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I’m delighted to be showing at the Blue House Gallery once more with my former art college classmate and friend, Janet Murran. The theme, Waterland, references our shared but differing response to water, be it the sea or river and it’s relationship to the land it meets.
The exhibition opens officially on Friday 26th July at 6pm and continues until Wednesday 7th August.
Skibbereen Arts Festival 2019 marked its 10th Anniversary at the official launch in the O’Driscoll building in Skibbereen on Friday 12th July, with the Mayor of County Cork and Lord Puttnam officiating.
This year the O’Driscoll building hosts Catherine Hammond Gallery’s monumental exhibition of new paintings inspired by the West Cork landscape by Ireland’s greatest living landscape artist, Donald Tesky. At the rear of the building is another must-see exhibition, Falling into the Sky, which is a collaboration of works by Ber Burns, Tess Leak, Gana Roberts, Nicola Kelly and Wendy Dison.
There is more to look forward to with the Skibbereen Arts Festival Visual Arts Trail beginning on Saturday 27th July with various exhibitions around the town and be sure to pick up your Visual Arts Trail Map from the Town Hall, Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre or at the O’Driscoll Building itself.
This year also marks my 7th anniversary as the Visual Arts Facilitator of the festival. Obtaining sites for our pop-up exhibitions has become increasingly challenging as Skibbereen becomes more prosperous and we are totally dependent on the goodwill and generosity of the town’s landlords and property owners to lend venues for the duration of the festival. I’m very grateful to them all. Also, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to meet many brilliant participating artists over these past years.
photo credit; Skibbereen Arts Festival. From left, Declan McCarthy, myself, The Mayor of County Cork, Lord Puttnam, Brendan McCarthy and Ann Davoren.
The Blue House Gallery in Schull are celebrating the DIT Visual Arts degree course which is held on Sherkin Island for creatives living in West Cork or beyond, who may otherwise not be able to avail of a fine arts education. This is a group exhibition of recent work by selected Sherkin graduates. The official opening is on Friday 28th June from 6-8pm and show continues until Wednesday 10th July.
The Sound of Ravens, a new body of work by visual artist Wendy Dison, opened on Saturday 3rd November at Uillin: West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen. The exhibition includes mixed media paintings and sculptures in wire, plaster and paper. Vessels for Memories is an assemblage of fired clay vessels.
Wendy Dison with Donagh Carey
‘Ravens are a permanent presence around our house. When I walk on the mountain ravens fly over to see what is happening and I wonder if they recognise me. In many cultures ravens are a mythic symbol of death or are thought of as messengers or omens.
‘After my mother died I walked on the mountain and thought about the ravens and how empty it would be if I couldn’t hear their cranking. The birds became a metaphor that enable me to explore my grief.’ Wendy Dison
Dick Richards opening The Sound of Ravens.
Donagh meeting up with sculptor Moss Gaynor and painter Michael McSwiney
For further information about Wendy Dison and the work shown in this exhibition, visit Wendy’s website www.wendydison.com. The exhibition continues until Tuesday 11th December 2018. For opening times go to www.westcorkartscentre.com.
A retired US lawyer came to spend 8 weeks in West Cork to write a book and was a regular on Saturdays at Skibbereen Farmers Market, where we got to know him. During his stay, he immersed himself in local history and the Irish Famine became a particular focus. He learned about a riot that took place in Skibbereen in 1846, when it was discovered that the government was abolishing a road works scheme that was the life blood for many workers. These roads are now known as Famine Roads.
Donagh was commissioned to paint an oil sketch depicting the Riots that took place outside a government building in North Street. Coincidently, the building became a school and was Donagh’s school from the ages of 13 to 17. Donagh knew that an extra floor had been created in the building in the 1970s by lowering the ceiling on the ground floor and raising the floor on the upper floor, so this modern alteration was removed to make it historically accurate.
The Voice of Hunger: September 1846, oil on board
Photo kindly sent by the client in situ, as it were! The painting is now in his collection in Spokane, Washington.
As part of the annual Skibbereen Arts Festival 2018, gallerist, curator and art consultant, Catherine Hammond launched a series of exhibitions including ELEMENTS: West Cork Landscapes featuring work by 30 artists.
