The Arts Office, Laois County Council will host a writers workshop titled “Unlocking the Creative Self” with writer Pauline Clooney at Laois Arthouse, Stradbally on Thursday 12^th October from 4pm-6pm as part of the Laois Connects Programme.

Free/Booking essential – Limited numbers – T: 057 8664033/13 or E: artsoff@laoiscoco.ie

Many writers have said that their own life experiences inform their writing whether that writing is fiction, poetry or creative non-fiction.  New writers will often be told to write about what they know, but this does not mean that you are restricted to write about what you have experienced.

Once you acquire the tools for flexing your writing muscle you will be taken to places you didn’t know you knew, characters you don’t remember meeting, events you’d forgotten you were part of. This workshop will take you through ways of exploring what it is you know and what you don’t realise you know. The workshop will be activity and discussion based. There will be a short piece of writing you will be asked to read in preparation for the course content. All you need on the day is a pen and some paper and an open mind.

 Pauline Clooney is a native of Portlaoise.  She holds an M.Litt from NUI Maynooth (2006), and an MA in Creative Writing from UCD (2015). She is an award winning writer having won the RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story competition in 2015 and being runner up in the Doolin Short Story competition (2015).  Her stories have been longlisted for the inaugural Colm Tóibín Short Story Competition (2016), the Fish Short Memoir competition (2014), the Fish Short Story Prize (2015). She is the 2017 recipient of Kildare County Council Tyrone Guthrie bursary.  Formerly an English and history teacher at second level she now teaches creative writing at the Kildare Writing Centre which she established in 2016. She is currently working on her debut novel.

The artistic talents of the young people of Co. Laois, and the contribution they have made towards the success of the Texaco Children’s Art Competition, now in its 63^rd year, were celebrated in a week-long art exhibition entitled ‘Time and Space’ – A Celebration of Texaco Children’s Art Success in Laois’ which opened at the Laois Arthouse Gallery, Stradbally on Thursday 21st September.

At the Official Opening of the ” Time and Space ” Exhibition – a celebration of Texaco Children’s Art Success in Laois , at the Laois Arthouse Gallery, were: Clr. Padraig Fleming ( Cathaoirleach Laois County Council ), Lucy Deegan ( Texaco Winner/ Culture night Ambassador ), Muireann Ni Chonaill ( Laois Arts Officer )and Ciaran Leonard ( Texaco Winner ). Photo: Michael Scully- no reproduction fee.

Curated by Lucy Deegan, the 2017 Laois Culture Night Ambassador, the exhibits included the colourful portrait study of her brother Tom, carefully executed with colouring pencils and white gel pen, which won Lucy the top prize in the 63rd Texaco Children’s Art Competition.

Also amongst the exhibits at Stradbally were works by three other Laois students all of whom featured highly in the competition this year. A  portrait study entitled ‘Weathered Wisdom’ by 13-years old Ciarán Leonard, a pupil at St. Mary’s CBS Portlaoise, which took second prize in the 12-13 years age category. Other young Laois winners whose winning works featured were sister and brother Asma Zulfiqas (age 14), from Scoil Chríost Rí, Portlaoise and Abdul Ahad Zulfiqar (age 6), from Holy Family Junior School, Portlaoise.

A pupil of Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach in Carlow Town, Lucy Deegan is the daughter of well-known tourism industry figure, Jim Deegan – founder of the Railtours Ireland First Class organisation, and his wife Fionnuala – herself an accomplished animation artist whose work features in Hollywood blockbusters ‘An American Tail’ and ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’.

No stranger to the Competition, Lucy has featured amongst the prizewinners on five occasions to date. Her three siblings, brother Tom and sisters Annie Rose and Juliet, have also won prizes in previous years.

As part of her prizewinning package, 17-years old Lucy from Luggacurran received a top prize of €1,500 plus an invitation to visit Tokyo awarded by the International Foundation for Arts and Culture where she was an honoured guest at a ceremony held in conjunction with the 18th International High School Arts Festival in which her winning artwork was exhibited.

Underlining the support that exists for the Texaco Children’s Art Competition is the fact that, over the past five years alone, some 2,799 entries were received from young Laois artists – a figure that confirms the view that the number of entries submitted by Laois students since the competition first began in 1955 amounts to some tens of thousands.

