NIAMH O'CONNOR
  • Gallery
    • FIRE AND ICE
    • Twenty Twenty Vision
    • HIDDEN ...out loud
    • Encaustic 3D
    • Left of Field
    • Original Prints
  • About
    • Contact Form
    • Interviews & Video
    • Press & Publications
    • Curriculum Vitae
  • Commissions
  • Shop
  • Classes

December 17th, 2018

17/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture


​Hi friends,
I was recently telling you about all the upcoming exhibitions I have over the Christmas period, well I have another to tell you about...and I very late blogging about it but you may have seen several mentions of it over on my social media feeds.

Sometime last August the Droichead Arts Centre in County Louth put out a call to artists of the North-East to submit works for a printmaking exhibition to their address for the attention of artist and curator Dorothy Smith.  The idea was to exhibit works exploring the many facets of contemporary printmaking including but not limited to etching, litho, screenprint, monoprint, lino etc. I submitted a small number of works for Dorothys consideration and am happy to report I was accepted into the show.  

Here are some of the detials: www.droichead.com/show/873599277

Delighted to hear my work "Un foo-king titled" (see left and detail image at bottom) was accepted However I was upset to realise the opening night was the only night of the year my darling hubbie asked me not to be busy as he and his team were booked for an industry awards night and had been nominated for a prize!  Well god damn, and blast was my first thought, along with something about having to dress formally and the injustice of it all!  But bless him hes been to every function, artists talk, exhibition and opening of an envelope I've asked of him so what's a girl to do (and yes I know I'm too old to refer to myself as a Girl- thanking you but I need to cheer myself along!)

Well what could I do but make my apologies to the Arts Centre and Dorothy and miss the opening night...We tarted up...They won (Yay - good nights fun I can tell you & I picked up a commission!) and the following morning on the way home from Dublin with my very pink hair and a slightly green face we visited the exhibition....IT IS SO GOOD!  I knew it would be and so I felt so bad I missed what I can only assume was a fantastic night, but what could I do"  The wealth of talent on the walls and ceiling (Yes seriously) was just breathtaking and as I write this and share the photos from the Facebook account of the evening I can also reveal two important news facts:

1)  This exhibition "Printworks" curated by Dorothy Smith on behalf of and showing in The Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda, Co. Louth has just been given the nod of "IRISH TIMES CRITICS CHOICE"... I kid ya not!!!

2) Droichead has arranged a Talk and Tour of the exhibition with the 14 artists (including yours truly) selected and Curator Dorothy Smith for Thursday 31st January at 7:30pm. And a Youthreach programme of events has been added to accompony this exhibition including a series of workshops including one by me on Encaustic Monotype.

 (I'll see ya on the night of the talk - I won't be long back from residency and I'm desperate to hear the other artists involved discuss their work and Dorothys take on her choices) The selected artists are : Els Borghart, Adrian + Shane, Orlaith Cullinane, Declan Kelly, Robert Kelly, Jackie Hudson Lawlor, Rahpael Hynes, Aidan Flannagan, John Moloney, Kieran McNulty, Gary McGuire, Jebun Nahar and Niamh O'Connor, additional invited artists included  Debora Ando and Anthony Lyttle. 

The exhibition runs daily until 2nd March 2019 at The Droichead Arts Centre Drogheda, Louth..

So there you have it, Get yourselves into the Droichead Arts Centre and let me know what you think xx N.

Picture
0 Comments

it's my ART BIRTHDAY and I wanted to reflect a little!

3/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
That first Time...2011!
Today is the 7 year anniversary of the very first time I shared some of my encaustic work with the public. I consider today my ART BIRTHDAY... and how grateful am I to have such a thing!

Almost ten years ago I had my beautiful second "light of my life" baby boy Isaac, a beautiful brother for our stunning wee Sam and the completion of our little happy family unit.... unfortunately, I was also made redundant and suffered a mini stroke within the space of 6 weeks...it brought me back to painting....

I had previously stopped all creative activity in my life at 18years of age...I was hospitalised with a blood condition called ITP for near on 3 yrs and after a lot of heartache and medical intervention and the failings of several hardcore drug regimes I finally had a spleenectomy as a result...

At aged 16 After my junior certificate school examinations my parents allowed me travel on two busses a morning across the county and the city to attend Marino College in Fairview..we were living in Kildare at the time but Marino had an extended leaving cert program that incorporated (get this!!) drama, art, photography, broadcasting....it sounded to my young ears like 'FAME' that american hit programne from the 80,s with Leroy (who I fancied terribly) and the dude with the hair and the piano ( remember him??) My parents were cool about it. After all GAY BYRNES daughter went there. Lol!

