Category: News

“Awash With Colour” is a collaboration between AAEX (Art As Exchange) Dundalk and MOPOSOGS (Monaghan Poets and Songwriters Group). Exciting plans are ahead for the project, which will be launched with a month-long exhibition at Íontas in Castleblayney on December 9th 2021.

This is the link to the interview myself and Dez Murphy of MOPOSOGS gave to Pat Byrne on Dundalk FM explaining all last week.

AAEX (Art As Exchange) is five this year and to celebrate, a weekend of art events in St Helena Park, kicking off with Culture Night on Friday 17th September. It was the first chance for AAEX members to meet members of collaborators MOPOSOGS for the presentation of works from “Awash With Colour.” It was an evening of song, storytelling and visual art.

The rest of the weekend was a series of workshops and participatory art. I was involved in the World Map, pictured below. Members of the public were invited to place a peg on that part of the map – drawn on the ground – representing where they had ever travelled or lived and join up all their pegs with wool, making for a series of criss-cross lines and patterns emerging of the most popular places.

Two of my drawings beginning at 3:12 in this film of a selection of Thursday Life Drawing at the United Arts Club put together by illustrator Brian Gallagher.

This is a really worthwhile initiative of The Arts Service of Louth County Council – Celebrate Pipes – a series of four videos featuring local Uilleann Pipers Brendan McCreanor and Patrick Martin. 

From Drogheda Life: “Funded by Louth County Council and the Arts Council, the video was commissioned by the Arts Office as part of its Arts in Schools Programme, to recognise the inclusion of Uilleann Piping on the UNESCO list of Intangible Culture Heritage in 2017.

Originally designed as live workshop visits to schools, the programme could not proceed this year and the content was filmed instead for use in the classroom. “The Celebrate Pipes video link will be circulated to secondary schools in Louth and will be of particular interest to second level music students” said the Council’s Acting Arts Officer Mary Capplis.  “It has great potential for use as an educational resource for music teachers, as it will link in with the curriculum covering traditional arts. While it is not the same as a live visit by musicians, it will create an awareness and understanding of the art of Uilleann piping, in addition to showcasing excellent musical performances from two Louth musicians.

Here’s the link to the series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvlsCHDsX-EQsFitqCZW0zA/videos and below is the first of the videos in that series.

I am delighted to have my piece, “Moving Things, An Emigration Story,” in the 2020 Ireland’s Own Anthology. The 11th Ireland’s Own Anthology of Short Stories and Memories is only available at www.irelandsown.ie. It features 40 writers from all over Ireland drawn from over 500 entries to the magazine’s writing competitions which have been running now for nearly 40 years.

The book contains 40 stories and memories, never previously published, covering a wide range of very interesting subjects.

The Foreword this year is contributed by popular TV presenter and author, Mary Kennedy, and she writes:

‘It’s been a very unsettling time and my wish is that this year’s Ireland’s Own Anthology will restore some confidence and provide some comfort to readers, reminding us that the tradition of storytelling continues as strongly as ever in this country, championed by the Ireland’s Own magazine which began in 1902 and has been going strong ever since.’

I was honoured to be a part of An Táin Dundalk’s Virtual Gallery:
https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/1358742/how-we-live-now

The twelve of us artists took part in a Zoom presentation on the launch night, 19th June 2020:

My piece is a drypoint, one of an edition of five, entitled “Lineswoman.”

I am delighted to be participating in the Thursday night life drawing group’s annual Group exhibition opening next Thursday 12th September in the United Arts Club, Dublin. Opening it will be Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Paddy McCartan.

I am also very pleased that I have been accepted onto the RHA’s Self-directed Life Drawing Course 2019-20 term.