There will be many familiar faces around the Backstage Theatre on Thursday, December 1. They won’t be attending a show, however. Rather, they will be adorning the walls, as Dromod-based artist Phil Atkinson presents his first major solo exhibition, inspired by the people of Longford.

A self-taught artist, Phil completed a PLC course in Fine Art at Templemichael College, Longford, and is a key committee member in the annual Cruthú Arts Festival.

He works almost exclusively through the medium of air-brushed acrylics, and over the next couple of months, he will be painting the portraits of well known individuals.

“It’s based on Longford people, ordinary people that put in a shift, that do a lot for Longford that often don’t get recognition or even look for recognition,” Phil told Midlands Arts and Culture, before revealing that his girlfriend, Anna Delaney, was also playing a role in the exhibition, as a writer.

At the moment, the plan is to feature ten local faces in the exhibition. Each subject will be interviewed, and as they speak, Phil will take photographs. The paintings will be multi-layered, according to Phil, and will capture the essence of the interview, while Anna will use pieces of the interviews and weave them with her own words to accompany the paintings. It’s also hoped that the two will produce a small book containing their works.

“I’ve got the first one done and I’m quite happy with it,” Phil continued, revealing that the completed painting features ‘Fireside Tales’ author Jude Flynn.

“It’s an appreciation for the people we’ve chosen. Some you would know well. For example, one woman works in a coffee shop and she’s the heart and soul of the coffee shop.”

Phil has already enhanced Longford town with his art over the past few years, so this exhibition, launching at 8pm on December 1, is not to be missed.

Wednesday, November 9 is a date for the diary of any art enthusiast in the midlands, as Longford artists Mary Gray and Angela Tuite open their joint exhibition.

Mary Gray has spent most of her life painting and has worked on various mediums, including oils, watercolours and acrylics, as well as pottery and other crafts through her studies in Art and Design in Sligo IT. The mediums with which she works at present, however, are acrylic and watercolour.

Mary has exhibited her paintings throughout the midlands, Cavan and the west of Ireland and has a collection of prints from her paintings, which will be on display at the exhibition.

Meanwhile, Angela is a renowned artist who has exhibited widely in Ireland and her work is held in many public and private collections throughout the world.

Her artistic talents have grown over the years and, influenced by the impressionists, Angela works mostly on silk, canvas and slate.

While the majority of her work deals with natural-based themes such as landscapes and treescapes, still life and abstract. She also explores the magical, mythological essence of nature with her vibrant paintings and her ideas, emotions and visual experience are expressed through her love of colour, texture and fabric.

Mary’s latest collection, which will be on display at the exhibition is a mixture of contemporary acrylic and watercolour scenes including landscapes, seascapes and wildflower meadow. Featuring vibrant and expressive colours, the scenes depict a mood of fantasy which aims to bring you to a new place.

Angela’s work, dramatic silk and oil paintings, is also a celebration of the wonderful native landscapes. The flora and fauna are brought alive through her vibrant use of colours and textures, resulting in a timeless collection of original works of art.

Street Theatre or ‘Spectacle’ as it’s called in the business is one of the most exciting, colourful and exuberant forms of public creative expression and it is about time that Longford had some.

Street Theatre is so exciting because it embodies the best of music, dance, drama, painting, costume design, visual crafts and manual skills, it has something for every participant.

The establishment of a Longford-based street theatre group is long overdue and when fully up and running will add a magical and dynamic element to our public events such as: St. Patrick’s Day Parades, Easter Parades, Dead of Night Festival, Ardagh Fright Fest, the Lanesborough Monster Festival, sporting occasions and many other civic events in the county.

A series of public meetings will be held at 8.00pm in John Brown’s Bar Longford on Monday 12^th,  Skelly’s Bar Ballymahon on Tuesday 13^th and the Co op Offices in Lanesborough on Thursday 15^th September to assess the level of interest in establishing this exciting venture.

Who should come along? Anyone who is interested in; dance, drama any performing arts, people who are interested in costume and prop making, in fact anyone who has an interest in the arts or is good with their hands will be especially welcome. Do not discount yourself –everyone has something to offer.

It is hoped that the core of our Street Theatre Group will be a group of adults with experience in some art-form or who has useful manual skills and this will be augmented with students from primary and secondary schools in Longford who will provide the dance, music and performance elements. The impressive ensemble his will be topped off by local musicians in costume providing the musical score to wonderfully imaginative pageants on our streets.

Longford County Arts Office has commissioned the internationally famous street theatre company ‘Artastic’ to come to Longford and work with the fledgling group imparting skills in prop-making street performance, fantastic costume design and making and all of the skills of the Mardi Gras.

The initial commitment will be very brief as it is proposed to work toward having a presence in Longford’s Dead of Night Parade and Ardagh’s Fright Fest in November. If you would like something fun to do in the coming Autumn evenings and you would like to contribute to community life of your town and county then come along to one of our meetings or make personal contact by calling Fergus Kennedy at Longford County Arts Office 086 8517595 or fkennedy@longfordcoco.ie

Hyde Bridge Gallery, Sligo, Ireland.
4th May 2016 5pm – 7pm

My work, through different forms over the past twenty years, has always been made with a spirit of surrender and enquiry.

There have been no short cuts, and every mark leads onto the next. Work continues to evolve in an unpredictable fashion, due in part, to my natural response and observations to a changing environment. I have an unquenchable interest in the unnoticed, ordinary things and conversations of everyday, and what constitutes our awareness of place and identity. Effectively, my surroundings are my raw material.

