We love Miriam Sweeney and her art. She loved art as a young woman, but then started a family and so art took a backseat. Miriam re-started her creation of art in the past five years or so. 

Her city map pieces are about her love of place and all the memories she has of places she has been with the people she loves. Her egg shells and bees work is about the fragility of life. Her map and memorabilia pieces are about the lives we lead and all the history packed inside. If I recall correctly, the three lines on some pieces are about her three sons.

https://www.mbsweeneyart.com/

See @mir_sweeney on Instagram.

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We bought this piece from Miriam as a part of the Artspan show in April 2024 at the JCC two blocks from our house. Miriam was there when we first saw the piece. She encouraged us to touch it, which I found refreshing.

Her city map pieces are about her love of place and all the memories she has of the places she has been with the people she loves, especially when she was driving her kids all over San Francisco.  And if I heard correctly, another part of her inspiration was putting icing on cake for her kids, which is a similar process to making these maps.

She was (and is) so gracious and grateful for our interest in her work.

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This is London. Miriam did a different piece about London (see below) that was purchased at our August show. 

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This is Chicago. Looking at it makes me cold.

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This piece is called Dear Mary and was created after Miriam had visited a flea market and bought a yearbook where there were photos about the life of a woman named Mary. These map and memorabilia pieces that Miriam has created are a celebration of the lives we lead and the rich history packed inside of all of our lives.

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This piece is called Road Trip Nostalgia and is, I think, a celebration of road trips that Miriam has taken with her family and especially her three sons, which are represented by the three lines.

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This pieces is called “Sunsets on the Cliffs” and was inspired by the song “Cliffs of Moher”, (Tommy Byrne) a song about meeting an American on the Cliffs of Moher, and bringing her around Ireland to show her all the beautiful places and then falling in love with her… but alas it was all in vain as she heads back to America. 

Wikipedia - The Cliffs of Moher

https://genius.com/The-wolfe-tones-the-cliffs-of-moher-lyrics

Spotify - The Wolfe Tones
Lyrics to “The Cliffs of Moher”
 Oh, I met her on the cliffs of Moher
A lovely girl in a lovely land
She said she came from Philadelphia
A city in a far-off land
She always wanted to see Ireland
A place she calls her ancestral home
Her people came from Tipperary
From Cork, from Belfast and Tyrone

[Chorus]
A land of beauty and of mystery
This ancient land that I love
A land of history and tragedy
This is the land I love
Land of beauty and tranquility
Of our music and our song
A land of mystery and history
This is the land I love

So I brought her round the Ring of Kerry
Killarney's lakes and Cashel's halls
Through lofty hills and pleasant valleys
She found a land that was her own
In the Georgian streets of Dublin city
Love blossomed like a summer's rose
Then to Tara's hill of ancient legend
And Newgrange at the evening's close

[Chorus]
A land of beauty and of mystery
This ancient land that I love
A land of history and tragedy
This is the land I love
Land of beauty and tranquility
Of our music and our song
A land of mystery and history
This is the land I love

[ 2024-06-26 09:21:23 ]

This piece is called The Arans, after The Aran Islands, 3 rocky isles guarding the mouth of Galway Bay, in western Ireland. Miriam made this painting and others like it after visiting Ireland and being impressed, not only by how green everything was, but also by the boulders, which separate farms and retain topsoil. They also represent for Miriam the solidness of the Irish people. The three lines in this and other works represent Miriam’s three sons. The orb represents the sun.

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The Burren is a region of County Clare in the southwest of Ireland. It’s a karst landscape of bedrock incorporating a vast cracked pavement of glacial-era limestone, with cliffs and caves, fossils, rock formations and archaeological sites. 

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This is one of many artworks that Miriam has created in this style, with shells and bees. For Miriam, these pieces are a statement about the fragility of our ecosystem and life itself.

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This recently completed piece will be displayed for the first time at the December 27 & 28 2024 show. It was inspired by Miriam’s love of Paris and, in no small part, by her love of macarons!

Source: Instagram

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Miriam Sweeney is one of six artists who will be displaying their art at the "Artists We Love Gallery Show" on December 27th and 28th, 2024, in Pacific Heights, San Francisco. To register, click here.

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mbsweeneyart.com | Instagram | 
About this artwork, Muni Worm:

This piece honors the 50th anniversary of the MUNI worm logo, which was designed in 1975 by a San Francisco based graphic designer, Walter Landor, an early pioneer in branding and consumer research techniques. Walter Landor also worked on brands with worldwide recognition such as Levi’s, Coca Cola, Shell Oil, World Wildlife Fund, and so many more.