Donagh Carey submitted two oil paintings for inclusion in ELEMENTS: West Cork Landscape. Pat’s Homeplace is the imagined homeplace of Donagh’s great uncle Patrick somewhere around Lough Hyne. Raheen Castle depicts the ruin of a castle tower near Castletownshend in the West Cork landscape.
Pat’s Homeplace, oil on board.
Raheen Castle, oil on board.
Donagh Carey with Donald Tesky
Cormac Boydell: NEW WORK and Michael Quane: TWO NEW PIECES are showing alongside the group landscape show, ELEMENTS. The exhibitions are situated in the O’Driscoll Building, Skibbereen and continue until Monday 6th August. For more information; www.skibbereenartsfestival.com and www.hammondgallery.com.
Anseo Here opens on Saturday 21st July and can be found on the Visual Arts Trail of the Skibbereen Arts Festival 2018 at the West Cork Hotel. West Cork has been a destination for artists from many different countries over several decades. Anseo Here is an exhibition celebrating the connection many of these artists have with west Cork. Whether they migrated here or grew up here, each artist has a unique relationship with their environment and in this exhibition they share their thoughts on how this link has influenced their life and work.
Donagh will be showing works alongside artists, photographers, ceramicists and sculptors Janet Murran, Geoff Greenham, Diarmuid Breen, John Doherty, Ginny Pavrey, Brian Lalor and Etain Hickey.
The exhibition continues until Monday 5th August. For further information; www.skibbereenartsfestival.com.
The image featured is a detail of a painting included in the exhibition by Sherkin Island artist, Bernadette Burns
The Summer Season 2018 at The Blue House Gallery in Schull is well under way and last Friday saw the opening of a group show of gallery artists on the theme of Tribal. Other artists featured include Keith Payne, Sonia Caldwell, John Doherty and Fiona Power.
Three works from Donagh’s Three Castles series at the exhibition opening night.
Ceramicist Jim Turner, Donagh Carey and artist Diarmuid Breen at the opening of Tribal exhibition.
Donagh with artist sculptor Sonia Caldwell.
Tribal continues until Wednesday 6th June. For more information on this exhibition and the full 2018 programme go to www.bluehousegalleryschull.com.
Donagh began showing his oil sketches and paintings at Skibbereen Farmers Market last year and is now a regular at this unique West Cork Saturday market. Not too far from his home near Schull, the market is a lovely mix of locally grown and produced foods and artisan wares, as well as stalls selling vintage books, china, glass, clothes and vinyl. It's also a great place to get first rate take-away food with a good selection of culinary styles and there are usually buskers to entertain and add another layer of ambience.
Donagh displays his oil sketches depicting rural West Cork, seascapes and towns such as Castletownshend, Ballydehob and Baltimore. He also shows one or two paintings from the Skellig or Three Towers series, which are more abstract in style. The market has proved to be an ideal opportunity to have an informal chat about commissioning a painting, often of a place of personal significance. There are greeting cards available to buy which feature some of Donagh's oil sketches, which are perfect when you want to send someone a little momento of West Cork when you're thinking of them.
Alongside Donagh in his market stall is his partner, Tamsin Blackbourn, who designs and makes sustainable clothing for women. Tamsin uses only quality natural fibre fabrics, including Irish linen, wool and cotton, some of which is organic and GOTS certified and hand makes all her garments with much hand sewn finishing - the way our clothes used to be made. Her clothes take time to make, but are intended to be pieces that stand the test of time in quality and style.
You'll find Donagh and Tamsin at Skibbereen Farmers Market from 9am to 2pm throughout the year on most Saturdays, come rain and shine, but not hurricane - check Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on Friday/ Saturday for their updates.
Last Friday evening saw the opening of a joint show of new paintings by Donagh and fellow West Cork artist, Janet Murran at the Aisling Gallery in Ballydehob. Both artists take inspiration from the West Cork rural landscape to create a diverse collections of paintings. Janet's new work, Garden of Eden, shows the viewer the often overlooked grasses, flowers and ferns of hedgerows. Donagh's oil sketches feature the less common views of local villages and landscapes alongside his oil painting series, Three Towers, based on Three Castles Head on the Mizen Peninsula.
The gallery is above Rosie's Bar on the main street in Ballydehob and is open Monday to Friday from 4-9pm and Saturday & Sunday from 2-9pm. The exhibition continues until Monday 25th September.