Recent works on paper rely on a kind of surrender that would take precedent over any pre-planned approach. I would tend to work on many pieces at any given time; some are built up slowly, while others have the appearance of having being achieved in a single session. These works on paper in particular, begin in a random, haphazard fashion. They start as an unorganized gathering of everyday materials, ranging from passport pages, shredded works, old grocery lists, Mass collection envelopes, OS maps, till rolls, house plans, prayers, net curtains, tax disks, handwritten notes (similar to a personal diary) and recently the introduction of an old typewriter, typing directly onto the work. This assembly offers countless directions. The work does not reveal itself immediately, I would encourage viewers to examine it, read the texts, become involved and take time. While I would hope that there is an optimism in the work, there is restlessness as a result of going forwards and backwards, and this momentum helps develop my practice. The canvas work is more structured in the beginning and given the opportunity, opens up to accidents and mistakes, embracing ambiguity. These elements inform me as a painter and allow me to celebrate the most ordinary things.

The Till Roll Work is an extension of the works on paper. They are documents of everyday activity and invite examination. These works begin when the viewer becomes involved and this is the dialogue that connects The Till Roll to the works on paper. I would hope that this helps create a sense of identity and acknowledges the ordinary, everyday things that are part of the fabric of any day. The Core Sample works are similar to geological cuttings, they are records of the surfaces we walk on, and the ordinary \ extraordinary thoughts that we all have on a daily basis.

My practice is to continue investigating the ordinariness and the complexities of everyday life, examining where we are and how we all are affected by the events that map our direction. Some of these works would be influenced by events in my own life, i.e. my family, the death of my Father, overheard conversations and subtle collaborations. These are situations experienced by all and to quote Jasper Johns ‘I am just paying attention to ordinary life’. In essence, this is a celebration and examination of place and identity.

Cruthú Arts Festival is excited to be entering its third year in July 2016. This year, we are once again issuing a call for artists to participate in the main event and purpose of our diverse programme.

Exhibiting artists will be able to take advantage of pop-up spaces located in vacant retail units situated throughout the town, which can be used to display existing works, house specially-designed installations, or be transformed into unique conceptual spaces. Every year we receive fantastic responses to this call-out, resulting in an eclectic mix of visual art displays which are warmly welcomed and anticipated by visitors to the festival. We are looking to incorporate a broad range of visual art forms, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, and film.

Artists who wish to apply for exhibition spaces should contact the Cruthú Arts Festival committee by emailing cruthuartsfestival@gmail.com or calling 086 3044399.

Cruthú 2016 will take place from Thursday to Sunday, July 28th to the 31st, at various locations in Longford town and will include a variety of art exhibitions, film, music, and theatre performances.

While we will endeavour to facilitate as many artists as possible the spaces are limited. Submissions will be evaluated by The Cruthú Arts Festival Committee and the successful final selection will be contacted by email.

The closing date for submissions is: 6th May 2016.

Solo exhibition by Amanda Graham, launches at deAppendix in Dublin on 20 October 2015. 

Opening : 20 October, 6.30 pm, deAppendix, 30 Ardagh Grove, Blackrock

Exhibition runs :21 October – 20 November 2015

It has been substantially documented that cancer will touch one in three of us. Warriors One in Three acknowledges the stoic bravery, dignity and resilience of people that have faced serious illness. Through this exhibition the victim becomes the warrior by addressing perceptions of conflicting cultural projections played out through society. 

Graham’s practice is a trajectory of self-reflection, personal narrative and memoirs where the viewer completes the experience. Handmade process is essential to the practice. The traditional mediums of drawing, fine print and collage are key to generating the intricate visual representation that penetrates the memory of the observer creating unconscious and organic emotional reactions.

Amanda Jane Graham exhibits both nationally and internationally with many upcoming exhibitions. Her work has featured in many publications and she is currently the Visual Arts Correspondent for The Arts Hour on Shannonside Northern Sound FM. Graham completed an MA Fine Art at National College of Art and Design, Dublin in 2011. http://www.amandajanegraham.com/

Karina Charles – Longford Correspondent for Irish TV is interested in profiling the work of Longford artists on the Longford programme each Saturday evening.

If you have an item relating to your life as an artist or something to do with your practice please contact her at the number or e-mail address below.

Karina will be delighted to hear from you.

085 1030569
karinacharles2@gmail.com

The publishers of The Moth, an international arts and literature magazine that features work by the likes of Billy Childish, Cesar Santos, Mamma Andersson and Lu Cong, is inviting artists worldwide to enter its new art prize.

The Moth Art Prize, which consists of a month-long retreat at their newly renovated barn in a beautiful lakeland setting in rural Ireland, is open to anyone over the age of 18 – professional or otherwise – as long as the work they send is their own and is figurative or representational in style. A stipend of €1,000 is included in the prize, to aid with travel from wherever you are in the world.

The Moth is based in County Cavan, said to have a lake for every day of the year, and known to be the birthplace of the mighty River Shannon and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.

All one need do to do to enter is send along 5–10 images of your work along with an entry fee of €20. The winner will be notified in the early spring, in good time to choose a month in 2016 in which to travel to Ireland.

The barn, which features a studio and living area downstairs and accommodation upstairs, is situated next to The Moth offices, along a quiet country lane, surrounded on three sides by lakes. The nearest village of Milltown, which has a shop and a pub, is a few kilometres away. A bicycle will be provided, and the publishers of The Moth, Rebecca and Will, will be on hand to take you to the nearest town for provisions.

The closing date is 1 March 2016.

www.themothmagazine.com
mothartprize@themothmagazine.com