Around the Mountain
An Exhibition of recent watercolours from my meanderings to and from the Mountain.
The Scouts Den. (the old girls national school) and the Kilkenny Pop Up Art Gallery John’s Bridge Kilkenny
i don’t come off the mountain much except to go to work, for a variety of reasons.
Below are a few of the paintings that Were in the Show
Boy have I been busy. I had a piece accepted for the Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Exhibition in The Bankside Gallery in London…..right next to Tate Modern!!! So Exciting and very expensive to Ship a painting by Art courier to UK. It was well worth it though. I went over thanks to funding from Carlow CoCo Arts Acts Grant….
Last Autumn I spent a good while experimenting with making my own inks from Walnuts and Acorns…Here are some of the resulting works….
I put three postcard sized works into the Jack and Jill Foundation show Incognito in the Solomon Gallery. A Fundraiser where postcard size works by all kinds of artists are for sale for €50. The names are not seen until the work is bought.
Here are two of mine. They are distorted here as they are 5×7 not square
Here is a walnut ink drawing from the very first watercolour that I did here, before we did the house up.
Christmas has come and gone. The poor turkey is still in the fridge to challenge my culinary skills. I’m not the worst cook and many think me not great, which is not true. I just get bored having to do it all the time.
One thing I never get bored of is making things.
This year I indulged my inner witch and spent much time making inks and playing with the saucepan and leaves and things called mordants and such like.
Making ink from the remnants of walnuts under an ancient gnarled walnut tree in Camphill Jerpoint. Outside Thomastown. To help make ends meet I have become a night care worker, with Camphill in Jerpoint. I am not sure how good I am but they have hung onto me even though one of their oldest and dearest passed away in my care. Karl was a well know artist and character and he is missed by many. They tell me it is an honour to be chosen to be present at such a time and I will run with that.
I also made acorn ink from the dropped acorns of ancient trees in Poulmounty woods on the road to New Ross from my home.
Here are three new watercolours that I made into Christmas cards this year and I will be promoting these for next year.
Here is a little step by step tutorial of how I did this in my sketchbook…..a watercolour a day keeps the doctor away….
Summer is going fast. The leaves are turning. The blackberries are luscious and need picking.
I have been busy painting so here are some samples of my watercolour diary….a watercolour a day keeps the doctor away…..not the winter though.
I will soon be working with Camphill in Jerpoint as a carer part time, doing relief. Another chapter begins in my my multifacetated career.
I spent a good while starting to clear out my studio to make space to allow me to turn into a space which will be adaptable to be rented as accommodation and to run the odd workshop. I cleaned out the mobile and took it all to the dump. I intend to use the mobile as a work/storage space for art materials books etc……
Back to Ferrybank yay! This time we are doing some very simple introductory silkscreen on fabric. I fond dealing with being a mobile studio a bit difficult sometimes. If I could do this in my studio it would be simpler! However it does not lower the quality of the work. Bearing in mind none of these women had ever used a screen before I think they did fantastic work!
I have just finished in the Watergardens Thomastown doing six weeks felting with some of the clients of Camphill. We had great fun and everybody made an egg cosy, a piece of flat felt, a purse and started two collaborative pieces.
Do I smell grass? Not that kind! About time she says!
This has been a very busy couple of months. I am now finished for a while with most of my groups. My two modules in KCAT are over and I have to say I love working there…pity ii this so far away. My paintings and textile selfies are still in Lennons restaurant in Visual in Carlow.
DANESFORT GOING STRONG
Danesfort Going strong group are nearly finished their amazing wall hanging. There will be a grand unveiling at some point in the not too distant future!
FERRYBANK TEXTILES GROUP
Ferrybank Textiles finished their amazing pieces and we will be having an exhibition in the main Waterford library probably November.
I still have a few days left with Borris ARA, then after Easter I start with a group of clients in the watergardens….we will be felting….yippee!
COMMISSIONS
I have been working on a repeat commission, a woman was so p,eased with a painting she did of her husbands family home, as a present, which had to be knocked that she asked me to do it again! Happy days! Though doing a repeat brings it own challenges. What do you think
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