As the Samhain banners unfurl, and as winter approaches, thoughts of painting crunch with the leaves and unseen snow. One becomes thoughtful before the fire, burrows inwards, carves out an imaginative hinterland where the cold and the rain cannot enter. Paintings and prints hover as marvellous worlds upon the walls; […]
Her mouth is a fish, her cheek a stingray. One octopus nets her fish-and-otter-hair, another comprises her shoulder, whilst an eel forms her neck and a pearl earring dangles from her ear-shell. Who is she? A painting by a surrealist, you might think, someone modern or contemporary? Perhaps Dali or […]
A living line, trembling with energy. The feeling which charges the hand: a poignant burst, guiding the etching needle, twisting, erupting, flicking and flowing, etching death into a copper plate. Francisco Goya’s series of etchings, ‘The Disasters of War’ (1810-1820), is an arguably unequaled record of cruelty, in the medium of […]
In March I wrote a column encouraging people to take part in a public consultation process, for a project aimed at reviving a neglected part of Clonakilty. The public consultation was to inform an Integrated Urban Strategy (IUS) for Kent Street (the street the library is on), identifying how public […]
As always in Summer, the art galleries and arts centres of West Cork are blooming: there are wonderful exhibitions to be seen in Cnoc Bui (Union Hall), Working Artist Studios (Ballydehob), Uillin (Skibbereen), Blue House Gallery (Schull), and Gallery Asna | Clonakilty Community Arts Centre (Clonakilty). This will be the […]