Landor’s  Muni design, nicknamed “the Worm” debuted with a very 70’s looking Sunset livery, deep orange and California poppy yellow. The logo represents movement and interconnectedness.  The flowing lines visualize the energy and movement of urban transportation. Designed for simplicity and recognition, it remains a timeless representation of the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency, which was the nation’s first publicly owned transportation network.  It’s why it is traditionally  called the “people’s railway”.  As San Francisco’s population continues to climb, our reliance on efficient, effective public transportation for all it’s residence continues to be an integral part of the City’s equitable and inclusive culture.

This piece was part of the The Heart is Still Here exhibition at the Harry Williams Creative Gallery in early 2025.  The show is a love letter to the creative and cultural vibrancy of the City by the Bay.

From Miriam to Client (tbd):

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Artist Statement by Miriam Sweeney - 2025-04-19:

Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, my work explores the urban landscape that sits somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control. Seen from above, its pieces emerged like a puzzle, each with its own personality. I paint playful, textured, curvilinear shapes to capture the city streets, its landmarks, the droning sounds of traffic, the chitter chatter of its cast of characters. I hope to evoke the feeling one gets when flying into a new place for the first time. When we try to take everything in, or reflect on the lasting impressions of authentic connections, special places, and their unique stories.

[ 2025-04-13 15:41:56 ]

mbsweeneyart.com | Instagram | 
About this artwork, Flight:

This piece is about memory and Reinvention.  Inspired by a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago, which houses some of Vincent Van Gogh’s most iconic works, I was compelled to honor his work, which collectively captured his experiences and memories as a young man in 19th century France.  It is well known that Van Gogh had an eccentric personality and that he suffered from recurrent episodes, ultimately resulting in him taking his own life.  Still, his ability to capture the beauty that surrounded him, even amidst his own darkness, is something I’ve drawn inspiration from throughout my life and artistic journey.

Experience and memory are something we of course all have, and I was compelled to articulate some of my own through Van Gogh’s visage and unique aesthetic. How do you capture that which is fading away?

The hummingbirds and colors represents how our memories lie deep within us, but they can be tapped and freed in dynamic ways which can transform and reinvent themselves into something new and inspiring. Looking back at a memory from a new perspective or different lenses can give these memories new lives. Each one can be transformed through reimagination. 

This idea of repurposing something old is even found in the hummingbirds themselves, which come from a dilapidated, antique bird guide I found at a flea market.  I also appreciate that hummingbirds are often seen as symbols of joy, freedom, and the ability to live freely in the present moment.  Some cultures also associate hummingbirds with strength, resilience, and the ability to navigate difficult times. 

From Miriam to Maria:

Thank you for purchasing Flight to live with you in your home. Flight is a very special piece to me because it is the piece that started my artistic journey. In early 2022 I was diagnosed with an illness that had a high possibility of memory loss.  “Flight” was the first piece I painted upon learning of this devastating diagnosis. I chose Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear” because to me it most captures his personal struggles of desperation. This piece was me grasping and trying to illustrate how I felt to have all the amazing experiences, beautiful people and connections fly away from my memory bank, never to return. Yet as I laid down each hummingbird collage and strips of paint samples onto the canvas, the piece itself revealed to me that the loss was not forever, instead transformed and reinvented into  new experiences, a new way of remembering, a reinvention or reframing of past experiences and stories, either by focusing on positive aspects, adding new details or even creating a new narrative altogether.

Artist Statement by Miriam Sweeney - 2025-04-19:

Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, my work explores the urban landscape that sits somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control. Seen from above, its pieces emerged like a puzzle, each with its own personality. I paint playful, textured, curvilinear shapes to capture the city streets, its landmarks, the droning sounds of traffic, the chitter chatter of its cast of characters. I hope to evoke the feeling one gets when flying into a new place for the first time. When we try to take everything in, or reflect on the lasting impressions of authentic connections, special places, and their unique stories.

mbsweeneyart.com | Instagram | 
About this artwork, I Left My Hearts in San Francisco #13: 

I have always been fascinated by maps. Maps arrange spatial information and help us understand the world we live in by revealing patterns and relationships between our physical and cultural landscapes. Maps are living, breathing abstract canvasses, with its landscapes always shifting.

From its aerial view, the landscape and its people emerge like a puzzle , all fitting nicely together. The City is one giant animated organism with its own beat and personality.

When you look at this piece, I hope you do two things: Explore and Reflect.

