Finished the Abbeyleix Residency

Scratching a perspex plate

I finished up in Abbeyleix Further Education and Training Centre this week after a residency lasting just under 3 months. The original plan was to play around with some animation but after the first 2 weeks my laptop closed down and wouldn't turn back on, the timing wasn't a huge issue though because I was due to start working with the Level 5 students as their work experience module started and ran for another 2 weeks.

I really enjoyed the fortnight teaching, I had to write up a brief and the students worked from that. They were very easy to work with and are a really, really strong group technically. The work being produced over the 2 weeks was a high standard and they gave excellent presentations both at the halfway point and at the end of the module. There was also a huge variation in the work across the group, the brief linked to my my own practice in terms of making prop's and using them to create scenes as source material for paintings but some people concentrated on the prop building and refining it to a point where it served as a finished piece without anything else. Other's worked on drawings, paintings, illustration and photography working from the models that they had made. Some of the work can be seen on the Art Department's Instagram

Skull drawing

I started my second month of the residency after the teaching and decided with the laptop gone I was going to try some printmaking. I never really gave it a proper try before, I did a tiny bit of carborundum printing back in first year in Galway and I think maybe monoprint when I was a student in Abbeyleix in 2006. Drypoint was where I started just taking an old sheep skull as a starting point, it was really to try and get use to the process of scratching into the perspex plate. I was kind of happy with the results as a first drypoint print. There were a number  of problems with it, I think on one of the attempts I wiped away too much ink and on the other not enough. I don't think I scratched deep enough into the plate either so I'm not sure if it was able to hold enough ink or not. With these plates only being trials I didn't worry about dampening the paper either, I would do that for the next attempt.

The first 2 drypoint prints

I started a painting back in early January and I wasn't happy with it so the the next drypoint print would be a way of recycling that and I ended up using the remains of the painting itself to test glazes. I actually used a lot of images from previous work just so I could jump right into the process of printing but these test pieces won't ever be exhibited, so aside from social media and my blog they won't be seen beyond rough documentation.

The painting that was the source of some test prints

I started using linocut in the middle of working with the drypoint. I was using the softer blue lino and hacked through it a couple of times so I want to try using the tougher grey lino and hopefully I can avoid cutting through it. Again I used the painting above to start with and the result is below, there were a few issues to iron out too. One was the application of the ink, I applied far too much on the first print, not enough on the next few and I think the last two or three I was happy with. I think with the first couple I probably didn't roll the ink out enough before putting it on the lino. I wanted to just get going with it so it was slightly rushed.

First attempts at linocut

Overall I was happy enough with these first few attempts at the prints. I was trying to make them with a similar aesthetic to my paintings or see if I could, I think this is something I would try to avoid with the linoprints. It might work with the drypoint process. I used stronger paper and dampened it for the piece at the end of this post and felt the result worked out pretty well.

Second attempt, reusing the image of a drawing I had for Birr Arts Festival last year

From here I'm back working on a new body of paintings based on the same them of folklore and mythology, I'm hoping to keep the prints going too. Jackie, Edel and Jock asked if I would work with them to curate the Level 5 artists' graduate show in The Dunamaise Arts Centre. I haven't any exhibitions lined up this year but I have two solo exhibitions scheduled for 2018. I need to just finalize things for one in February that's going to be in Pallas Projects, Dublin and the other is down for April in Birr Arts Centre. I just wanted to say a massive thanks to Jackie Edel and Jock for having me back for the residency and for the chance to work with them and the artists studying in Abbeyleix.

The last drypoint on the residency and a small mark-making sample

Solo Show in 2018

I received confirmation last week that my submission to Birr Theatre and Arts Centre, County Offaly was successful. I applied for a solo exhibition and as a rough estimate I've been offered a space for mid April 2018. At the minute I'm working on a new body of paintings still based on folklore and similar to Beneath the Dock Leaf, depending on how the work is going it could be these new works that will be in that show.

The Result of Solitude, Oil on Canvas, 36cm x 25cm, 2015

Tales from the Forest Issue 1

I have work featured in the first issue of Tales From the Forest. Its a new online magazine and it's going to be published quarterly. The theme of issue 1 is Twisted Tales and Torn Mythologies and it has a work by artists and writers. The link to the website is here - Tales From the Forest and the link to my page is here - my page.

The piece that was selected for the magazine is Half in the World of Form (below)

'Get a Real Job' Symposium

On Saturday the 20th of February the Dunamaise Theatre was the venue for a symposium titled Get a Real Job. It was organized by Abbeyleix Further Education Centre and The Dunamaise Arts Centre and involved 9 of us, all past students of the Abbeyleix Centre, speaking about our careers in art since leaving.

