| From paperbacks to paintings
By Malcolm Rogers
Malcolm Rogers paints the picture more clearly about an art course in
the shadow of the Cooley Mountains.
I had already tried a novel-writing course in Donegal. In one single weekend
I managed to create a powerful literary effort from my own personal story
of bitterness and rejection. And indeed the novel was subsequently rejected
by several publishers. Life imitating art.
So I thought I might as well have a go at painting. This was a few years
back and I decided to enrol at the Burren Painting Centre in Lisdoonvarna
in order to capture on canvas the aching in my heart and, indeed, the devastating
beauty of the flora they have in that neck of the woods.
But it’s odd — there’s a plant which grows on the vast, extraordinary
limestone pavements of the Burren called the Bastard Toadflax. Which seemed
to exactly sum up my own feelings of frustration during my first efforts.
My watercolour paints were mixed with tears of frustration.
However I put a brave face on it. On the surface I maintained the enigmatic
half-smile of the Mona Lisa; inside I was The Scream by Munch.
But I persevered and something finally emerged from the canvas. Now,
they say that a great artist never finishes a painting — they eventually
just abandon it.
With my own modest effort I felt I should quit while I was still ahead.
Between my teacher and I, we managed to come up with something which, while
not exactly a minor Renaissance art treasure, was passable considering this
was the first painting I had done since my school days. In fact, between
you and me, it was probably superior to a lot of the tat available in the
tourist shops which now infest the west of Ireland. Come to think of it,
I’d be happy to let it go to any Irish Post readers for offers northwards
of five pounds. It currently adorns the wall of my office — just beside
my poster of Roy Keane — and although I’d miss it, I’ll put any fee earned
from it towards the next painting course I’m bound for — at the Imogen Art
Studio between Carlingford and Greenore.
I was delighted last week to meet up with the lady in charge of the studio,
the beguiling and exquisitely talented Rosemary Warren. A lecturer in art
education at St. Patrick’s College in Drumcondra, Rosemary is herself an
acclaimed painter having exhibited at the Academy in Dublin (and that’s
about as prestigious as you can get).
Rosemary will be running Creative Art Workshops throughout 2006 at the
studio which overlooks the Templetown Beach and Ballagan Shore. The workshops
will cover drawing, watercolour, acrylic, silk-painting, felt-making, exploring
art media and creative thinking (my editor has suggested, quite forcefully,
that I should go on that last course).
Over a cup of tea in her beautiful studios, with the Cooley Mountains
as a backdrop, Rosemary explained what the series of workshops are all about:
“They’re really designed to give people confidence and competence in art
using a wide variety of materials. And I’ve designed the courses to cater
for a wide range of abilities. For instance the Basic Drawing Skills one-day
workshop is designed for those who think they can’t draw, or whose skills
are a bit rusty.”
The one-day drawing workshops will run throughout the year and include:
Basic Drawing Skills: January 21 and September 9; Tone / Composition
/ Still Life: February 18 and October 28; Perspective: April 1 and November
25 and Proportion and Form: April 2.
Rosemary will also be presenting a five-day workshop year entitled ‘Exploring
Art Media’ from July 3 to July 7. This workshop is designed to provide practical
experience in working with a wide variety of art media.
For further details contact 00353 42 9383680 (mobile: 00353 862212702)
or www.imogenartstudio.com.
Watercolour painting will also feature during the year, as well as silk-painting
and felt-making, when guest lecturers will be in attendance.
The surrounding landscape of Carlingford is enough to turn anyone into
an artist — the Cooley Mountains are on one side, the Mournes another, divided
by one of Ireland’s very few fjords, Carlingford Lough.
The area is dotted with Neolithic monuments, Anglo-Norman castles and
Georgian mansions. As Picasso once said (although he never visited Co. Louth,
to the best of my knowledge): “There are those who see; there are those
who will see when shown; and there are those who will never see.”
If you belong to the first two categories, then Rosemary Warren’s school
will produce the best out of you; if you belong to the latter category —
well, the area has some terrific pubs in which to drink Guinness and eat
oysters.
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