There are a fair few cows in Wicklow but for Kelly Hood they provide a constant source of inspiration. Kelly specialises in uniquely Irish images and animal scenes and her cow paintings in super-realist style are a favourite. Kelly, who attended Meanscoil na Toirbhirte in Dingle, Co. Kerry before going on to study at the Limerick College of Art & Design and IADT, grew up in Dingle and spent her summers helping to milk the cows on her grandmother’s Mae’s farm.”I eat them, I wear them, and I paint them,” Kelly quipped, “so I owe them something, don’t I? “In Wicklow, I’m never short of a willing model. I found my first in 2008 and we bonded over a barbed wire fence. I determined then that I would paint her — and one cow led to another. I guess a touch of mad cow ensued.”