Before the guests arrive for the official exhibition opening, Donagh Carey with Janet Murran and her Garden of Eden painting series
Friends, visitors and collectors at the opening night
Janet Murran with photographer Dolph Kessler
Janet and Donagh at the opening of their joint show, beside Donagh's painting One Hundred Paces from his Three Towers series, based on the historic Three Castles Head on the Mizen peninsula.
Coming up - a joint show of new work with Janet Murran at the Aisling Gallery in Balleydehob. The official opening is on Friday 8th September from 7-9pm and all are welcome to come along to view the work and meet the artists.
The gallery is situated above Rosie's Bar and the opening times are Monday to Friday 4-9pm and Saturday & Sunday 2-9pm, so you can take your pint of Murphys or glass of wine in to the gallery with you, for a wander and a gander.
Donagh Carey with sculptor Barry Linnane, whose bronze and metalwork sculptures are exhibited alongside Donagh's paintings
It is a body of work inspired by Dun Locha, meaning castle on the lake, which is commonly know as Three Castles Head, situated on the Mizen Penninsula. Donagh has delved into the history and atmosphere of this remote area of Ireland, in a century when tools and engineering were rudimentary, but effective enough to build an extraordinary fortress of stone. In the 12th century, Donagh the Migratory was forced back by aggressors to the furthest most point, where he built a mural wall fort incorporating the three towers and flanked on the other sides by cliffs and the atlantic ocean. Constructed beside a fresh water lake, the castle provided sanctuary and protection for Donagh the Migratory's clan and was never attacked. Donagh Carey's paintings, with titles including 'Mural Wall', 'Last Bastion', 'Promontory' and 'Flank' are a response to the imagined isolation of those earlier centuries and the atmosphere experienced exploring the castle remains nowadays.
At the official opening, painting Breaking Waves to the right with bronze sculpture by Barry Linnane
From left to right, Promontory, Last Bastion and One Hundred Paces
On opening night, with the painting Mural Wall far right and Headland, a series of four, to centre
The exhibition continues until Tuesday 15th August and is open daily from 11am to 5pm.
View more paintings from Donagh's Three Towers series.
The Boyle Arts Festival, now in it's 28th year, takes place every summer with the main visual arts exhibition housed in the splendid setting of King House. "Facing West" is the centre piece of the festival, featuring over a hundred established and emerging artists who presented works in various media including painting, drawing, sculpture, textile, ceramics and photography.
The exhibition has been curated by Paul McKenna and was officially opened on Thursday 20th July at 8pm in King House by Heather Humphreys, Minister for Culture
Earlier in the year, Donagh was approached to submit work for 'Facing West' exhibition and 'Refuge, Epoch ll' was subsequently selected. It is one in a series of three from Donagh's wider Epoch series, inspired by the 6th Century hermitage on Skellig Michael. Specifically, the openings of the stone bee hive dwellings in which the monks sought sanctuary from the hardship of their lives and the weather on the tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean, 12 miles off the Kerry coast.
Among the exhibiting artists included are Hughie O’Donoghue, Katherine Boucher Beug, Tom Climent, Eilis O'Connell and John Shinnors. Donagh was delighted to learn that Karen Hendy with whom he had previously shared a studio, was also an invited artist.
The exhibition continues until Friday 18th August and the gallery is open daily from 11am to 6pm.
For more information about the Boyle Arts Festival click here.
'Facing West' exhibition in King House
Donagh's painting Refuge, Epoch ll in situ
Refuge, Epoch ll oil on canvas
It was an early start for Donagh Carey, to transport his paintings to Carlow and hang in Lennons Restaurant at the VISUAL Arts Centre before it opened for Sunday Brunch. The Byrne family, who are the hospitality behind the restaurant gave Donagh a warm welcome. Sinead Byrne slipped off her shoes to climb up on the seating and help with the hang, whilst her son Ross who is the chef, prepared a much appreciated post-hang lunch.
The award winning restaurant has been situated on the ground floor of the VISUAL Arts Centre since 2009 and was previously at another location in Carlow town for several years. The owners are keen to show the work of selected contemporary artists in the restaurant and exhibitions change every few weeks.