The exhibition was launched by Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council Padraig Fleming. Speaking about the exhibition Cathaoirleach Padraig Fleming said, ‘the level of young talent in our county is evident from the art works on display. The work is breathtaking. Choosing Lucy Deegan as Culture Night Ambassador is a very fitting honour. She is an inspiration to all art lovers, young and old in our county.’

Laois Arthouse and The Olivier Cornet Gallery are delighted to present ‘The Meeting’ a group exhibition featuring work by David Fox, Aileen Hamilton, Darina Meagher and Vicky Smith

County Laois Arts Officer Muireann Ní Chonaill and Dublin gallerist Olivier Cornet met for the first time at the Speed Curating event arranged annually by Visual Artists Ireland (VAI) as part of their artists’ Get Together at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). Through working side-by-side in the chapel at IMMA, meeting artists at this event, the idea for the joint exhibition was born.  From the artists they met last year, Olivier invited David Fox and Vicky Smith and Muireann invited Darina Meagher and Aileen Hamilton to participate in this joint exhibition.

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The exhibition will open in the Laois Arthouse, Stradbally, Co Laois, on Saturday 1st July, 1pm and will run there until Friday 28th July. Guest Speaker at the opening: Monica Flynn, Professional Development Officer, Visual Artists Ireland (VAI)

The exhibition will travel at the end of the month to the Olivier Cornet Gallery, 3 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1 where it will open on Sunday 6th August, 3pm. The show will run there until 3rd September. Guest Speaker at the opening: Noel Kelly, CEO and Director of Visual Artists Ireland (VAI)

About the artists

David Fox

Originally from Tullamore, Co. Offaly and born in 1987, Fox has been painting since a very young age. He graduated from GMIT (Galway), with an Honours degree in Fine Art in 2011 and the University of Ulster, Belfast, with an MFA (Masters in Fine Art) in 2013

Currently, he is both living and working in Belfast, and has a studio residency at Creative Exchange Artist Studios, in East Belfast.

Fox has exhibited both nationally and internationally including the Galway Arts Festival in 2009, Belfast’s Platform arts gallery in 2011 and the Luan Gallery, Westmeath in 2015. He has exhibited at international art fairs including Positions art fair, Berlin and international solo exhibitions at Galeria Silvestre, Tarragona Spain. Most recently, he had a solo show, ‘A road less travelled’ at An Chultúrlann in Belfast.

Olivier met the artist at Visual Artists Ireland’s Speed Curating event in Belfast in January 2016. David was then invited to participate in a group show ‘Republic’ in the summer of 2016. Since then the artist has become an AGA member (Associate Gallery Artist ) of the Olivier Cornet Gallery

Aileen Hamilton

Aileen Hamilton considers ecological cycles and organic process within her drawings, exploring the delicate balance and repetitive patterns that bind the natural world to form. Isolated landscapes appear suspended or floating in a fragile and exposed state as Aileen explores the physical and mental borders of our world. In doing so, she reveals hidden layers and draws an analogy between the internal terrain of the body and the wider ecosystems in which we live. Landscapes bend as if in a space-time continuum, the exploratory folds evoking the artist’s search for meaning in both micro and macro environments. The interplay between 2D and 3D environments is an integral part of the process in which Aileen moves back and forth between depth and flatness, her drawings growing out of the wall and interacting with the architectural space. In creating these hybrid landscapes, Aileen is drawn to the thin yet fibrous quality of paper, a material both fragile and solid which she progressively allows to find its own form of existence.

“I am currently based between Barcelona and Ireland. Originally from a rural part of County Meath, I am continually inspired by home, my travels and our connection to the land. In my drawings, I investigate themes of dis-location and our relationship with a changing landscape. The interplay between 2D and 3D environments is an integral part of my process where I move back and forth between depth and flatness, with drawings growing out of the wall and interacting with the architectural space.

I studied Fine Art in NCAD and graduated in 2001. Since then I have shown in Ireland, Spain, Japan, Sweden and Thailand and completed residencies in Ireland and Japan.”

Muireann met the artist at Visual Artists Ireland’s Speed Curating event at IMMA in August 2016.

Darina Meagher

Meagher’s work is an on-going investigation through the medium of paint and the simple act of mark-making. She explores new ways of seeing and experiencing the world, always seeking that juncture within artistic process, which allows the infra-thin to occur.

With an Honours B. Des and an MA in Visual Communication, from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Meagher spent many years working in the area of design and visual communication. A deep interest in the hand-made has led her to contemporary painting.

