Explore fashion designer turned painter Petria Lenehan’s Wicklow studio
Nestled in the Wicklow wilds, her studio provides ample inspiration for her landscape paintings.
It’s been almost two years since Petria Lenehan packed up her Hudson Valley home and returned to her native Ireland. It was a move she and her husband, photographer Rich Gilligan, had been planning for some time, but finding the right house in the right location fast-tracked everything.
“We knew exactly how we wanted to live,” she tells me, “in the countryside, but within striking distance of the city. That’s how we lived in Hudson, which is 90 minutes north of Manhattan, and it really worked for us.” When they found out that a converted railway building, on the edge of an old Wicklow estate, with its own workshop in the woods was coming up for sale, they acted quickly. “It was all a bit of a whirlwind,” she says, “but we knew the house was perfect for us so off we went.”
Arriving in the depths of a winter lockdown, with their two daughters, Robyn and Simone, they set about transforming the workshop into a studio almost immediately. “Rich insulated it and plastered it,” says Petria, “and we put the skylights in to bring in more light. Then we painted everything white, so we had a clean background from which to work on.”
Having renovated a number of houses, Petria’s design vision is simple: let the building and its surroundings dictate the aesthetic. “I choose colours that are easy to live in, and I almost always choose a natural palette. It’s important to me that anywhere I live has a relaxed and down-to-earth feel, so I don’t have good rooms or hide things away.”
The studio – and her home – are dotted with flea market finds and beautiful antiques, many of which were sourced in the US, and everything has a story. She thinks carefully before buying anything.
“I have to love it,” she says. “It has to be well made. I always ask myself, ‘Will I get tired of this?’, because I am in for the long haul. I have to enjoy looking at it and using it.”
Her style is constantly evolving: “I am really drawn to white but in recent years I’ve become more adventurous.” Her husband’s aesthetic always informs hers. “I think if it’s all you, it’s too much of one thing, and someone else’s style can give an interior a real edge. It’s a house, not a showroom.”
Petria wasn’t always a painter. After reading English at Trinity College, she studied fashion at FIT in New York, before setting up her own boutique, Dolls, in Dublin city centre. Here she gained a loyal following not only for her quirky style but also for her quiet grace.
She moved to Brooklyn following the birth of her daughter, Robyn, and it was here that fashion design gave way – slowly – to a deeper instinct to paint. “It wasn’t really planned,” she says. “I was living a quieter life and was drawn to something more introspective and art leant itself to that side of me. It was also a much simpler way of living. I put a few pieces out there and the reaction was good, which really helped my confidence. I gradually transitioned over a year and now here I am.”
Another move, this time from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley, brought her closer to nature, where walks along the Hudson River had a profound effect on her work. “It’s been an absolute joy to paint the ever-changing nature of this river and the place I now call home,” she wrote on her Instagram feed during the pandemic, “I am grateful that even during these difficult times I can find peace in this place and it is this sense of peace that I hope to convey in the work and share with you all.”
Is there anything about the US she misses? “America was inspiring. It’s so vast and there’s so much freedom to create. You can be as niche as you like, there’s enough people to get it. There were so many independent makers and I do miss that connection.”
With her daughters settled in a local school, Petria spends mornings in the studio. Rich works there too, and the dog makes regular visits. There’s even a cat: the legacy of previous owners. Raising children, running the home and finishing her latest collection is a constant juggling act, but she has no regrets.
“I love it here. I love walking and I love seeing how everything changes season to season. I grew up in Dublin and while I knew Wicklow well, I had never come this far into Wicklow, and it’s actually really wild; if you go up the mountains, it’s incredible. And I’m close to the sea too, which I never like to be too far away from. It really suits me to live like this.”
Photography: Doreen Kilfeathe
This feature was originally published in the spring/summer 2022 issue of IMAGE Interiors. Have you thought about becoming an IMAGE subscriber? Our Print & Digital subscribers receive all four issues of IMAGE Magazine and two issues of IMAGE Interiors directly to their door along with access to all premium content on IMAGE.ie and a gorgeous welcome gift worth €60 from The Handmade Soap Company. Visit here to find out more about our IMAGE subscription packages.
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