Installation Shots of Westport and Birr

I'm a bit late with these, the exhibition in Birr closed on August 5th and Westport closed on the 21st of August. Both shows went really well and the work received very positive feedback.

Treasures Remembered

The image above and the one below are from Custom House Studios in Westport, I didn't get a chance to take photos on the opening night so I ran down the following morning to get a few photos quickly before going home.

My work was installed on 3 walls. The fourth wall is almost completely glass and as the front of the gallery opens out onto the seafront there is great, unobstructed  natural light in the space. The ground floor is a gallery divided in two and the door in the image at the top leads into the adjoining space where Barabara Trawinski was exhibiting. 

To Catch a Certain Fortune

For this show I decided to work on a series of drawings, I'd been planning to work on them for last years festival but with the MFA finishing up I was just too busy painting, I finally got them done for this year. I need to document them at some stage and I'll have them uploaded to the website and here on the blog.

I was back down in The Vaults this year. There were a good group of us exhibiting solo shows throughout the space and there was brilliant amount of work with artists show, painting, illustration, animation and video game character design.

The lighting was a little bit of a challenge simply because I used a single bulb and while it was bright enough a day or two after installation there was a fault with the sockets down along the tunnel wall but Ian Keaveny who was exhibiting in the tunnel on the other side told me that I could plug the light into a socket in his space. 

I'm hoping to expand on the overall number of drawings in this body of work at some stage but for now I'm back painting. I have a new set of paintings on the go. I'm hoping to organize a solo show for the 4 quarter of 2017 but at present the next solo exhibition that I have planned is at Birr Arts Centre for 2018. The provisional date is April.

Out of Divilment, Graphite on Fabriano, 2016

2 Shows Opening Next Week

This post is more of an update than anything else concerning titles and opening times.

Thursday July 28th, Westport
The first exhibition is a 2 person show titled Treasures Remebered, showing work by Barbara Trawinski and myself at Custom House Studios and Gallery in Westport, Co. Mayo. This opens at 7:30pm on July 28th and Breda Burns will be a guest speaker on opening night. The show runs until August 21st. I haven't any links for a website to Barbara's work but you will be able to find photographs of the exhibition here at Custom House Studios and Gallery Facebook and further information at Custom House Studios and Gallery

Within the Lonely Rath, Oil on Canvas, 2016

Friday July 29th, Birr

The second exhibition is a new solo show of work and will be part of Birr Arts Festival in County Offaly. The title of this show is To Catch a Certain Fortune and consists of a series of drawings that I have been working on for the past few months. These new works focus on the same folklore theme as my paintings. This show will be in one of the underground tunnels at The Maltings(The Vaults). The launch of the festival is at 6:30pm in Birr Technology Centre.

For more information: Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival

And here is the Festival Programme

(No Title Yet), Graphite on Paper, 2016

2 New Exhibitions in July

Custom House Studios, Westport, Mayo. Opening July 28th

I have 2 new shows next month. the first is in Westport, Mayo and it's a joint exhibition between Barbara Trawinski and myself at Custom House Studios. I applied back in 2013 to be part of the exhibition programme and I received confirmation during my first year of the MFA. Originally the show was scheduled for September this year but was brought forward to July 28th and it will run until August 21st. I'll be exhibiting some of the current paintings from Beneath the Dock Leaf.

The New Baal Fires, 2015

There isn't a title as yet but I'll post an update nearer to the opening on the time.

Birr Arts Festival, Birr, Offaly. Opens July 29th

The second exhibition, as far as I know is a solo exhibition in Birr Arts Festival. Francis Kawala who is the organiser of the festival contacted me last weekend about possibly taking part. I had work in it a few years ago and it's a great festival and because a lot of the spaces are vacant buildings it can throw up a few challenges especially the first year I had work in it because there were several of us showing in the vaults underground.

Here's a link to the post from the first year I was in it - Installation Shots of Birr Arts Festival

The work that I'll be showing in Birr will be drawings because the Westport exhibition overlaps and my paintings will be up there. I can't post any images of the drawings because I only started last week and haven't any documentation but I'll probably have an installation post on the blog shortly after the opening. With Westport opening July 28th and Birr, July 29th I'm going to have to juggle installation days in both places.