Awarded a BA (Hons.) in Visual Arts Practice at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire in 2011, she completed a Masters in Fine Art Painting at the NCAD, Dublin in 2014. Winner of the Peter O’Kane Solo Exhibition award at the RDS Student Awards 2011, Meagher also completed a three-month studio residency at the RHA, in 2015.

Recently, Meagher was presented with a residency at Arthouse, Stradbally, this was awarded at the Dunamaise Arts Centre Annual Open Submissions Exhibition in November 2016.

Meagher has exhibited extensively. Muireann met the artist at Visual Artists Ireland’s Speed Curating event at IMMA in August 2016.

Vicky Smith

Vicky Smith is an award winning visual artist who is a member of Engage Art Studios in Galway. Her practise is rich and a complex language in a variety of mediums-small drawings, paintings, film to installations predominately installation based often composed of paintings, photographs, sculpture, text, found objects and film that explore feminist concepts. The bell jar is motif for the complex installations of enclosures. Performance films and appropriated films are an enjoyment of this enclosure, the isolation bell jar of a female experience. Her artistic concern is female identity within the domestic setting, the social setting and the workplace defined by traditional roles of house wife, work, woman. The work is rooted in being a woman a female artist, what this means, the made boundaries.

‘HouseWork, Woman, Wife’ is a series of photo stills reflecting a suburban housewife’s realisation that maybe all of her life will end up with invisible, repetitive, uncreative housework.

The film on which these photo stills are based is a non-narrative study of domestic labour, work that seems not to be taken seriously by society at all. The whole notion of women being housewives has changed. Do you talk about yourself as a housewife? Most of the change that has happened since the 70’s is a superficial inequality of responsibility. 70% of British and Irish women said they are mostly responsible for housework. Men did housework, he helped her with the housework not the other way round. The 1970s is still happening now.

This body of work explores the space between the individual domestic labour and society’s economic workplace through the lens of a personal story of a newly-married woman who finds herself temporarily out of work. She marks time through the act of housework.

Olivier met the artist at Visual Artists Ireland’s Speed Curating event at IMMA in August 2016. Since then the artist has become an AGA member (Associate Gallery Artist) of the Olivier Cornet Gallery.

The Arthouse and Library

Stradbally, Co. Laois

057 866 4033/ 13

Web: www.arthouse.ie Email: artsoff@laoiscoco.ie

FB: thearthouseandlibrary Twitter: @ArthouseLibrary

Opening hours:

Tue+Thu 1-5pm, 5:30-8pm

Sat 10am-1pm (entry through library)

Wed+Fri 1-4pm

(entry through Laois Arthouse)

 
Olivier Cornet Gallery
3 Great Denmark Street
(beside Belvedere College,
off Parnell Square)
Dublin 1
Opening hours:
Tues to Fri: 11am to 6pm
(till 8pm on Thursdays)
Sat & Sun: 12 noon to 5pm
Closed on Mondays (or viewing by
appointment only)

www.oliviercornetgallery.com
olivier@oliviercornetgallery.com
FB: Olivier Cornet Gallery
Twitter: OC_Gallery
0872887261

Friday the 9th of June 2017 at 4.30 saw the launch of an exhibition of a body of artwork from “Painting and Drawing in Light, Mood and Movement”, at the Laois Arthouse, Stradbally.  The exhibition included selected work from a three day summer painting programme for adults led by renowned artist John Keating, from the  7^th to the 9^th July and also included some wonderful work by the artist himself.

As well as Laois artists taking part, the course attracted artists from a number of different parts of the country including:  Dublin, Westmeath, Tipperary, Limerick, Kildare, and Offaly. 

The Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council Tom Mulhall launched the exhibition.  In his address he welcomed all the artists to the Arthouse, he congratulated them on the quality of their work and he thanked everyone involved in running the programme.

The project was documented throughout by artist Lisa Fingleton and curated by Muireann Ní Chonaill, Arts Officer.

Summer Painting Programme for Adults in the Laois Arthouse, 7, 8, 9 June 2017

“Painting and Drawing in Light, Mood and Movement”, is the title of the forthcoming Summer Art programme for adults in the Laois Arthouse. It will be directed by acclaimed painter John Keating. It takes place on 7, 8^th and 9^th June from 11.00am to 4.00pm daily and the cost is €80 per person.

