A limited number of additional artists are to join the Owenabue Arts Collective in ‘The Gallery’ in Carrigaline, for the duration of its upcoming Arts Weekend event at the beginning of October. ‘The Gallery’ is a temporary pop-up exhibition space, supported by Cork County Council.

The ‘Owenabue Arts Weekend’ show will open to the public in the first exhibition of its kind in Carrigaline. Along with three founding members of the Owenabue Arts Collective; Keith O’Brien, Mary Murphy and Stephen Murphy, five other local artists will have their work on display over the next few weeks.

Now, on foot of Cork County Council’s highly competitive ‘Call for Artists’, an additional seven artists; Deirdre Cichoz, Gillian Coughlan, Jane McCarthy, Hilary Nunan, Anastasia Stepnova, Dorothée Roberts and Teresa O’Regan, have successfully secured exhibition space at the Gallery for a limited time.

Ian McDonagh, Cork County Council Arts Officer, noted the strong response to the call for artists, saying:

We were delighted with the response to our Call for Artists to exhibit in this space. It is clear from this and the response to The Gallery’s Culture Night event that there is a significant appetite for the Arts in the wider Carrigaline area and Owenabue catchment. The enthusiasm from members of the public and the artists is hugely encouraging, and we hope that this exhibition will help to drive the momentum behind the Arts in Carrigaline and encourage people to appreciate the local artistic talent on their doorstep.

Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, commented:

The success of The Gallery and the addition of these new artists shows that Cork County Council’s Project ACT is not only about hard physical solutions to boost the social and economic recovery of our towns, but that all aspects of culture and society have a role to play in repairing the negative impacts on our society and economy from Covid-19.

Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley, added:

Access to Art and Culture are key to well-rounded communities. They are invaluable to our mental health and help to foster inclusivity and creativity in the community. I welcome this exhibition that builds on the great work done so far by the Owenabue Arts Collective, and I look forward to seeing the continued growth of the Arts in Carrigaline.

The Owenabue Arts Weekend runs from October 2nd to 4th at the Gallery, Main Street, Carrigaline.

Further details can be found at www.owenabuearts.ie

Link to tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/owenabue-october-arts-weekend-tickets-122714116225


Meet the Artists

Mary Murphy

Mary is one of the founding members of the Owenabue Arts Collective. Mary’s love affair with art started at a young age and she describes her art as a ‘Diary of her life’.

“A lifelong love affair with art started very young for me. I was always sewing and crafting and by leaving cert I was making all my own clothes and bringing creative flair to everything I did. I love exploring mediums and styles – in oil & acrylic paint, yarns, needles and threads. I’m always experimenting finding new ways to interpret what I see so the range of my styles is diverse. The materials I use evolve naturally and organically over time thus becoming a 3D reflection or diary of my life. Myself and my husband, Stephen Murphy, also an Artist are part of this Collective at “The Gallery, Main st. Carrigaline Both drive motorbikes and paint as much as possible.”

Keith O’Brien

Keith, another founding member of the colletive, specialises in landscape art, working across a range of mediums.

“I started as a street artist and have developed into a landscape artist playing with ideas, using different media, in so creating and refining my skills. I work with a variety of techniques and processes to achieve the end result. Usually starting with a pencil or marker & paint pens, acrylic paint, aerosol, airbrushes, varnish, digital images and fingers but not always in that order.”

Stephen Murphy

The third founding member of the collective, and husband to Mary, Stephen’s art reflects his passions, with his art usually focused around motorbikes and iconic characters

“I came late to the party. After years of encouraging words from my wife Mary, I eventually picked up a paint brush and became instantly hooked. Art for me is my time, mindfulness, listening to my tunes on Spotify, just chilling and experimenting. I paint on canvas, old scraps of wood, metal and I burn the edges of some of my paintings, sometimes burn the whole thing! I experiment with framing styles, using driftwood, motorcycle parts, mechanical bits. My subject matter is usually centered around bikes and iconic characters, reflections on chrome and close up compositions. Painting has given a fresh direction to my life!”

Deirdre Cichosz        

Deirdre Cichosz views herself as a life-long artist, forever exploring the creative process. She currently finds her truest form of expression through oil painting.

She graduated from the Crawford college of Art and Design in 2007. From there she worked as a commission-based artist, working from a studio in Cork city. After a couple of years working as a full-time artist, she travelled for a few years around the world, always with sketch books and paints in tow.

