Craftswirl, Armagh August 2017

My jewellery and two series of drawings and paintings are being exhibited in Craftswirl, Armagh Visitors' Centre for the month of August. I'm excited to be exhibiting in N Ireland for the first time in a few years and looking forward to doing more shows locally now that I'm back in Belfast.

Feast of Irish Colour

Monica Boyle Falacies of Hope VI

Yesterday I was delighted to discover the Barbara Stanley Gallery on Connaught Street which shows Irish contemporary art. What a find. I recognise some of the artists and loved seeing lots of Irish landscapes, as my own dissertation at university was on Irish landscape art. The soft atmospheric colours in some of the paintings are typically Irish with the good old Atlantic weather fronts blowing in - usually bringing rain!
I was struck by the rich glowing colours in Monica Boyle and Cormac O'Leary's paintings.

Looking forward to seeing more Irish art in future shows at this Gallery, especially having had a warm welcome from the owner.

Cormac O'Leary All Soul's Night

RUA 2014 Ulster Museum

The Ulster Museum once again hosts the Royal Ulster Academy 2014 Annual Exhibition which opens today 17th October - 4th January. I've seen some pics of the show and it looks better than ever - can't wait

 to see it when I'm back home in Belfast. 

You can see the latest works from some of the best Irish artists - a great combination of established artists and fresh new talent featuring not only paintings but also sculpture, glass, ceramics, photography and film. 

....look for my little Butterfly Cloud Bowl - tiny in comparison to some of the amazing oil paintings, but it's there on a plinth alongside the sculptures!

Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition

I'm flying back for the Private View tomorrow evening at the Ulster Museum and can't wait to see the wide range of art, especially all the paintings, and to meet the artists. Some names are familiar to me from exhibitions years ago and from the BP Portrait Awards in London, and now I'll see these incredible artists all in one venue, back in Belfast. Fantastic!

.....and of course I'm really looking forward to seeing my very own Blossom Bowl on show at the RUA Exhibition!

The exhibition opens to the public on the 18th October.

Blossom Bowl 

London Irish Centre

I had a great evening in Camden Square recently at The London Irish Centre. I was there for an Art Exhibition Ireland in Our Eyes. There was a great atmosphere with upbeat Irish music (I don't hear it that often in London!) by Jim McKee and chatting to the artists. I knew two of the artists - one, a friend Jamie, and the other, Corin, is a sculptor whose studio is next to us at Flux in Camberwell. He had a very successful show.

I also liked this quote from Seamus Heaney which I read there:

'I can't think of a case where poems changed the world, 

but what they do is change people's understanding 

of what's going on in the world.'