Over the three days the participants will focus on a number of areas including still life- observational line, texture form and composition in various techniques; the figure- drawing and painting the figure through gesture, movement and static form; a sense of perspective- developing painting or drawing with the emphasis on spatial dimensionality and creating the illusion of space through light, tone and depth.

Born in Tipperary in1953. John Keating studied at the Crawford College of Art, Cork, Trinity College, Dublin, Loughborough University, Leicestershire and The Arts Student League of New York, which he attended on a scholarship. Keating has exhibited nationally and internationally including exhibitions in the U.S.A., Italy, Spain, Greece, Monaco and China. His work is included in private and public collections in Ireland, the U.S.A., Australia, Italy, Greece and England. Keating has guest lectured and tutored on the drawing studies course at the National Gallery of Ireland, National College of Art and Design, Dublin Institute of Technology.

There will be a closing reception on Friday 9^th June at 4.30pm where a selection of the participant’s works and John Keating’s paintings will be exhibited. The exhibition will be on show until the end of June.

Documentation of the programme will be done by artist Lisa Fingleton. This project is curated by Muireann Ní Chonaill, Arts Officer. This project is funded by the percent for Art Scheme and Laois County Council. For more info: T 057 8664033 E: artsoff@laoiscoco.ie www.laois.ie

Coming soon Doorways of Stradbally Art Exhibition

The Stradbally branch of the Active Retirement Association (ARA) will launch their art exhibition entitled “Doorways of Stradbally” at the Laois Arthouse Gallery, Stradbally on Saturday 6^th May at 1.30pm.  The exhibition will be officially launched by Anna May McHugh, the Managing Director of the National Ploughing Association of Ireland.

Included in the exhibition are twelve wonderful original paintings, each depicting a different historic doorway in the town.  The Active Retirement Group wanted to leave its stamp on the annals of Stradbally in some way. Chairperson of the group Ette Kennedy suggested that they  paint some of the Doorways on the Street in Stradbally. This original idea captured the imagination of the artists of the group and thus the  “Doorways of Stradbally” was born.  Seven members took on the task and these include;  Chrisse, Christy, Ette, Mary, Michael, Phyllis and Vera.

All paintings will be for sale with proceeds going back into the ARA.  The Stradbally ARA has been established for three years and currently has twenty members.  It is an open and inclusive organisation who aim to support and empower retired and semi-retired individuals in their community through a wide range of activities.

Commenting on the upcoming exhibition Anna May McHugh said “I extend my congratulations to the Stradbally Active Retirement Group on their initiative and I sincerely hope their work will be appreciated”.

Visitors are welcome to view the exhibition at the Laois Arthouse Gallery in Stradbally from Saturday 6^th May until the closing date on Thursday 1^st June.

Opening times: Tues and Thurs 1pm-5pm & 5.30pm-8pm, Sat: 10am-1pm (except on Bank Holiday) (entry through library) Wed and Fri 1pm-4pm (entry through Laois Arthouse)

For more details contact T: 057 8664033 E: artsoff@laoiscoco.ie

Most recent exhibition ‘Winter Trees from the Artist’s Garden’

An exhibition of drawings by Mary Lee Murphy was officially launched on Saturday 11th March by Lord and Countess Rosse of Birr Castle. The work was highly praised by  Lord and Countess Rosse in their opening speeches. Winter Trees from the Artist’s garden’ is   a vibrant’ unique collection of pencil drawings that were made outdoors over the winter months, of trees in the artist’s garden.  All  welcome to view the exhibition on display until 13th April. Opening times: Tues and Thurs 1pm-5pm & 5.30pm-8pm, Sat: 10am-1pm (except on Bank Holidays)(entry through library)  Wed and Fri 1pm-4pm (entry through green doors) For more details contact T: 057 8664033

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Mary Lee Murphy is an artist based in the Sligo countryside but originally from Waterford. Mary’s work has been widely acclaimed with thirteen solo shows to date and participation in numerous group, open submission, and invited exhibitions both at home in Ireland and abroad. Her work is in many public and private collections.  The artist and her work has also featured in a short documentary produced by TG4. The exhibition runs from Saturday 11th  March to Thursday April 13th 2016.

More information on Mary’s work is available at www.maryleemurphy.com

Most recent exhibition  “Related to Life”

A wonderful mix of multimedia artwork by Mette Sofie Roche entitled “Related to Life” opened on the  17^th November and was launched by Curator Susan Boyle.

