Kathleen Bridle RUA

Kathleen Bridle was a landscape painter born in Kent but brought up in Ireland. According to Kathleen, she never went to school for any length of time because all she wanted to do was draw. So, in 1915 she went to the Metropolitan School of Art where she won two silver medals. The Royal Dublin Society awarded her with the Taylor Scholarship in her final year.

Having already exhibited in a number of places, in 1950, Kathleen put on a solo show in the Belfast museum and Art Gallery where she showed 28 watercolours and four oil paintings. She was described as having ‘very special qualities: economy of means, directness, and spontaneity.’ Among other exhibitions in Belfast, in 1973, she held a solo exhibition at the Queen’s University Staff Common room and then Bridle went on to teach T.P Flanagan and William Scott. Scott said, ‘her teaching influences on me was profound…we learn from her work a new way of looking, the familiar is transformed and she invites us to share a new vision.’. After all of her achievements, she continued to paint until she died.