Drawing a bunch of Roses

Nadine O’Reilly has always loved The Rose of Tralee festival, but this year’s event has an added layer of excitement for her.

The 24-year-old has had early access to the glamour and style of the festival this year. Since the conclusion of selection nights across the country, she has been drawing caricature portraits of each rose.

The Clones woman began her drawing journey with Monaghan Rose Leah Murphy, followed by the Cavan Rose Grainne Burns and has already completed three other Rose drawings. She has been documenting the process on TikTok and Instagram and when she’s finished, she is sending the illustration to each Rose, free of charge.

As a self described “very sentimental” person, Nadine loves keepsakes, which is why she is sending her work to the Roses.

“For me it’s all about creating something meaningful for people to look back on. To be able to do that, it does really feel amazing,” she told the Celt.

“Some of them have made wee keepsake boxes and some of them are putting their illustrations in there. Some are framing them; everyone has their own idea for a way to remember it.

“I’m so excited to be able to contribute,” she said.

Nadine began her business ‘The Wee Doodley Studio’ at the beginning of this year, and is “proud” of how it has grown. For Nadine, it was important to include “wee” in her business name as a nod to her home county.

“I like it, it adds that wee bit of sentiment and I’m proud of where I am from and I wanted to put that into my business.”

Weddings

She has been live drawing at weddings where she draws the bride, groom and their guests, with bookings filling up for this year and next year. Each of these illustrations takes her about five to ten minutes to complete, and the guest can pick it up when it’s ready and keep it forever. However, the Rose drawings take Nadine about an hour each.

Working full-time as an Emergency Medical Technician, Nadine has always loved art and anything that allows her to be creative. She also paints and crochets.

“Sometimes with work, if it is too busy, you don’t get a chance to do art and I find it is important to make time because it is good for your mental health.

“I just like having a bit of an outburst with art, I like opening myself to every form of it. I’ll never turn it down; I’ll always give it a go.”

Goal

With plenty of Roses left to illustrate, Nadine says she is “enjoying” the process.

Nadine’s ultimate aim is to be invited to the Rose of Tralee festival in August to live illustrate at the event. Meanwhile she would like to “keep growing” her business and eventually do live drawings full time.

“It would be unreal if I did get asked to go down. Growing up watching the Rose of Tralee it does mean a lot to me. It is definitely the goal of this project.”