Opening for Moleskin Art Notebooks in Riverbank, Newbridge,
18th October 2014
It's a great honour to be here today to launch the exhibition of Artist's Notebooks.
This wonderful project, devised by Kildare Arts and library service is, unlike many other exhibitions, is very inclusive as it is not limited by age, gender, nationality or qualifications. This project is accessible to all creative people who can write or make a mark and who have the drive to complete a notebook.
The poet, John Montague, refers to the notebook he uses for ideas generation as an artistic compost heap and that is an interesting way of looking at things. Most artists just jot down ideas and these thoughts over time can blossom into a new creative work.
Working in an art school environment I really appreciate the value of these notebooks, as keeping a visual diary is something that all students are encouraged to do, as it is an essential part of their tool kit, whether they are drawing or writing.
I learned this first hand when I was researching for my doctoral degree. I was very fortunate that my subject, the Irish Impressionist painter, Richard Thomas Moynan had nine sketchbooks in the Prints and Drawing Department of the National Gallery of Ireland. I spent four months going through those notebooks in detail and creating my own copy of each. Moynan's sketchbooks formed the basis of my research and they became an invaluable resource both for writing the thesis and gleaning other information on the artist. They were, and still remain, the closest link I have with the artist's creative process. Every so often paintings come up for sale at auction houses and the title of the work is lost. A portrait that was once referred to by the sitter's name: Mrs Ponsonby Staples may now be known as The Lady in the Green Dress and so Moynan's sketch-books have become the main reference to the original work.
But not every entry into the artist's note book translates into a fully developed piece. And that is exactly why sketch-books are so valuable. The National Gallery of Ireland mounted an exhibition of Jack Yeats sketchbooks in 2013. Jack was an avid sketcher and drew everything that came into his purview. Whether he travelled to Connemara or America he captured strange people and animals, funny signs and unusual situations. Jack had a great sense of humour - he worked as a cartoonist for Punch magazine, his sketchbooks are compulsive viewing as they demonstrate the workings of the artistic mind.
I believe that happiness come through tapping into our creativity and the Kildare Artist's Note Books are a labour of love. The participants in this project ooze talent and imagination. But leafing through the sketch books is, in a way, like reading some-one's diary. I would love to have time to talk about each work individually, but if I did that we would be here until the last bus. So I have selected some themes just to give the audience a flavour of their content, but all work is worthy of mention, so the following is a random selection:
There were many drawings of the human body in the notebooks but Shaun Bracebridge's images of the face were both animated and intriguing. The artist Paul Woods sketchbook celebrated the male gaze - cropping the image down to the a pair of eyes, this created a powerful effect. Linda Whelan examined the female condition from a less intense perspective.
This collection of notebooks is very democratically selected. There was no distinction made between the amateur artists and the professional, never- the- less it was great to see well know painters participate.
Martin Gale RHA is celebrated for his 'figure in a landscape' subjects where he explores the relationship between the rural environment and its population, looking at themes of isolation and the changing face of rural Ireland. His note-book provided a clue to his working methodology, depicting wonderfully lyrical watercolours of the landscapes and black and white studies of sheep and crows.
A glance at Helena Grimes work told me that she was a professional illustrator and I have to say that her note-book sent me immediately to her website to find out more about her drawings.
The Celbridge artist, Vera McEvoy, made some interesting observations about the process of creating a notebook for public consumption. She astutely pointed out that there is a big difference between just keeping random notes privately to making a book which is accessible to others. This provided a new challenge for the artist.
Many notebooks contained poems or used poetry as a starting point for a work, but Anne Egan took her interest in the subject to a new level as she filled her sketchbook with no less than 47 Haiku.
Mae Leonard used her notebook as a visual diary recording the period leading up to the publication and launch of her poetry collection. We see the stork delivering her book and, in an kind of existential angst, she later laments the cost of the venture. But while Mae is clearly financially less well off after publication, I am sure that the world is richer place now that her poems are available.
Participants used the notebooks to communicate in a variety of ways. John Gayer chose to employ a different approach to other artists. He produced a book of Hieroglyphics - picture images, and the viewer had to decode the narrative.
A number of artists used the note-books to record their personal journeys. Isabella Basombrio Hoban dedicated her book to Tibet and she recorded her meeting with the Daili Lama in Kildare.
Marianne Hogan, a retired librarian was inspired by last year's crop of notebooks. She made her art piece as a reassurance to others that there is life after retirement. Marianne claims that she is unused to expressing herself visually, yet her sketchbook suggests otherwise. There is a beautifully embroidered badge with the word Retirement emblazoned on it.
Catriona O'Connor, used her notebook to pay homage to her grandfather, the writer Joe O'Connor, thus continuing the family tradition of documenting their talent artistically.
Lucina Russell, the self-styled 'lapsed artist', revealed a domestic side, which is surprising to those who only know her professionally. It also became clear that there would be no need for the 'Design Doctor' in Lucina's house as she showed an ability to expertly source and reinterpret Garden designs. Paul Quast created an experimental piece that involved hollowing out his book and installing what looked like iron-filings. This complex piece was accompanied by a video showing the art making process.
Fifi Smith, also hollowed her book but she used it as a gallery space where she curated her own exhibition and furnished it with important exhibits.
It is always fascinating how people can be given the same tools and yet the work they create can be very different. OOnagh O'Brien used the pages of her moleskin notebook to make the a magical merry-go-round.
Arguably, the most famous Irish artwork is The Book of Kells and that wonderful manuscript interprets the bible in codex format, through the materials and images known to its creators. In the Celtic mindset there is an intractable link between the written word and illustration. The Kildare Artists Notebook project forms a bridge between the written word and the visual image and looking at the work on show I can't help thinking that collectively these notebooks form a kind of time-capsule that provide a unique insight into our current day concerns. I wonder if some researcher in the future were to discovered this cash of exquisite notebooks and if there was nothing else to express our current existence, how would s/he interpret the talent seen here this evening?
I would like to congratulate all the artists involved in this exciting project, whether you have exhibited your art before, or are new to the circuit, collectively you certainly demonstrate that Ireland's got talent. I would like to take this opportunity wish you every success in your future careers.
Maebh O'Regan, October 2014