I am delighted to have a large print “Tidings” (collagraph with gold leaf)  exhibited in “Dunaire” which opens to the public  tomorrow  at The Cross Gallery, Francis St. Dublin8.  http://www.crossgallery.ie

The exhibition runs until December 22nd. This is a fine art print exhibition by the artists of ‘The Leinster Printmaking  Studio,’ Clane, Co Kildare and their artist colleagues from many parts of Ireland and further afield. The subject matter for the exhibition is based on Dunaire,  the poetry anthology of Gaelic poetry from 1600 to 1900. It was compiled by The Irish scholar and Gaelic poet; Sean OTuama, translated into English by the poet Thomas Kinsella,  and published in 1981 by the Dolman Press.

In Gaelic poetry an abiding theme is lamentation at the loss of lands, possessions and the need to emigrate. Many of the poets were bards to the Irish Chieftains up to the beginning of the 17th century, when the plantation of Ulster, the final province to be possessed, saw the flight of the Earls of Ulster, mainly to Rome and Spain. Because emigration was such a big part of my Irish & Scottish ancestry I was immediately drawn to this theme as subject matter for making prints. The required size was also a challenge. I had not make a print as large as 70 x 70 before  with a press. It was too big for my press and so I made the prints at the Regional Print Centre in Wrexham where the paper only just fitted onto their large etching press. This had a knock on effect that the greater pressure meant that while I got excellent definition to my prints my collagraph plates had a much more limited life. So I ended up with a series of unique prints/proofs, variations that I was satisfied with and  one edition of 2 prints. These can be viewed under Prints subheading “Collagraphs”