Bit of Gallery Podcast

This week I'm chatting with Jim Donnelly, Jim is a painter based in Carlow and has an incredible knowledge of the medium. We talk a lot about painting and other subjects crop up too such as folklore and local history and how they feature in our work, we also chat about art in general as well. Jim doesn't have a website currently but be sure to visit his Instagram to see his realism work.

In episode 11 of the Bit of Gallery podcast, I'm chatting with Wexford based artist, John Busher. John works in painting and printmaking and we talk about his studio practice and also his curatorial experience, including his how in the complex and Sift, an exhibition consisting of work created by 6 artist from different parts of the work, both of these shows looked incredible and also seemed challenging as both were installed in locations where the wall space was not what would be typically associated with 2D work.You can see more of John's work and process over on his InstagramI also mention an essay that I had read a while ago, it can be found in the book, Figuring out Figurative Art: Contemporary Philosophers on Contemporary Painting

In episode 10 I'm chatting with Carlow based artist Jules Michael. I've been friends with Jules since the MFA in the National College of Art and Design where we were both in the paint department, we chat a bit about the work she was creating at the time, some of what she has worked on since and what she's currently working on. Jules is also part of the Nine Stones Artists collective which we talk about too and how the group originated. We talk about An Fraughan, an ebook covering an eco social project in Drummin Bog, so if you click on the ebook title it with take you to that.

No guest this week due to me having internet troubles, so episode 8 is me sitting in a room talking to a microphone for half an hour. I chat about how I discovered Lafcadio Hearn's work through an artistic opportunity 2 years ago and chat a little bit about the year after, which involved research sketching and painting towards a group show. I meant to blog about it but never got around to it and with the podcast up and running the blog has gone dormant. I mention a novel at one stage but at the time of recording I couldn't remember the name of it, it's The Sweetest Fruits by Monica TruongI also mentioned Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn, here's the link to the book on Goodreads

In episode 7 I chat with Caroline Keane, Caroline is a fellow Laois based artist and has been facilitating workshops for several years at the Dunamaise Arts Centre, The Arthouse, Stradbally as well as several other venues. She has also been working on her studio practice too and is currently in the middle of setting up a new website, we cover all of this in the podcast as well as chatting about some of the challenges faced when working with groups of people. Make sure to visit Caroline's current website for the workshops and you can see her Instagram hereQuick shout out to the Dunamise Arts Centre tooI also mentioned a studio I had in Dublin 5 years ago after the Masters in NCAD, so shout out to A4 Sounds

On episode 6 I chat with Aidan Byrne who works in mosaic, we speak about the PLC course that we were both part of 15 years ago before both going to GMIT in Galway and on from there to how Aidan got started working in mosaics as a medium. Facilitating workshops plays an important part in Aidan's practice so be sure to visit his website for upcoming events or if you would like to purchase any of his mosaic packs to work on at home they can be purchased through the website too. You can check out Aidan's Instagram, Facebook and Youtube too for more info, projects and also work completed by people who took part in the workshops.

In episode 5, I chat with artist, Kieran Hyland. Based in Laois and having only started working in visual art within the last year, Kieran's work has rapidly gained popularity. We chat about his visual arts practice along with other creative endeavours which he has undertaken over the years, including a podcast he co-hosted in 2016. Be sure to have a look at Kieran's Youtube channel to find links to everywhere you can find his work and you can also stop by his website to see his work.

On this weeks episode I chat with Paddy Critchley. Paddy is an artist from Portlaoise who is currently studying in the Limerick School of Art. A former student of the Abbeyleix Further Education Centre, we chat about his life in art to date and how his final year, along with the grad show has been affected by lockdown. We discuss his practice in the studio and also what inspires his work. You can see his work on his Instagram page. Make sure to give him a follow.I also mention toward the end of the episode, two podcasts to show some support for, one is Doing it for the Exposure by Katie Riley, this can be found on Spotify and the second is Le Chats by Alex and that's on Facebook. Both of these podcasts have similar objectives to the Bit of Gallery Podcast in that they both chat with and aim to support creatives so make sure to check them out too.