Kevin’s painting helps Make-A-Wish
DUNDALK ARTIST DONATED PAINTING TO CHILDREN’S CHARITY
DUNDALK artist Kevin Haughey has helped a young terminally ill girl fulfil her wish of going to Disneyland with her family.
The Broughton Street painter donated a portrait of Nobel prize winner Samuel Beckett to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to be auctioned at their recent Crystal Ball event in Dublin’s Clayton Hotel.
The striking portrait made €2,600 with all the money going to Make-A-Wish Foundation which helps fulfil the dreams of terminally ill children.
‘It was an honour to have my painting included in the auction,’ he says ‘ A few days later, one of the parents contacted me to say that the money was going to be used to send their daughter to Disneyland.’
Kevin, who grew up in Dundalk, has always been interested in art. ‘
‘My aunt Madeline Quann (nee Quinn) who is originally from Seatown, is a professional artist and she always encouraged me,’ he recalls.
He went to The Marist, where his art teacher was Pat Daly, and attended Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design where he studied painting.
‘I went to America for ten years and didn’t paint for a long time but it’s something that never leaves you and I got back into it when I returned home.’
He now specialises in portraits and is particularly interested in painting musicians and other cultural figures, taking a contemporary approach to his work.
‘I like to use a lot of colour in my portraits,’ he says.
Kevin exhibited his work alongside that of fellow Dundalk artist Michael Stafford in the County Museum a few years ago.
He promotes his art through his Facebook page and works to commission.
‘It’s nice to have an original painting in a house and I think people are beginning to appreciate that. It’s not as expensive as people might think.