Month: June 2024

June ended and July started with the Lines of the Land exhibition (An Chead Tine) in Kilkenny. I was delighted that my painting – Baunreagh, Winter –  was selected. The painting is executed in acrylic, not my usual medium, so this was something of an experiment for me. I was at the opening, and the painting was very well received. This was a great boost for me.   The exhibition is full of great art, much of it abstract – the brief mentions ‘abstracting the landscape’ – it is interesting to see how people have responded to this. It is well worth a visit.

Lately I have been painting in acrylic and in oils, just for a change. Always trying to find a new direction, trying to get a different feel. 

I have two exhibitions of my own coming up – note for your diary. On the August Bank Holiday weekend, my exhibition at the Gallery in Portumna Castle opens. I will be there myself throughout the weekend. I will have many scenes in watercolour of Lough Derg and its surrounds, some I showed previously and some new ones. I will be also continuing with my experiment – ‘You decide’ where I will present the same scene in watercolour, acrylic and oil. I am interested to hear from visitors which they prefer, and also to see if people can tell the difference between acrylic and oils (I usually can’t), and what kind of perceptions people have about each. The exhibition continues for the whole month of August (2024). The title of the Exhibition is ‘Low Tide and No Tide’.

On 8th of August, Arts Week begins in Kilkenny.  I have been exhibiting at the Concert Hall, Thomastown for the past few years, and will be back there again this year. In Thomastown we do our own thing under the TCAF24 banner (Thomastown Creative Arts Festival). A great committee and a great bunch of artists. Im always proud to be part of this. I need to mention AKA also (the Alternative Kilkenny Arts ) without them, the whole Arts Week experience would be dry and meaningless, they bring life to it by creating opportunities for local artists especially, visual, musical and other. Many feel (I do) that the official Arts Weeks has lost its relevance, AKA has stepped in to add a bit of jizz to the proceedings.  However, I think there might be changes afoot!

My exhibition is called ‘Low Tide / HighTime” and will feature watercolours only. I am working with the low tide theme this year, I love to paint the coast at low tide especially, because the wet sand is especially interesting, as it is full of colour and reflections. Also, I love the sea.

With both of these exhibitions, when I am in attendance, I will have my haggle box with me. What’s in the box – come and see!

I am chuffed, of course, that my painting (titled ‘Gold Creek’) won first place in an art competition, last month. Thanks to those who put pressure on me to enter, and to all of those in the community that offered their good wishes on my win. 

The competition was national, organised by the Active Retirement Association. I was qualified to enter….. The standard was good, mostly oils, and I was pleased that one of the few watercolours won out. I have been wondering lately, if there is a bias against watercolour (out there) so it was a welcome boost. 

I am a little concerned, however, that it puts me firmly in the amateur category, whereas I would like to be taken seriously as an artist. Ok I am an amateur, but I put a lot of time and effort into it!

Anyway I am happy to be able, through this win, to promote the value of being active and of expressing yourself through art (of all sorts) when the time comes to finish the nine to five. 

I think most people throw a wobbly, when they suddenly realise that the world (office, school, shop) carries on without missing a step, when they make their exit. To be so important and integral to the working of the mechanism one day, and of no relevance the next ….. well, it is difficult to come to grips with it. To have skills, knowledge and contacts in your field, and to find they have no real value in the end, it can be difficult. And it can be difficult to reinvent yourself.

The truth is, I believe, that we can actually gain greater importance, and more relevance when we throw off the yoke of the nine to five. We have such great freedom, if we choose to use it, to follow our dreams and to lead others towards their own dreams. We have more time for loved ones, who are infinitely more important than workmates, and the skills we built over a lifetime, can now be brought into play in pursuit of greater goals, than profit margins and the agendas of people who mistakenly think that they are important.

I will be showing the painting during Arts Week (August 8th – 18th, 2024) as part of my exhibition ‘Low Tide/High Time’ in the Concert Hall in Thomastown. Do come along.