There's always a thrill for the artist to see paintings that have been toiled over for weeks, months and even years, come together and exhibited as a coherent collection.
This new collection of oil paintings by Donagh Carey is a revisit to the theme of the Skellig Islands and Ballinskellig. The Monastic settlement in the early centuries have become an enduring pre-occupation in Donagh's work and here he explores the idea of sanctuary, the effects of time and solitude.
This was an exciting opportunity for Donagh to show some of his larger oil paintings. Shown here from left to right, Sanctuary, Chalice Stone and Refuge.
Lennons restaurant is open as follows;
DINNER THURSDAY – SATURDAY FROM 6PM
EARLY BIRD ALL NIGHT THURSDAYS, 6-7PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY
LUNCH 7 DAYS FROM 12PM
L’Atitude 51 Wine Cafe on Union Quay overlooks the River Lee in Cork City and the historic building dates back to the 19th century. Over the years, it has had many guises – its most famous as The Lobby Bar - an iconic Cork music venue of the 80’s and 90’s. Today, it continues as a music venue, but also offers many more reasons to visit. A large blackboard lists over fifty wines, hinting at L'Atitude's serious wine list for a discerning or curious palette and it's no surprise that they appear in the Sunday Business Post's "Top 10 Wine Bar's in Ireland" 2016.
Curator, Antoinette Moore, hanging Donagh's oil sketches.
The upstairs room at L'Atitude 51 showing paintings by Janet Murran and Donagh Carey.
Photo credit to L'Atitude 51.
The Wine Cafe also provides a venue for artists to show their work, right in the city centre in an informal and social space. Donagh Carey, along with fellow West Cork artist Janet Murran, is currently exhibiting a new series of oil sketches and paintings. L'Atitude are happy for art appreciators to wander in and browse, although the aroma of coffee and sight of made in-house patisserie is a good reason to linger for longer.
A taste of Donagh Carey's oil sketches showing at 'Legacy' in L'Atitude 51.
Morrison's Quay, oil on board, Painting 15cm x 15cm, Framed 40cm x 40cm
Carbery's Lane Rosscarbery, oil on board, Painting 15cm x 15cm, Framed 40cm x 40cm
Tim's Farm, Evening ll, oil on board, Painting 15cm x 15cm, Framed 40cm x 40cm
L'Atitude 51 is situated on Union Quay, Cork city and opens as follows;
Mon 9.30am - 8pm
Tues - Thurs 9.30 - 11pm
Fri 9.30am - 12.30am
Sat 4pm - 12.30am
The Narrow Space gallery in Clonmel begins it's Christmas celebrations with a collection of new work by invited artists this Friday evening. The Exhibition will be opened by David Anchell of Camida at 8pm and features oil sketches by Donagh Carey and work by fellow West Cork artist Janet Murran. Other showing artists include Ann Brennan, Kenneth Bolger, Mia Carney, Brigid Delahunty, Eugene de Leastar, Ella Kavanagh, Gerard O’Connell, Tony O’Connor, Dervla O’Flaherty and Olive Stack.
The Narrow Space is situated on Mitchel Street, Clonmel and opens Monday to Friday from 10.30am - 2.30pm and 3.15 - 5.30pm and on Saturdays from 10.30am - 5.30pm. The exhibition continues until the 21 January 2017.
The latest exhibition at The Aisling Gallery in Ballydehob features Fiona Power and Cormac O'Leary who have collaborated on this joint exhibition and have been fellow artists since meeting at art college in Sligo in the 1980s. Their differing approaches to the theme From Sea To Sky, creates an exhibition which is pleasingly cohesive and yet diverse.
At the opening of From Sea To Sky at The Aisling Gallery
A selection of Fiona's paintings showing at The Aisling Gallery
Cormac O'Leary was born in Cork City and after studying painting at Sligo RTC he moved to Barcelona where he immersed himself in art and culture. Cormac has now returned to Ireland with his family and is based in Leitrim. He has had solo exhibitions in Ireland, the UK and US and his work is held in private and public collections across the world.
Fiona Power was a founder member of establishing the Pigeon Loft Studios in Sligo, then following a move to Cork City, she became a member of Backwater Artists Studios. Now she lives with her family in West Cork with a studio overlooking Dunmanus Bay and the Sheeps Head Peninsula.