Artist Mette Sophie Roche , speaking at the Opening of her Multimedia Exhibition at Laois Arthouse ,Stradbally . Photo: Michael Scully-

Family members- Chloe Hayes , Mette Sophie Roche , Adam and Peter Roche, pictured at the Opening of Mette Sofie Roche’s Multimedia Exhibition at Laois Arthouse ,Stradbally .

Mette is originally from North-Norway but has lived in Ireland for more than 40 years and runs a full time art practise from her studio in Co. Meath. After a 30 year professional career as a social worker she graduated from NCAD in 2011 with a Diploma in Art & Design.

She is a process oriented and multidiscipline artist who uses a wide spectrum of both materials and methods in her art practise. What she is interested in is to take real life objects or materials and turn them by some inspired, secret process, into something else; related to life in some way, conceptual or otherwise, but stronger, more intense and preferably weirder. Research into the cultural traditions, beliefs and myths of the Samé People in the Northern hemisphere, her ancestors, has given direction to her art work in the last few years.  It is a culture in transition with influences from many different directions both religious, political and economic. Only traces and fragments are sometimes left of the ancient traditions and the knowledge of nature so vital to a traditional Samé community.

The sculptural installation of  Tatterlings  symbolises the deterioration of the old way of life and is made from the synthetic fiber found in workmen’s suits.  A collection of drawings and silk paintings are further fragmentations of these sculptures. She explores the old craft of candle making in her wall mounted and freestanding wax sculptures which are inspired by the old Samé ‘s belief in Totemism; believing in the power of inanimate objects to hold “conscious” spirits that interact with society. The land inhabited by the Samé have been fought over, claimed and contested for generations. The sculptures  Inherited Landscape and  Subject to Inquiry  make references to the many litigation processes. In Whitescape, the memory and knowledge of the landscape are in the folds and layers, twists and turns  of organically shaped rags from re-cycled cotton bed linen.

The art work creates innovative compositions with elements of mystery,  ambiguity and a sense of intrigue. The work process is a way of tracing and preserving things that are gone or slowly disappearing – or falling apart. The ambiguity allows the viewer to bring their own meaning to the art work.www.metteroche.com  The exhibition runs until Friday 9^th December   Opening times: Tues and Thurs 1pm-5pm & 5.30pm-8pm, Sat: 10am-1pm (except on Bank Holidays)(entry through library)  Wed and Fri 1pm-4pm (entry through Laois Arthouse) For more details contact T: 057 8664033

E: artsoff@laoiscoco.ie

Previous Exhibition 
And then I paint by Lorna Corrigan opened on Saturday 15th Oct and ran until mid Nov. The exhibition was officially launched by artist Elizabeth Cope and was a great success with most of the works selling at the launch.
Lorna works on canvas and paper with acrylic paint, pastel and acrylic marker. She embraces a range of subjects in her artworks which are inspired by her dreams and also taken from her memory or travels to places like Australia, France, Denmark and America. Working with bright, bold colours, assured lines and repetitious patterns she paints and celebrates people and the world in general. From the young age of 5, when she poured a can of red paint over herself and a dull grey tractor, Lorna has considered herself an artist.
Lorna is a member of the KCAT Studio in Kilkenny. She has shown work in many exhibitions in Ireland including at Ormonde College and County Hall Kilkenny, Kilkenny Arts Festival, St. Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny, Dunlavin Arts Festival Wicklow, Kilkenny County Council Arts Office Gallery, Kilkenny Design Centre, Airfield Trust, Garter Lane Arts Centre, Áras Éanna, Burren College of Art, Waterford Regional Hospital, Axis Art Centre Ballymun, Crawford Art Gallery, Dublin City Council Offices, Butler Gallery Kilkenny, City Hall Cork, Copperhouse Gallery Dublin. She has also shown internationally including in Scotland, Australia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, The Netherlands. Lorna’s work is featured in a number of publications, documentaries and catalogues including “Beyond: Irish Outsider Art 2015” and “Living Colour”, a feature documentary based on the KCAT Studio artists. A native of Kildare Lorna now lives in Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary.

Heat manipulated fiber and acrylic medium

Next Showing:
“Related to Life”   A multimedia exhibition by Mette Sofie Roche   The exhibition runs from Thursday 17^th November to Friday 9^th December  Mette is originally from North-Norway but has lived in Ireland for more than 40 years and runs a full time art practise from her studio in Co. Meath. After a 30 year professional career as a social worker she graduated from NCAD in 2011 with a Diploma in Art & Design.