It was a really good day because we all got to see what each of us are up to now, also because we got to catch up and also meet artists and designers that I didn't know before. I haven't seen some members of the group in years. We were split into 3 groups, the first group was lead by Jackie Carter and the 3 speakers in that group were Janet O Grady, Laura Amy Dunne and Mary Carroll followed by a Questions and Answers round. 

Our group consisting of all studio artists and oddly all of us named Pat was lead by Jock Nichol. Pat Wallis spoke first, then myself and then Pat Fitzpatrick whose work is going to be installed at The Dunamaise Arts Centre next week after my show closes. Pat Fitzpatrick's show runs from the 4th of March until the 30th of April, the exhibition reception is on the 10th of March and after hearing a little about it at the symposium I think it's going to be an amazing show. We had a Q&A too.

The final group then was lead by Edel O Keefe and the 3 speakers were Heidi Higgins, John Hennessy and Pascal Kenna. After another Q&A round there were a few words said by Jackie, Jock, Edel and Michelle de Forge. 

The links below have some information on the day:

Dunamaise Arts Centre

Visual Artists Ireland  

Abbeyleix FEC Twitter

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' Video Documentation

I ran through the exhibition during the week and did a little video documentation of the show in The Dunamaise Arts Centre. I meant to do it for the previous showing of Beneath the Dock Leaf  but I forgot to charge my camera battery and I think it's probably more fitting that I captured this one because for the moment it's the last planned solo exhibition of Beneath the Dock Leaf. I'm planning a new project and will start working on that in the next couple of weeks and while it will be the same style and focus on the same themes it will be running under a new working title.

As for Beneath the Dock Leaf, the works in that body will be going out into group shows the first of which is in March at The Presentation Arts Centre in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. The exhibition is curated by artist John Busher.

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' by Pat Byrne from Pat Byrne on Vimeo.

Installation Shots at Dunamaise Arts Centre

Beneath the Dock Leaf opened on the 14th of January at The Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise. There was a great crowd at the opening and I got some very positive feedback,  there has also been a good footfall through the gallery since the launch night. I have a few images of the show in this post, none from opening night but just the installation itself.

With the work being so figurative I was really keen to avoid having exact spacing between each work. I had some of them grouped slightly more for this purpose and interaction rather than for any real narrative. 

The Dunamaise is a great space, It;s an open white cube with a skylight that runs the length of the gallery and along with the natural light there are also spotlights too.

There is 2 new paintings in the exhibition since the work was on display at The Hyde Bridge Gallery in Sligo, they're the one just to the left of the door above and the one beside it. The piece beside the door is titled Upon the Lonely Rath and the one beside it is called Slouching. Slouching was originally intended for the Sligo exhibition but it wasn't ready.

Out of the 15 paintings 6 of the paintings were completed during my time on the MFA at The National College of Art and Design, the other 9 are all new. The 3 above were from the MFA and the one below is new and actually was installed while still wet. Upon the Lonely Rath is my first completed painting of 2016.

The build up was really good and the staff at The Dunamaise were great. All I had to do was get the work to the gallery. Michelle de Forge, who is the Centre Director, Nick who is Installation Technician, Laura is Box Office Manager and Lorraine is Head of PR took care of absolutely everything, installation, promotion, invites, they had everything cover and it was a complete pleasure to work with them, they were brilliant.

I was in yesterday just recording some footage of the show and Michelle asked would I be available during the week to talk with the students of Abbeyleix FEC so I went in today (February 10th) to talk about the work and what I've been up to since I finished Abbeyleix almost 10 years ago. I got to catch up with Jackie Carter who is head of the art department and was one of my tutors when I was in the PLC course. I also got to meet Sharon Murphy who is working with the students as part of their work experience and was running a workshop in the space on documenting artwork. I still find it a little bit terrifying talking in front of a group but I think it went fairly well and it was quite laid back.

I'll be updating my website soon with documentation of the new work and any other little adjustments that are needed. As far as studio work goes, I'm currently working on a commission and after that's completed I'll be starting a new body of work based on the same theme and in a similar style to what I'm doing but I'm hoping to push it on a little bit and also introduce new characters.

On the 20th of February I'll be one of 10 artists speaking at a symposium called Get a Real Job. The symposium is organised by Abbeyleix Further Education Centre Art Department in conjunction with The Dunamaise Arts Centre.

Beneath the Dock Leaf runs until the 27th of February.

