almost intuitively and not always very planned. I hope to convey the opposite of stillness and once I have the basics of colour layed down I overlap the area with quick brushstrokes to create the energy I want.

Many of your works evoke both calm and intensity. How do you balance these emotional contrasts in your paintings?

It is all about balance. The natural world is full of contrasts that function together beautifully. When I’m starting a new painting, I consider what I want to be looking at from where I’m standing. What’s the focus? What’s the experience? If you think about being in a beautiful landscape, imagine where you’re standing and what’s around you. I want to stand in the landscape of my paintings and be part of it, just as I would be standing in a field; my feet in the grasses and looking up and out to the horizon. There in the natural world, there is balance so I try my best to bring that out. Earth is the grounding force with the sky always, moving and changing above.

Roisin Derbis | Funchal, Madeira | 2025

After stepping away from painting for some time, what inspired you to return to your artistic practice?

I always knew that I only wanted to paint, but didn’t have the gumption to pursue it full time. I got into art school twice when I was younger but couldn’t afford to go, so I ended up going through college online later with a completely different focus. Through my years working with young children with special needs, I was still sketching and painting often. Then the early years of motherhood felt consuming and exhausting and deeply fulfilling at the same time. Now my kids are older and I’m learning to give more time to myself. It’s a balance that takes patience but I feel a lot of calm and joy when I’m painting, so I’m being sure to lean into that.

Roisin Derbis | Gulls At Lake Huron | 2025

How has your experience as a mother influenced your perspective as an artist?

Well I want to be a good example for my kids. As in nature, life is full of balance and it’s important for them to see me as a whole person, not just Mama. I think that it’s easy for children to consider their parents without knowing that we’re all just people navigating our lives side by side. It’s important for them to know that I am a complex person with dreams and interests outside of my title as Mama. Also, I love taking my kids to museums and can see the effect that looking at art has on them. I want to evoke similar reactions in others who might stop to look at one of my pieces.

You have traveled to various countries for inspiration. How do different landscapes (Europe, Africa, New Zealand) shape your visual language?

Yes, I’ve been really lucky to travel and feel like that has given me perspective on a lot of things. I’ve seen all kinds of landscapes and cities and humans experiencing wildly different lives from mine. It grows appreciation but also an understanding that we’re not all so different. It’s easy to live in a bubble in your own world and not see the interconnectedness of the earth and everyone on it.

Regardless of the landscape at the bottom of many of my paintings, the skies I do are quite similar. I hope that resonates to portray that connection across continents and oceans. We’re all living here together, regardless of distance, all breathing the same air. I hope that someone looking at my art will pause and think about how precious the sky and our natural world is. Hopefully, we can collectively agree to look up and toss some gratitude into the sky and take better care of it all.