Amazing Papier Maché Sculpture Website

For all you Junior Certs who should be beginning your 3d Project work - take a look at this phenomenal papier maché artist's website - it includes step-by-step process of how he makes his magnificent sculptures. Inspirational!
http://papermacheblog.com/

Here's an example of Dan Reeder's incredible work!

TY Trip to IMMA

All of transition year recently went on a trip to IMMA - the wonderful Irish Museum of Modern Art as well as the Courts and Collins' Barracks.
Here's a picture of the group at an unusual architectural installation in the courtyard of Collins Barracks and a few of the lads outside some contemporary art at IMMA.

Freaky Friday at Colaiste Iosagain!

It's taken me way too long to upload these pics, but at last they're here! Check out the ingenuity and creativity of my students for the Halloween fancy dress party at school!

My talented LCA's.

My fantastic Tutor Group, 3B.

Wonderful 6th year dressed at René Magritte's Son of Man - genius!

Fabulous 6th years dressed inspired by the magnificent Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll.

6th years again  - great effort put in by this class!

And again!

Brilliant costumes and masks by my wonderful 2nd years!

And last but not least, the best art teachers in the school!

The Y-Factor Launch at Dublin Castle

To those of you who don't know, the Y-Factor is an organisation aimed at educating young people about gender equality - a hugely important subject. You may wonder what all this has to do with art? Well, for starters; women were not allowed to become professional artists until quite recently. They don't really get a mention in art history books until the 1970s. Gender equality is a topic that has an impact on many areas of our lives, including art.
So, the Y-Factor group came up with a toolkit for schools, on how we might raise awareness of the issue in the classroom. I was lucky enough to be a part of the advisory board for this project. As a result, my lucky transition years and I got to go to the launch of the Toolkit in Dublin Castle last week. Here's a picture of them in Dublin Castle!

If you're interested in learning more about gender equality and how it affects you, visit the Y-Factor website or Facebook pages:
https://www.facebook.com/the.yfactor.ireland
http://www.yfactor.ie/

Imaginative Composition/Still Life

For leaving cert art, there are a few sections to your exam. One section is called the Imaginative Composition, or Still Life. Here's a great example of a dramatic Imaginative Comp. Some Still Life examples coming soon!

2nd Year Masks

My second years designed some unique and unusual masks just before Halloween: made out of plaster with a cardboard base. Take a look:

New School, New Creativity!

It's been a while since my last post - and in the meantime I've started work in a new school in Portarlington! So here's a look at what's been done in class so far this year...
Firstly, some fantastic lino prints from my LCAs, inspired by Andy Warhol. I'm delighted with how these have turned out, and there will be more to follow!

Street Art Exhibition in Temple Bar

Graffiti or Street Art is getting more and more popular, and there are some fantastic examples to be seen in Ireland. In fact, for the month of August the lanes of Temple Bar are host to a range of street artists' work in a new exhibition called Outvasion, curated by Dubin artist Kemp. Click on the links below to find out more:

http://www.thejournal.ie/love-the-lanes-outvasion-temple-bar-1605025-Aug2014/

http://dublinstemplebar.com/thingstodo.php?cat=Exhibitions

Art work by Kemp, above and Kin MX, artists featured in the open-air exhibition in Temple Bar this month.

Studying Animation

Speaking of animation, if you're interested in studying it then you need to check out Ballyfermot College of Further Education's link below. It's widely renowned internationally for it's animation courses, and graduates have gone on to work on films such as Avater, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

http://isa-bcfe.ie/

Pixar's New Female Lead

Pixar have a new animated movie coming out, this time with a female protagonist. The film is called Inside Out and features a lead character that is female, but refreshingly enough, not a princess. This should be interesting!
http://www.thejournal.ie/pixar-inside-out-1533528-Jun2014/

Putting your Tablets and Smartphones to good use!

Smartphones and Tablets - much as I detest people who are addicted to these items (it leaves no time for actual artwork!), I am a lover of photography as an art-form. And lets face it, your smartphone can take a damn good photograph! Take a look at the winners of the annual iPhone Photography Awards, featured on the Journal.ie. Some of these are inspirational!

http://www.thejournal.ie/iphone-photography-awards-winners-2014-1515244-Jun2014/

Terry Vital

Picasso's Hidden Portrait

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) was a Spanish artist, renowned for his contribution to Modern Art. He and fellow artist Georges Braque created the art-movement referred to as Cubism, a ground-breaking style of art that simplified and broke reality down into flat planes and sharp edges. This movement is commonly referred to as a forerunner of abstraction, where reality is completely broken down and simplified into shapes and colour.
Pablo Picasso is without doubt, one of the most famous artists of all time. Today, I found an article about one of his paintings 'The Blue Room', where a previously unseen portrait has been discovered underneath the painting itself. This mystery portrait was lying under the layers of paint that made up 'The Blue Room'.
Click on the link below to find out more about this enigmatic hidden masterpiece!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2659893/Picasso-painting-reveals-hidden-man.html

Deadly Fashion!

We all know the realm of art doesn't just encompass painting and drawing - it includes an array of other disciplines such as sculpture, design, graphics, make-up, prosthetics, and traditional crafts like carpentry and stained glass windows. It also includes fashion, which is why I have chosen to add a link to an interesting article about lethal fashion! Be careful what trends you follow!

http://www.macleans.ca/culture/arts/deadly-victorian-fashions/

Lee Miller

This is a very exciting and must-see exhibition: photographs of Dublin by Lee Miller, some of them never seen before!
My leaving cert students will (should!) remember that Lee Miller was a famous photographer, and also muse of Surrealist Many Ray. It is so exciting to have her work featured here, especially as these photographs represent Dublin in 1946. The exhibition is on in the James Joyce Center in Dublin and is a must-see!
http://2014.photoireland.org/program/lee-miller/

Something fun

Thought I'd put up a link for this: an artistic and humorous way of looking at well-known phrases. Check out the link to view them all! ;)
http://www.boredpanda.com/clever-pun-illustrations-nabhan-abdullatif/

Summer Challenge!

For those of you not in exams, you should be practicing your art over the summer anyway...and for those in exams - you should be looking forward to getting back to doing some artwork once they're finished!
If you find that you're getting bored of Facebook or Twitter then why not do this drawing challenge to keep you occupied, and to keep your artistic skills developing? I found this one on Pinterest, but you could come up with your own one and even upload your sketches each day!

Installation Art

There are many different forms of art, but lately I've been collecting images from installation artists. Installation art is often three-dimensional art that is constructed or assembled within a gallery/museum or space of some kind.
I adore installation pieces because they are often larger-than-life - taking over and inhabiting a space. Sometimes you can even interact with the artwork.
Here are some of the best ones that I've come across online in the last few months:

Berndnaut Smilde

 

Henrique Olivera

Jannis Kounellis

 Chiharu Shiota

 

Ann Hamilton

 

Kimsooja

 

Yayoi Kusama

Summer time!

Summer is finally here! Check out these amazing cartoon-style bags, on sale in the fabulous Louis Glucksman Art Gallery in Cork city:

 

An article on these fantastic bags appeared in the Cork News: http://thecorknews.ie/articles/bag-ladies-14868