Exhibition in Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise

Back in early December I met with Michelle de Forge, director of Dunamaise Arts Centre and Nick who is the centre's technician. We confirmed dates for installation, exhibition opening and possible dates for a talk. I'll be in the gallery to install work on the 11th, 12th and 13th of January with the opening taking place on the 14th at 7pm. The show will run I think for about 6 weeks and for the 27th of February, towards the end of the exhibition, Abbeyleix Further Education Centre are organizing a symposium. Several of us who have previously studied there will be talking about our experience since leaving. I finished in 2005 before moving to Galway so it's just about 10 years.

A Solitary Mountain or Old Ruin, 2015

I'm running with the title of Beneath the Dock Leaf  for this show too as it's mostly the same works from that body of work but I think this is the last show that will be under that title. After this exhibition I will be starting a new project, it will be focused on the same theme and style but I hope to push it on slightly, introduce new characters, which means building new props and possibly scale up the work.

To be About on November Eve, 2015

New Studio in Dublin

I have just moved into a new studio in Dublin. I signed up for a membership with A4 Sounds a few weeks ago and got a studio last week. I'm delighted to be back based in Dublin but with the residency in August and the exhibition last month I didn't want to break up my work time with moving. I found working on my own over the summer tough after being part of a busy atmosphere at Emmett House so I'm happy to be part of a group environment again.

There's a good number of multidisciplinary artists based in the building and there's always a lot of activity around. I'm hoping to be back painting this week but with a few small jobs to get done I'll just be working on a piece that I started about three weeks ago. It was originally intended to go into Beneath the Dock Leaf but I wasn't happy with it and restarted it the week after the exhibition opening.

No title yet but this is the newest painting so far.

I'll have a profile page on the A4 Sounds website soon so once that's up I'll post a link.

Q & A with Patience Brewster

I was contacted during the week by Marietta Gregg who is Marketing Director at Patience Brewster and I was asked if I would take part in a Q & A. It's part of the Patience Brewster Artist Appreciation Month project and they will be posting links on their social media to the blog posts that they receive. I was delighted to take part, the 5 questions and answers follow.

(1) As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?

I don’t think so, growing up in a rural area in Ireland I didn’t have easy access to art galleries and I lived a fair distance from Dublin and so I was 18 when I first visited an art gallery. There was a show titled Northern Nocturnes in the National Gallery of Ireland in 2005. This exhibition consisted of paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists and I remember being completely captivated with some of the Rembrandt paintings on display, I had never seen them in real life or outside of books before that. As a child I spent a lot of time drawing and I remember winning a trophy in a local art competition when I was 5. Drawing was just something that I always enjoyed doing and it went from there.

(2)As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?

At the moment the focus of my work is superstition and folklore. My goal with this current body of work is to portray Irish folk figures, such as leprechauns, pucas and, at some point the banshee, in a more realistic fashion. I’ve painting them as figures in more contemporary attire, such as hoodies and tracksuits instead of the traditional tuxedo and bowler hat. I’m not trying to redesign these spirits but rather reinterpret them without the element of parody and cliché.

The fact that nobody really believes in them anymore was also something that interested me. They are effectively unemployed and due to this they appear to have very little going on in their lives, the leprechaun is no longer needed to mend shoes and the banshee is not needed as a warning of death. They have all been replaced with rationality which I think is a pity.

 Leaves, Oil on Canvas, 55cm x 35cm, Pat Byrne, 2015

The New Baal Fires, Oil on Canvas, 57cm x 40cm, Pat Byrne, 2015

(3)What memorable responses have you had to your work?

I received really positive feedback in June this year towards the current paintings. It was the first time they had been installed for display and it was my MFA Graduate exhibition at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. My work almost sold out, I only brought home one painting out of the installed body of work which I was really surprised at because before that show I only sold 2 pieces. Also during this show 8 of us had our work reviewed by artist and art critic James Merrigan. That was great and one of the most memorable responses that I have had towards my work because in the paint department we all would have been following James’ website Billion Journal.

The Honeycomb Project was another project I was involved with in 2011. It was a collaborative light installation that 5 of us worked on for The Electric Picnic music festival and we got a lot of positive feedback. That was the first time that someone might have been talking about a piece of work and I was able to say I was one of the artists who worked on it.  

The Honeycomb Project, MDF, Plastic Bottles and LED Lights, Laura Byrne, Pat Byrne, Karen Hendy, Helena Malone and Vera McEvoy, 2011

(4)What is your dream project?

I don’t think that I have ever really thought about what would be my dream project. I think at the moment my dream project would be to exhibit alongside some of my friends that I have met along the way. During my undergraduate studies at Galway – Mayo Institute of Technology and postgraduate studies at the National College of Art and Design I’ve been really lucky to meet some really great people and to become friends with them. As for my own work, I would like to work towards a show outside Ireland at some point and continue working in a similar way to what I’m doing now and I think another Icelandic residency would be good too, I have applied for one recently and I’m waiting to hear back so hopefully it’ll be good news.