Having returned to Ireland, Deirdre worked as an art tutor in the Mahon Family Resource Centre, teaching art classes to children and adults, throughout that time she curated many exhibitions of her students’ work, one of which was shown in The Camden Palace in Cork city. She also worked on a project aimed at helping people of isolation in the local area, particularly the elderly.

A little further down the path, Deirdre became a mother of two and rekindled her love of scribbling on walls. She views the artistic expression as a breath needing to be inhaled deep into her very being. She is currently re-emerging as a working artist, creating from her home studio. She is inspired by nature, memories, and places and moments in time.

Gillian Coughlan

Gillian describes art as an ever-learning process, and that is incredible for mindfulness. She continues to study and evolve her art and is looking forward to learning

“In my younger years, art was always my time-out, my hobby, my break away from schoolwork/study.

I stepped away from my creative side to study accountancy. I also have a problem identifying colours and saw it as pointless as art was always back in those days associated with colour.

Following a serious back injury in 2015, which caused me to stop working I revisited art as a coping mechanism for my physical health and a distraction from chronic nerve pain.  It was then that I discovered that art doesn’t need to be full of colour, art can be black and white.

I attended Crawford College of Art and Design for 2 years where I studied ceramics.  As everyone knows you never stop learning new ways so this year I have decided to go back to college and study Art in Colaiste Stiofain Naofa, I am looking forward to this new adventure. Art in any form is exceptional for anyone’s health and wellbeing, it is incredible for mindfulness.  I love to just turn on the music and lose myself in a piece.”

Jane McCarthy

Jane is a designer that takes inspiration from nature and patterns to create her pieces

“I love colour and take inspiration from animals, birds and from patterns. I have a graphic design background and have always loved colourful earrings, brooches and cards.  I create greeting cards and quirky, colourful jewellery. All of my jewellery is handmade from my own designs using shrink plastic and laser cut wood.”

Hilary Nunan

Hilary Nunan is a graduate of the Crawford College of Art and Design. Her work is informed by colour, texture and a love of nature. She has nurtured the use of mixed materials in her work, primarily rich textured natural fibres combined with acrylic colour. There is a constant marriage between her environment, the rural and seascape setting of Ringabella, Co. Cork, and her medium which convey its overall organic quality.  Hilary has exhibited both nationally and internationally contributing to exhibitions in the UK, USA, Australia, France and Germany. Her work now forms part of many public and private collections.

Anastasia Stepnova

Originally from Russia, Anastasia has called Ireland home since 2013. Anastasia works with silver and enjoys exploring new techniques and challenging herself with new designs. She believes that making art and sharing it with others is one of the best things in life

“My works are inspired by Irish nature. I love including organic shapes and textures in my works. Sometimes a walk in the woods is all you need to find a bunch of new designs. I adore the atmosphere of a winter forest, the graphics of the naked branches, cold air, the scents and the sounds. To me, nature is amazing in every stage of it, a flower is beautiful as in full bloom as it is when it starts to fade. I create my jewellery under brand name ’37 blackbirds’ – it was another inspiration from nature. Blackbirds are such charming creatures, and their symbolic and spiritual significance resonates with me a lot.

All my pieces are handcrafted in my small studio in Carrigaline. Most of my works are one of a kind pieces that can’t be replicated. In my work, I do everything possible with minimum to zero waste processes, recycling all my scrap metal to reuse it for making new pieces.”

Dorothée Roberts

Dorothée Roberts, originally from France, now lives in Carrigaline with her husband and two daughters. She is a well-established artist, accomplished in a large number of mediums, equally comfortable using oils, acrylics and watercolours. By using vibrant colours, she aims to create a resonance in the viewer of her art, by using vibrant colours, spontaneity and texture created by the medium. She also wishes to convey an atmosphere, memory, or a charm by her paintings.

Teresa O’Regan

Teresa is a self-taught artist who has been drawing and painting for three decades. She began her artistic career in 1983 after the birth of her third child and paints, to borrow Heaney’s phrase ‘to set the darkness echoing’.

Teresa’s work is a record of her personal journey of exploration, her search for truth about herself and the world. Her paintings reflect her relationship with nature and the human experience, often connecting with the alienated and outcast. She explores the contrast between darkness and light, gazing into the depths of human pain and suffering in the eyes of some of her subjects, while struck by enduring nobility, beauty and strength. In every painting there is light and hope.


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