ARTISTS’ VIEW OF TAGHMON
ARTIST KATE MURPHY WORKED WITH THE MEMBERS OF TAGHMON MEN’S SHED – AND THE IMPRESSIVE RESULTS ARE NOW ON SHOW
MEMBERS of Taghmon Men’s Shed got in touch with their creative side during an ‘Artist in the Community’ scheme, which culminated in an ongoing exhibition of paintings on wood at the Family Resource Centre.
The Arts Department of Wexford County Council engaged the artist Kate Murphy to work once a week over three months with the Men’s shed on a project which involved documenting the buildings and landscape of Taghmon through paintings which were made using oil paint on MDF boards.
The group took Kate on a guided tour of the village, visiting local landmarks such as the Lime Kiln and Taghmon Castle which they photographed on their mobile phones. The images were used as the inspiration for paintings which were created by carving lines and textures into primed boards using carving tools such as lino-cutting tools, scalpels and textures metal rollers.
The group looked at colour mixing and also experimented with thinners and varnishes to achieve certain effects. The colours, shades and tones were built up over weeks with the layering of the oil paint and then rubbing back or sanding surfaces to reveal the colours and textures beneath.
As part of the residency, the men visited a large-scale exhibition in Wexford Arts Centre which included some of Kate’s paintings. They also visited Kate’s studio for a chat about her processes and materials.
The work featured in the exhibition is by Francis Walsh, Christy Kehoe, Billy Cardiff, Eddie Waters, Toddy Morris, Lar Molloy, Seán Doyle, Jim Morrissey, Ned Gibbons, Mick Doyle and development worker Ray O’Brien.
The Wexford County Council Artist in the Community scheme supports professional artists to work with community groups on artistic projects.