How NiamhU Art began…

Resigning from my job in the fashion industry and starting to think about where I could go next, lead us to our decision to travel around South East Asia for 3 months. These 3 months were soooooo much fun, we did SO much and I will forever be grateful to have seen and experienced as much as we did during this time - but those memories might be for a blog another day!!

The goggles were a special request as I wear daily contact lenses…

During our adventure, plans for my future career were always on my mind and we would regularly ‘spit-ball’ ideas of what could be next. The one that stuck? - painting live at weddings and events across the UK and beyond. You see, even before we went travelling I was oil painting pet portrait commissions as christmas presents, mother’s day presents and just general gifts. Prior to this, during my fashion design and marketing degree, I would constantly oil paint imagery to use in my sketchbook and portfolio (some of these I am dying to professionally frame and put on my online store for you).

One of my oil paintings out of my university portfolio.

I first started my oil paint journey when I was about 17, nearly 8 years ago. My favourite piece was a massive realistic face on calico of a fellow student with amazing features, glasses , a beard and piercings. I think I will always be so happy with how this turned out , and if you’re a friend from my college, I’m sure you’ve seen the piece a thousand times!! I also painted imagery of my dad with linework overlayed inspired by the artist Moises Mahiques, a spanish artist who layers lines to create the feeling of movement which I often found emotive. This piece that i created was using realism and is currently on display in my dad’s office.

Sorry about this being so blurry, the actual piece is hidden in my garage so this is the only photo I have!

And even further back, I had my first paid commision when i was around 14. After my parents had let me paint myself a mural on my bedroom wall, my mum showed her nail tech , who showed her auntie, who commissioned me to paint a hugggee 10 by 6 foot abstract sunset (in acrylic paint and waterproof sealant) to be hung above their outdoor hot-tub! From there I was commissioned to paint a vibrant skateboard, sold some pre-made watercolour and acrylic art on paper and canvases, and I even commissioned digital artworks for friends, family and businesses!

These are the first 2 digital artworks I ever did, just for family.

But anyway, before I go on a tangent and list every piece of artwork I’ve ever worked on (if you can believe I haven’t yet), let’s go back to 2026.

So we are in Asia. More specifically, Malaysia > Thailand> Laos> Vietnam> Philippines.

And it was actually Cam (my boyfriend, shout out) who had the idea to live paint weddings and events. I had never heard of it before, but after a lot of research (and watching so many TikTok videos) it was at the top of my ‘career ideas list’. Admittedly, it was a little frustrating to not be able to do much to start on this path. I obviously had no paints, canvases, white spirit etc with me to start creating… And even if I did (which we wouldn’t have had the bag space for) it wouldn’t of been practical to transport drying oil paintings around the world. All we could do was create an Instagram ready for when we got home and research! Research! Research!

On the 18th May I actually created my first instagram post for my new account and then waited to be at home to share it. If you haven’t seen it (although if you scroll down I’ve dropped it on this blog page), it’s a video I took on Lio beach in El Nido of me speaking to the camera and spilling what my plans were for my new freelance role! I did it whist Cam was in the sea, watching the flights land, so he wouldn’t hear me awkwardly speak to my phone… Although it was quite a busy beach so the surrounding people could still hear… I even edited a shorter version of the video to put on my personal Instagram story to entice people to click on my new account!

And that is sort of the birth of NiamhU Art… I am working hard to keep adding unique services to my website and I am always reachable if you ever have a cool new idea for me or if you would like to commission me to make your vision come to life - I always love new things!

Or if you’ve been thinking about turning a precious memory into a personal piece of art to jazz up your home, give me a message - I’d love to help!

I hope you enjoyed my FIRST EVERRRR BLOGGG!! Thank you, if you’ve made it to the end! I’m going to try post a few of these so stay tuned….