Explore the City. Explore its culture, its politics, its challenges, its history. By 2040 SF is projected to be 1m in population. What does our seven squared miles look like at 1m. What does its transportaion system, housing and climate readiness look like? To whom will SF still be available to? And will we be able to maintain and strenghten our tradition of social justice and environmental advocacy? These are just some explorations.

The reflection part is more intimate. I hope that upon exploring you can hear the chitter chatter of its cast of characters, see the smoke billowing from its ventilation shafts and hear the droning sounds of traffic. I hope it brings a smile to your face when you locate the street you grew up on, or the landmark of your first kiss. I hope the map evokes warm feelings upon reflection of authentic connections and special places, each with your own unique stories of them. Mostly, I hope the map reminds us of our home and our duty of stewardship to it and to each other.

From Miriam to Kate:

Dear Kate, Thank you so much for purchasing this piece. This piece is very special to me because in early 2022 I was diagnosed with an illness that had a high possibility of memory loss. It was devastating. To address the memory loss, I started “mapping out” my memories by  reliving them through pictures, and using objects as memory markers. And often I would draw or create visual representations of these events to document and recall specific moments and experiences I no longer recalled. My first map was San Francisco where my husband and I lived and raised our three sons.  I would color the details in the city where we had fond memories. This practice became my therapy, and soon I found myself spending hours over a canvas pouring paint into little squares. On that canvas, I poured my fears, my devastation, screamed out my bitterness, and cried out for hope. Each tile was infused with layers of emotions I was trying to work through. Each tile became my prayer beads.

Artist Statement by Miriam Sweeney - 2025-04-19:

Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, my work explores the urban landscape that sits somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control. Seen from above, its pieces emerged like a puzzle, each with its own personality. I paint playful, textured, curvilinear shapes to capture the city streets, its landmarks, the droning sounds of traffic, the chitter chatter of its cast of characters. I hope to evoke the feeling one gets when flying into a new place for the first time. When we try to take everything in, or reflect on the lasting impressions of authentic connections, special places, and their unique stories.

mbsweeneyart.com | Instagram | 
About this artwork, Gra: 

“Gra” is inspired by Irish ogham stones. These stones, some monolithic in size, and some only knee high, are found mostly in the southern Irish countryside. They feature lines and notches carved along its edges, representing the ogham alphabet. Ogham is the earliest form of writing in ancient Ireland. The ogham alphabet consists of a series of lines or dashes across a central seam. Each letter is represented by a vertical line with one or more horizontal lines.  It is read vertically, from the bottom of the line to the top.  The ogham alphabet is considered as the first intellectual creation of the Irish-speaking people. Although the ogham alphabet is no longer used today, it remains an enduring part of the Irish culture and heritage.

The four pillars on this piece each has the ogham alphabet that reads “gra”, or “love”. It can be hung four different ways, with each stone spelling out “gra” or “love”.

Each pillar also has crushed stone from the Irish countryside mixed into the acrylic paint used for this piece. I like the texture it adds to the painting, especially because it reminds me of the rugged Irish landscape. The stones were found from County Kerry, Clare, Cork and then Inishmore Island.

For me, encountering these ancient monoliths while driving the Irish countryside was a transcendental experience in a land and culture that drips with mysticism and intrigue.

From Miriam to Noah:

What is emotion? Quite bluntly, emotion is one of those terms that stubbornly defends against attempts at definition. In the English language, when experiencing an emotion, say sadness, we might identify the experience as “I am sad”. At both the conscious and subconscious levels we are telling ourselves that we are the emotion,  “I am a sad person”. The Irish language has a different perspective on what emotion is. They are transitory entities that are not intrinsically linked with the essence of being, and so emotion is a fleeting nature in the Irish language. Instead of “I am sad” in English, “sadness is on me”, in Irish. It is a reminder that emotions do not define us, and we are more than what we feel.  We can acknowledge the emotion, but it does not become us. We are still who we are.And often, what we feel is more than just sadness or happiness. Our emotions are layered. For example, even when sadness or joy is the dominant emotion, the underlying could be fear and or love. I made this piece and chose  “gra”, to remind myself Love is always on me.

Artist Statement by Miriam Sweeney - 2025-04-19:

Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, my work explores the urban landscape that sits somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control. Seen from above, its pieces emerged like a puzzle, each with its own personality. I paint playful, textured, curvilinear shapes to capture the city streets, its landmarks, the droning sounds of traffic, the chitter chatter of its cast of characters. I hope to evoke the feeling one gets when flying into a new place for the first time. When we try to take everything in, or reflect on the lasting impressions of authentic connections, special places, and their unique stories.