She is a process oriented and multidiscipline artist who uses a wide spectrum of both materials and methods in her art practise. What she is interested in is to take real life objects or materials and turn them by some inspired, secret process, into something else; related to life in some way, conceptual or otherwise, but stronger, more intense and preferably weirder.

Research into the cultural traditions, beliefs and myths of the Samé People in the Northern hemisphere, her ancestors, has given direction to her art work in the last few years. It is a culture in transition with influences from many different directions both religious, political and economic. Only traces and fragments are sometimes left of the ancient traditions and the knowledge of nature so vital to a traditional Samé community.

The sculptural installation of Tatterlings symbolises the deterioration of the old way of life and is made from the synthetic fiber found in workmen’s suits. A collection of drawings and silk paintings are further fragmentations of these sculptures.

She explores the old craft of candle making in her wall mounted and freestanding wax sculptures which are inspired by the old Samé ‘s belief in Totemism; believing in the power of inanimate objects to hold “conscious” spirits that interact with society. The land inhabited by the Samé have been fought over, claimed and contested for generations.The sculptures Inherited Landscape and Subject to Inquiry make references to the many litigation processes. In Whitescape, the memory and knowledge of the landscape are in the folds and layers, twists and turns of organically shaped rags from re-cycled cotton bed linen. The art work creates innovative compositions with elements of mystery, ambiguity and a sense of intrigue. The work process is a way of tracing and preserving things that are gone or slowly disappearing – or falling apart. The ambiguity allows the viewer to bring their own meaning to the art work. www.metteroche.com

Most recent exhibitions included an exhibition of paintings, entitled ‘Another Reality’ from Limerick based artist, Nuala O’Sullivan, in September. Nuala’s interest in the aesthetic and culture of the 1950s period and the friction between outward appearance and hidden restriction, come together in this series of paintings. The works reference family Super 8 movies and photographs from the 1950s and 1960s period.
Within the work many thin layers of paint are used to allow some of the light from the canvas to remain, reminiscent of holding a negative or piece of old celluloid film to the light. ‘Through my painting I want to intervene and interfere with the still image. This interference with the original image involves bringing colour, new scale, and new meaning to the images; bringing the viewer’s attention to the surface of the painting, and in so doing to show the passage of time within the final painting. Through painting these photographic images they will have an afterlife.’ Living and working in Limerick, Nuala O’Sullivan was awarded her BA in Fine Art (Painting) from Limerick School of Art and Design in 2006 and completed her MA in 2013.

In July the Arthouse Gallery, presented Night Shade Sound Scape an exhibition by Leitrim-based artist, Dorothee Kӧlle, officially launched by Enda Coyle-Greene, Poet and winner of the Patrick Kavanagh Award.
The work included paintings, collages, assemblages, and an installation reflecting the gallery space, the artist environment, and outer and inner experiences. Spontaneous creation, contemplation and analytical reflection go hand in hand during her process of working. A constant juggling between flexibility, openness, control and boundaries. The idea of a journey of travelling without knowing the outcome is reflected in searching and discovering different approaches in her art practices.
Dorothee Kӧlle has exhibited in various venues in Ireland such as in the RHA Annual Exhibition, IONTAS, Sculpture in Context and other selected or invited group shows since 1991. She completed the three years Sculpture Course in Manorhamilton, and graduated in Fine Art at Sligo IT in 2005.

‘On My Green Way I Wend’ an exhibition of paintings by Tipperary born artist Maria O’Brien took place in May.
A new body of work, created during her residency in The Laois Arthouse, reveals a renewed exploration into landscape for the artist. The exhibition was officially opened by Noel Kelly, CEO of Visual Artists Ireland.

The work explores humans engaging recreationally with the outdoors – using nature for their own diversion and entertainment with all the paraphernalia this involves. Action shots are painted quickly and deftly capturing the energy and spontaneity of the interaction between humans and their surrounds. O’Brien draws attention to how bizarre the human struggle to engage with nature often seems. She highlighted this through her palette, the often ostentatious coloured garb jumps out against the natural background. She paints people who want to be seen; a basic human desire. As much as wanting to be seen is innate in human nature, so is wanting to watch others, in the artist’s case painting the memories of perfect strangers. It is through her observation of the human in their surrounds, through her choice of content and rich surface, that the artist has created a new platform from which we, the audience, can vicariously people-watch ourselves.