The Result of Solitude, Oil on Canvas, 36cm x 25cm, Pat Byrne, 2015

(5)What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not!)

Kevin Cosgrove, Kehinde Wiley and Jeremy Geddes are three figurative painters that I really admire. Even though my work is nothing like Fiona Rae’s I have always really liked her paintings too and how she speaks about them. Niamh O Malley and Ailbhe Bí Bhriain are 2 more Irish artists whose work I like. Painting features in Niamh’s work alongside video and installation and although Ailbhe works with video I think there’s a very strong painterly quality about her work.     

Links

Patience Brewster Website

Patience Brewster Facebook

Patience Brewster Twitter

Some of the New Work

I have some of the new paintings documented and uploaded on this post. I haven't uploaded them to my website yet though, there's more of a glare on some of them than I thought originally so I'm going to re-shoot a few of them.

Some of the newer pieces were much more still life based work and focus more on trinkets that are sometimes associated with the figures of folklore. They also served as a way to introduce new figures to the work at a later stage.

Some of the paintings proved more difficult than others to photograph, I won't need to document all of them again but there are 3 of the 5 pieces shown here that I'll re-take. The bottom painting, To Sing or Whistle, is gone into the Laois County Collection.

A Silver Shilling or Golden Ashes, Oil on Canvas, 20cm x 17cm, 2015

Merely on a Spree, Oil on Canvas, 26cm x 18cm, 2015

Possessor of Great Riches, Oil on Canvas, 34cm x 28cm, 2015

Red, Oil on Canvas, 17cm x 16cm, 2015

To Sing or Whistle, Oil on Canvas, 56cm x 41cm, 2015

'Beneath the Dock Leaf' Installation Shots

Beneath the Dock Leaf finished yesterday. I was very happy with the feedback on the work, this was the first exhibition of the work since I finished the MFA in June and it was the first solo show since Excursion last October. There was also more paintings on show than during my MFA show, in the old Frawley's building I installed 9 pieces but at The Hyde Bridge Gallery I hung 14 works. There were several new paintings that I worked on over the summer but a big difference with these newer paintings was that I have been working in a space on my own so there wasn't anyone to ask for feedback and had to trust my own judgement. I was told too that there was a big attendance at the exhibition for Culture Night.

I really enjoyed working in The Hyde Bridge Gallery. It's a really great gallery consisting of 2 rooms and a corridor space. The 2 rooms contain a fireplace each. This prompted me to work on 2 pieces specifically for this exhibition and while I had both on display only was installed to interact with a fireplace. There's one wall in the first room that is almost entirely made up of a window and in the second room are 2 windows situated right in the corner providing both rooms with strong natural light. Between the windows, fireplaces and the fact that the gallery is made up of 3 spaces provided an interesting challenge during installation, making me consider which paintings were going together in which rooms and also how one room would lead into the next while trying to avoid very literal narratives.

Fairy and Folktales of Ireland by W.B Yeats served as a source of research for my work and as The Hyde Bridge Gallery is part of The Yeats Society Building in Sligo it was a fitting venue given the theme of my current work.

I meant to get a video of the exhibition but my camera wasn't charged, I'll do it for the next show. I was contact by The Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise on the 4th of September about the possibility of exhibiting Beneath the Dock Leaf there sometime in 2016 so I'll be speaking with them soon about that.

I'll be posting documentation of the individual works over the next few weeks on my website and adding new pieces to the body of work.

New Solo Exhibition - 'Beneath the Dock Leaf'

I have a new solo exhibition opening this Tuesday (September, 8th) at the Hyde Bridge Gallery in Sligo. The show will be an expansion of my MFA show and is a continuation of the superstition and folklore focus while hinting at some of the new characters to be introduced.It opens at 6pm on Tuesday and runs through Culture Night until the 19th of September. The work in this show is relatively small scale, at the moment I'm unsure of how many works will be on show, I'm looking to hand between 10 and 12. While at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre I was talking to the director and he used to be director of the Hyde Bridge Gallery. He was saying 10 paintings would fill it and I do like a decent amount of space around each work. 

 Half in the World of Form, Oil on Canvas, 2015

The title, Beneath the Dock Leaf , is a reference to the writings of Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde. In her book Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland, Wilde tells of leprechauns being seen at work under dock leaves. However the fact that not so many people believes in these fairy folk anymore means that they are effectively unemployed and I wanted something to resemble the saying of "behind closed doors" as a title for these figures of superstition that gave way to a world of science and rationality

The New Baal Fires, Oil on Canvas, 2015  

Pat Byrne Website

Visual Artist Ireland Information  

Twitter

Instagram