Art is for Everyone exhibition

On Thursday, 18th February, we had our second "Art is for Everyone" exhibition at the Kilrush Library, County Clare, Ireland.

There were 83 oil paintings by 25 artists of County Clare and they were all incredibly beautiful. The paintings were done on courses during 2009 and some of them were the first paintings ever done by my wonderful students!!!

We raised a substantial amount (980euro) for the Kilrush Lifeboat Station by raffle and had six great prizes. Congratulations to everyone who won a prize and our thanks to everyone who supported our exhibition and the raffle. The Kilrush Lifeboat Station is an incredible organisation and responsible for saving many, many lives!

Over the last few days, I have been trying to create a little 'video' of photographs taken during the 2009 and 2010 "Art is for Everyone" exhibitions and posted it to Youtube. So, this is just a little sample of photographs of the exhibitions and you can see some of the wonderful paintings in the background.

My thanks to all my friends and to everyone who braved a chilly evening. We had approximately 100 to 110 guests at the opening night! Our sponsors provided delicious wines, cheeses and other refreshments and we really appreciate their support. (They do not want to be mentioned by name but at the end of the video, credit is given to everyone who is too shy to be mentioned!

So, I hope you enjoy my first attempt to use Youtube!!

Art is for Everyone Exhibiton

The Art is for Everyone concept was born one evening when I was showing a few friends some of my oil painting techniques that I taught myself over several years. They suggested that I should offer oil painting art courses as they learnt so much in a short time and had lots of fun as well.

At first I only did one day courses but gradually the course evolved into weekend and six week courses where I taught different oil painting techniques, from wet on wet to more classical glazing and monotone techniques.

The courses are now so popular and my students are painting amazing works of art. From animals to portraits, landscapes and seascapes. The majority of them have NEVER painted before!!!!

I never would have thought that I could enjoy teaching so much. The groups have also become a wonderful social network and everyone who joins in become a member of the 'family'.

And so, we will be having our first exhibition of oil paintings in the Kilrush Library from 12 February to 27 February 2009. Well done to all my wonderful students! I am so proud of your accomplishments.

If you are in Kilrush, County Clare, please pop in to the library while the exhibition is on and take a look at their beautiful art.

The opening night will be on the 12th February at 8:00pm (20h00) and everyone is welcome to come along and meet my wonderful group of artists.

One of my paintings, "Dolphin Wave" will be raffled and the drawing will take place on the opening night of the exhibition.

Proceeds from this painting will be donated to the RNLI Kilrush in appreciation for the wonderful work they do, saving lives and always ready and on call.