Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Exhibition Currently Showing at Soma Waterford until 22nd December





 



 

BA (Hons) in Art Graduation 2012


An Cruidin Boat Video Launch

The video was launched in the St. John of God's school in the Faythe on the 23rd November 2012. It was a great night for the Southend community. Brendan Howlin was in attendance. The project was really fun to be involved in.  I hope that the community continue to get funding so they continue to have such exciting and uplifting projects, these projects truly break with the norms of traditional community projects.

It was such a rich experience. This dialogical process based project is something that I really advocate and we need more. As the Southend Family Resource Centre goes from strength to strength the community can enjoy being involved more with IT Carlow, Wexford Campus, Art Students and no doubt more wonderful projects will be created. Thanks to everyone involved, the final film is superb if I say so myself.........thanks to Jules for the pics

 
 




Thursday, October 18, 2012

Not the final version of Boat Video

Finally we have the video on-line , very exciting. it is not the final version the final touches are being added to it. Two years in the making.

http://vimeo.com/51516064

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Final Day of Sailing wrapped up for the Winter

I had great fun yesterday filming the boat sailing out on the water. It was a perfect day so calm and lovely and bright. Delighted we got the last few shots for the film. Thanks to the lads for such an enjoyable time.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

New Stuff

I can't believe it is two years since I set up my original blog. Wow! time has gone fast!over that time I have achieved so much. Very strange to be finished my degree and moving onto pastures new. It was a great time in my life and I can say it was a rollcoaster ride most of the time.

This year I entered the world of film making, I continued my collaboration with the FRC Southend and the Men's Shed. We continued the making of our documentary film based on four local men building a sailing cot. I was thrown into editing and learnt lots of things, learning from my mistakes as I went along. But it was fun and we have produced a really good film. Documenting the process, interviews and footage of the area.



I also worked on an experimental film 'Honey combed wedge sole, route 66, no upper'. I worked on this film as a solo project, that evolved from shoes that have been washed up on the South East Coastline. The narrative was based on who did these shoes belong too? I walked along the sea wearing the shoes. These works were a steady progression to producing work for our Degree show that was held on the 24th May in the Wexford arts centre.

'More Diverse then Universal'

 

Our degree show began on the 24th May 2012 in the Art Centre, Wexford Town. Very exciting indeed, prior to the show our work was assessed by the internal and external examiners and all our hard work over the four years came together for the final pieces. The show had an exciting mix of media and was a great celebration. We were very privelaged to be able to exhibit our work in the Art Centre a great venue.

The show title took a dynamic approach to culture, society in our contemporary world. The works included subjects of the natural environment, the use of urban space, mass media in everyday life and recent dark histories. 

I showcased a large scale narrative painting jigsaw installation based on the Fairytales of Hans Christian Andersen. 

The Men's Shed community video Traditional Boat building 'An Cruidin' and I would like to say a special 'Thank You' to the men for being so willing to teach us the skills of traditional boat building and allowing us to document the process. 'Thank You' to Colm and Murt and all at the FRC for allowing us into this unique and homely community.  I will continue to collaborate with the community hopefully for many years to come. Over my younger years I was involved in community and unfortuantely this had fallen by the wayside due to family commitments, being involved in this project reignited that for me. 

'Virtual World' 166 x 122cm, Acrylic on board


'Honey combed wedge sole, route 66, no upper' Video Still

 

'An Cruidin' Film

Youth Fim Project

 

My son had a great opportunity to be part of a Youth Film Project at the Cowhouse Studios at the end of the Summer holidays. He had a great time working with the artist Michael Fortune and a group of young teenagers. He was involved in comic strip writing, animation and acting and really enjoyed the experience. It topped the holidays as there wasn't really a lot happening for this age group that didn't cost too much. This week long workshop was free as it was sponsored by many groups Wexford County Council etc. 


With the recession firmly kicking in it was a time to become creative in finding things to do. We did a few car boot sales which was a lot of fun. You won't become a millionaire but it's amazing what people want, that you don't want. Interacting with people was funny as bartering is a big feature of a car booty or should I say haggling. A long tradition that was lost when the many stores invaded! I remember the days going to Spain on holidays and haggling the price, but with the introduction of the Euro that all stopped. Everyone likes to feel they get a bargain.

It was exciting having the Olympics to watch on the rainy days and there were lots of them.
I'm beginning to rattle my brain again in terms of the next body of art works, as I gave myself a nice long break after a very busy year in college.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

'Fridays Men' Book Launch

The Men Signing the Books
On the 16th March Southend FRC, Friday's Men launched a book. The book is an oral history of the men's lives, the careers they had and all about the companies that existed in Wexford Town. Two Students from college designed the book and completed the project, which took a lot of dedication and commitment. The book is fantastic a great read and a brilliant achievement for the community. The launch was in Green Acres and the atmosphere was electric and really enjoyable.  The Lord Mayor of Wexford spoke, Murt Flynn from the FRC and Brian Hand, Course Director of the Art and Design Campus in Wexford. A great night and well done to everyone for a fab book, a true example of collaboration.

 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid popped in!

Forgot the password again! ... but back on track with lots of gossip

Been extremely busy with college as this is the final year of my Art Degree. The time has gone so quickly and only eight weeks to the Degree Show.

In December we had the opportuntiy to have and exhibition in Studio Nine on Spawell Road, Wexford Town. The exhibition space is great and eight students exhibited. It was really lovely to get out of the studios and see what the work looked like in the gallery space. This was a first time I ever tried an installation, over the summer months I gathered rubbish from the beaches in Wexford. Over the last seven months I have made various works with the rubbish at the foundation of my work. It is amazing what you find on the beach.





Aftermath