Edwina McGrail (born 1950) is a Welsh artist and poet. In both her paintings and poetry, McGrail references

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a ...

, images and traditional patterns.

Biography

McGrail was born in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in north Wales and attended the Cheltenham College of Art and Design during 1967 and 1968 before studying at the Birmingham College of Art and Design until 1971. She completed her studies at the

Royal Forest of Dean College Royal Forest of Dean College was a college of further education located close to the town of Coleford, in the Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire. It was dissolved by government order as of 31 January 2011 in order to be merged to Gloucest ...

throughout 1975 and 1976. From 1976 McGrail participated in a number of group exhibitions, including a 1979

Welsh Arts Council The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; cy, Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales. Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts C ...

touring exhibition of work by young artists and, also in 1979, a joint show with David Nash and Ken Nathan at

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...

. Solo exhibitions in Ireland, at

Mitcheldean Mitcheldean is a market town in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. History Mitcheldean was a thriving community for many centuries due to the town's proximity to iron ore deposits. During the 19th century, the town grew due to revenu ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and at

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

followed. A solo exhibition, ''Through the Eye of the Morrigan'', was held at the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

during 2001 while a further exhibition of her work was taking place in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. An illustrated anthology of her poetry, ''Celtic Madness'' was published in 1996. McGrail is a resident of

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrail, Edwina 1950 births Living people 20th-century Welsh painters 20th-century Welsh poets 20th-century Welsh women artists 21st-century Welsh painters 21st-century Welsh poets 21st-century Welsh women artists Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art Alumni of the University of Gloucestershire People from Wrexham Welsh women painters Welsh women poets