Donagh with Cormac O'Leary
Donagh with artists Fiona Power, Helen O'Keeffe and Cormac O'Leary
The Aisling Gallery is above Rosie's Bar in Ballydehob and opens from 4pm-9pm on weekdays and from 2pm-9pm at weekends, or by appointment. Two Of A Kind: From Sea To Sky continues until the end of September.
Solitude, Skellig Michael - Donagh Carey
The Skibbereen Arts Festival opened last Friday evening and The Visual Arts Trail is a regular feature, combining solo and group shows of a wide spectrum of artists. Many of the exhibitions are held in pop up venues; buildings or commercial premises that are currently unoccupied and kindly lent for the duration of the festival by the owners. This makes for interesting and unlikely settings for many of the shows including a retail premise on Townshend Street which had been abandoned since the 70s, housing The Souvenir Shop by Rita Duffy, commissioned by the Arts Council of Ireland 1916-2016 and marks the centenary of the 1916 Rebellion. The Old Bottling Plant behind the Southern Star is the venue for Works from the Angela Flowers Collection at Downeen, a personal collection of paintings housed in Ireland belonging to Angela Flowers, Chairman of the Angela Flowers Gallery in London.
Those Furious Forms Once Forged In Heat - John Simpson, oil on canvas.
Beal Toinne Mor - Holger Lönze, bronze
Permanent gallery spaces participate in The Visual Arts Trail, too, putting on special events to coincide with the festival including Uillin: West Cork Arts Centre which has a full programme of workshops, exhibitions, talks and concerts. The Catherine Hammond Gallery on Bridge Street is currently showing Contemporary Realism featuring paintings by artists including John Doherty, Martin Gale and Maeve McCarthy.
Liminal - Karen Hendy, mixed media on board
In The Old Quay - an unfinished, contemporary building empty for around ten years, is an ideal space for a pop up gallery with high ceilings, expansive walls and lots of natural light. Painters, including Charles Tyrrell, Billy Foley and Ian Humphreys and sculpturers Holger Lönze, Don Cronin and Moss Gaynor were invited to submit their largest works for MÓR, the Irish word meaning 'big' or 'great'. "The idea for MÓR," says Donagh Carey, "is that so many artists have big work and they get few opportunities to show in West Cork and we are lucky we had access to a building like The Old Quay. It's very rare. Thinking back to when I last saw a large Charles Tyrrell painting; in Uillin: West Cork Arts Centre last year and the Kinsale Arts Festival four or five years earlier. The smaller galleries just won't accommodate larger work."
Her Own People l - Janet Murran, charcoal, acrylic and photographic transfer on fabriano paper
Working on large scale paintings is a very different experience to working on average size pieces, Donagh explains, because everything changes, especially managing the composition, tone and colour. "I'm lucky because I can work outdoors on good days. The first thing that challenges large paintings is space, you have to stand so far back to judge the work; you get a lot of exercise going back and forth. There are two issues with big work - space to work in and space to exhibit."
Untitled l & ll - Billy Foley, oil on canvas
The Skibbereen Arts Festival continues until Sunday 31st July and there are more than a dozen free exhibitions to visit.
Refuge - Donagh Carey, oil on canvas
The 'Take 3' artists, Diarmuid Breen, Janet Murran and Donagh Carey met at Art School and have continued to collaborate and come together to show work. 'Take 3' is a diverse exhibition of new paintings with each artist having their own preoccupations and focus. The Aisling Gallery becomes a place to explore their individual themes and artistic processes and how the creation of one painting instigates a series of new work.
A group exhibition on the theme of Landscape opened at The Blue House Gallery in Schull last week. Damaris Lysart, Fiona Walsh, Kim Leahy and Donagh Carey, four artists with very different approaches to painting, submitted work for the show.
Donagh is know for his paintings of seascapes, which arise naturally as his home in Crewe Bay faces out to the Atlantic. He literally turned his focus inland, to the West Cork landscape ravaged by the winds coming in from the Atlantic, particularly through the darker, winter months. This series of paintings reflects the change of seasons from winter to spring, with the drilled, frosty fields and the rust red of the roofs of farm sheds set against the landscape.
The Landscape show continues until Wednesday 2nd June and the Blue House Gallery is open everyday from 11am to 6pm.