I loved Marino, it really stirred in me a desire for a true creative outlet in my life, we did scriptwriting, lifedrawing (clothed-we were minors) photography shoots, lunch time pic-nics in the park across the road with cans of cola and a pack of fags....happy happy days! I even got to do my work experience in TempleBar Studios and Galleries..TWICE...it looked way different back then...but my art teacher was the rather fabulous Margaret Tuffy...I was smitten and ambitious and hungry and each day I walked into that building I buzzed!

Near the end of my two jam packed years in Marino I was struggling with the decisions ahead. Fine art or photography? I decided to stay on in Marino under the tutelage of the marvelous photographer Frank Barr and spend a year with the camera, before applying to NCAD to study fine art!

It never happened.. NCAD!

Shortly after completing the photography programne I was hospitalised with a blood condition called ITP...an autoimmune condition which sees your own body attack your platelets. This is basically your clotting mechanism, every day for 3 years my platelets were rock bottom ... risk of haemorrhage was ever present, if I crossed my legs they bruised. I remember having a completely black bruised chin for a week because I ate an apple....

My in-hospital routine was daily platelet transfusions and immunotherapy. It wasn't much fun but I found it where I could and used to hang out in the old hospital smoking rooms with the old codgers and what we used to call their handbags. (most of the chaps were prostate and cancer patients and often would have to walk around with a catheter bag- the humour was often very black and downright hilarious- humour is always my first line of defence and I do blame these chaps x).

I was 22 before my life resumed. My friends were graduating college starting new jobs launching themselves into real adult life.. and here I was frail, exhausted, confused eldest girl of a large family and feeling immense personal pressure to get a career and a job started, to move on, to adult! In no time at all I had completed a legal secretarial course and was working as a law clerk for solicitors within the court system...my brother somehow managed to get me work experience with Jim Fitzpatrick a fantastic guy with so much varied and interesting life experience, somebody who had had his own health issues and overcome them with a great deal of bounce and good humour, and no "poor me, why me" selfpity he was an inspiration to me. He still is.

Life moved on and I settled into having administration roles, wages, living a 9 to 5 life. I was living with girlfriends in harold's cross having a right old time when I met my future husband and within a couple of years are we living in France together, few more years England, later again we married in Cyprus and returned to Ireland to start our family and build our home at home.

it was only on our return to Ireland that I started to pick up a paint brush again, for some reason I bought a set of watercolours, I dabbled, painting little finches and birds, flowers. It was a nice relaxing past time and yet I always saw it as just that! A past time. My new life was unidentifiable from the one I had imagined as a child...but there was no deep strong stir in me for that creative outlet. YET!

Roll onto 2009, still dabbling with the paint brushes, I had discovered encaustic iron work...a gorgeous craft with an iron and wax and card, were you could build layers of wax into optical illusions that looked like images, landscapes, abstracts...I started to experiment a little I was quite excited about this new medium. But again this was a past time... My hobby..

All that changed with my redundancy the birth of my child and my mini stroke... Something in me decided that life was too short and too fleeting not to do the things that I wanted to do... I had to get out of my own way ...to try and grasp the nettle as they say, but more than that it became my therapy, my council and gave me a place to go, and say and feel what would not necessarily be socially acceptable to shout from the rooftops... And for the first time in years I saw that I didnt have to become a victim of my health circumstances, I was in control of my own destiny!

Now don't get me wrong the work was crap, and I was terrified, I was learning from zero up, and in a bid to control some of what I was feeling I was back to painting birds and flowers and trying to stay away from exposing any raw emotion... But the practice of sitting still and focusing and experimenting with colour and texture and layers and giving myself that headspace was incredibly cathartic.

I was beginning to share some of these little pieces of work on the internet on Facebook, and through social media.. friends and family were super supportive and in NO RIGHT MIND, when I was asked if I was interested in a stall at a local Christmas market I snapped at the chance. I was terrified but exhilarated... I was all ego and no skill whatsoever but I framed up those babies and went with my very warm sweater on, my scarf and my sister Nyree by my side and sold a lot of those early pieces....

Looking back now I feel I had no right to be there, but if I hadn't have taken the bull by the horns THEN I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing NOW.. I wouldn't have given space to my life in the pursuit of creativity.

In more recent years my health has been suffering again. This past 3 years has seen me with a lot of ups and downs suffering from chronic fatigue, endometriosis, thyroid problems, fibromyalgia.... Most recently with the help of an autoimmune protocol diet keto and paleo (read - super boring!) I feel my energy restore...after taking much of the spring and summer off this year to concentrate on reviving my physical self.. I'm feeling strong...

I have dyed my hair pink to remind me I'm alive and well enough to care about such things...

