Jackie Toal has a multi-disciplinary skillset as artist, surface pattern designer and educator who creates work in both traditional media and using digital technologies. Her creative practice includes traditional painting created with oils, watercolors, acrylics and mixed media, she has a keen interest in screen printing. She is very much inspired by the colour of nature and particularly flowers which feature predominately in her work, with the main genre of her work is floral and still life. She currently is a full-time lecturer with over twenty years’ experience at Southern Regional College teaching on range of multimedia disciplines ranging from Art fundamentals to that of Immersive technologies (Virtual and Augmented reality). She has a background in printed textiles and continues to explore surface pattern and design with digital tools and can often be found with her iPad drawing and mark making creating digital patterns and designs. She is inspired by the big bold flowers of Georgia O' Keeffe, Frida Kahlo”s meaning and vibrant colour as well as pioneering textile designers Jacqueline Groag and Lucienne Day.

Jackie Toal has a BA Hons in Textile and fashion (1993), an MSc in Computing and Design (2000) and Postgraduate diploma in teaching for further and higher education (2005) from Ulster university. She has experience working in swimwear design, printed textiles, interior design, as a colourist for fabrics for furnishings. She has sold paintings regionally and private commissions. In her early career she sold printed textiles designs in US, Europe, Japan and UK.

Through her current teaching practice she developed a keen interest in immersive technologies and their potential impact on Creativity in textiles and fashion. For her online digital arts residency through creative practice she will explore Augmented and Virtual Reality with printed textiles and surface pattern. She will use nature as her inspiration, exploring macro patterns, florals, emotive colours and promote the heritage of printed textiles in Northern Ireland through new immersive digital technologies.