Art Trip Continued!

Here are some more lovely photographs taken of our recent trip to Visual Carlow and Delta Sensory Gardens!
Photographs courtesy of Shannen Reddy and Chloe Kelly - thanks girls!

Senior Year Trip to Visual Carlow and the Delta Sensory Gardens

Here are some pictures from out recent trip to the stunning Visual Centre in Carlow and the inspirational sculpture gardens at Delta Sensory Gardens in Carlow. What a great day out!

Two very different venues for appreciating art; both of equal value. 

Seeing a purpose-built gallery space like Visual was hugely informative, and the beautifully simplistic space itself was a gloriously bright haven of meticulously presented artwork of varying disciplines. 

Delta was completely different; where Visual was contemporary and cavernous, Delta was outdoors and divided into several almost modular gardens, each housing lovely limestone sculptures designed specifically for the space, and sensitive to the natural elements of the gardens.

There truly was something for everyone on this visit, and the tours were fantastic - we'd definitely recommend Carlow as a place where there is some fabulous art on offer! 

The links for the venues are below:

visual carlow

delta sensory gardens

€20 million for a diptych? Not bad!

Francis Bacon's diptych (2 works of art that hang together as a pair) sold at Sotheby's auction for just under €20 million after only 2 minutes at auction!

For those of you unfamiliar with Bacon's work, the Irish-born artist who died in 1992, has become one of the most sought after modern artists of our time. His triptych portrait of Lucien Freud sold for a record price in 2013 of €114 million!

Click on the link below for the full story:
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/francis-bacon-self-portrait-sells-for-almost-20m-1.2098801

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!