I am shifting things around in the studio.. there is a great itch in me to get going again...2017 was a good year for me... good work..great shows...a two location Solo...but I was mentally and physically exhausted and what it took out of me and away from the family to do so, was immence!

This coming year I want to further develop the body of print works I've been dabbling with, extend on the techniques that I'm using... 2019 feels full of expectation & opportunity, and I am starting the year in KERRY, in Cill Railaig on a residency I have been awarded... The most wonderful way to launch yourself into a new year.... And I'm full of optimism for 2019.

And so today I am SEVEN, and I wonder if this is the REAL first of my seven year cycles... Regardless it is giving me a moment to consider what has happened before, what might happen again and how I might approach it... Life will always throw us curve balls. I'm not naturally an optimist, more of a realist with a touch of 'glass half empty' tendency on a bad day, but if life is a cycle I shall continue to pedal along doing my best, and I am super grateful for the opportunity.

Thank you for supporting me along the way.

xx N.
Picture
0 Comments

    Latest News

    Author

    Contemporary Visual Artist working in mixed media/encaustic based in the drumlins of Co.Monaghan. Ireland.

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017

    Categories

    All
    Aaex
    An Grianan
    April
    Armagh
    Art
    Art And Studio Chats
    Art &Health
    Artist Talks
    Arts Community
    Artsfemin
    Arts Platform
    Blog Posting
    Blood Transfusion
    Booking
    Canada
    Challanges
    Charity
    Chine Colle
    Claas
    Class
    Classes
    Clones
    Collaberations
    Co.Monaghan
    Content
    Creative Spark
    Curated
    Curator
    Deidre Hierlihy
    Demos & Workshops
    Dundalk
    Duo Class
    Encaustic
    Enniskillen
    Enniskillen Castle
    Equality
    Exhibition
    Exhibitions
    Facebook
    Facilitating Group
    Fem_art
    Fermanagh
    Fermanagh & Omagh
    First Glimpse
    Fran Halpin
    Fresh From The Studio
    Friends And Colleagues
    Fundraising
    GAA
    Gabrielle Flynn
    Gallery
    Global Exhibition
    Groupshow
    Group Show
    Gstaad
    Hambly & Hambly Gallery
    Health
    Hidden Out Loud
    Hosting
    Incognito
    Ink
    Instagram
    Installation
    International Exhibition
    Invitation
    Jack & Jill Foundtion
    Learn Encausti
    Learning
    Left Of Field
    Lithography
    Location
    Louth
    Metoo
    Miriam Fitzgerald Juskova
    Monaghan Arts Network
    Monotype
    New Art
    New Series
    Niamh O'Connor Art
    Niamh Teaches
    Omagh
    One Of A Kind Works
    On The Road
    Opening Reception
    Original Art
    Outreach Programme
    Packing
    Painting
    Pinterest
    Politics
    Poly Plates
    Press Coverage
    Printing Press
    Printmakibg
    Printmaking
    Print Making
    Process
    Professional Artist Exhibit Together
    Recommendations
    Residency
    Retreat Weekend
    Safehouse
    Sharing
    Shifting Walls Exhibition 2019
    Small Works
    Social Media
    Solas Art Gallery
    Sponsored Class
    Strule Arts Centre
    Suggested Reads
    Summer Schedule
    Switzerland
    Taster Session
    The Everday
    Touring
    Travel
    Tyrone Guthrie Centre
    Ulster Canal Stores
    Upcoming
    Video
    Visiting Artist
    Waterways Ireland
    Wax And Iron Painting Classes
    Wax Painting.
    Wax & Pigment Original Prints
    Where To Next
    Workshop
    Works In Progress
    Works On Paper

    RSS Feed

    Want a studio update once a month, subscribe here

    * indicates required
    / ( mm / dd )
    Email Format

    Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Niamh O'Connor Visual Art:

    You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

    We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

​Gallery:
FIRE & ICE
​Twenty Twenty Vision
Hidden Out Loud
Sculpture/Installation​
Encaustic Original Print
​


About:
Contact Form
 
Press & Publications
 Curriculum Vitae
Commissions
Shop:
​FIRE & ICE

​Paintings on Canvas & Paper
Wax & Pigment Prints


Classes
artistniamhoconnor@gmail.com

​IMAGES COPYRIGHT 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NIAMH O'CONNOR.
  • Gallery
    • FIRE AND ICE
    • Twenty Twenty Vision
    • HIDDEN ...out loud
    • Encaustic 3D
    • Left of Field
    • Original Prints
  • About
    • Contact Form
    • Interviews & Video
    • Press & Publications
    • Curriculum Vitae
  • Commissions
  • Shop
  • Classes