‘Charms of Plenty’ by Rosie McGurran at the Lavelle Art Gallery

by Deborah Watkins. Posted on October 11, 2016

11 Oct

The Lavelle Art Gallery hosted an exhibition of work by Rosie McGurran this September for Clifden Arts Week. Rosie has had a long association with the gallery and she has shown her work with Gavin in two joint exhibitions, at the Peppercanister Gallery in Dublin and more recently at the Whalley Gallery in County Down. Originally from Belfast and a member of the Royal Ulster Academy, Rosie has lived in Roundstone since 2000.

This exhibition was inspired by the wild flowers of Connemara. June heralds the bog cotton and foxgloves while summer ends with fuschia, heather and montebresia. Rosie gathers these seasonal markers on her daily walks and she has used them to make a series of pastel drawings and paintings. Figures often appear in the work creating a visual narrative, deeply informed by symbolism.

Here are some photos taken during the summer of the work in progress at Rosie’s studio in Roundstone.

The exhibition was officially opened on the 17th of September by Sheila Pratschke, Chair of the Irish Arts Council of Ireland. It took place in the newly renovated upstairs room of the gallery and ran for the duration of Clifden Arts Week 2016.

Sadly I missed the opening night myself due to a family commitment but here’s a few photos of the gallery space just before the show opened.

Life Drawing Residency in Roundstone

by Deborah Watkins. Posted on May 14, 2015

14 May

Cover photo: James Hanley (RHA), Carey Clarke (RHA), Gavin Lavelle and Una Sealy (RHA) outside the Lavelle Art Gallery, Clifden

We’ve had some interesting visitors to the gallery recently – old friends and acquaintances that we don’t get the opportunity to meet often enough. Pictured with Gavin outside the Lavelle Art Gallery are RHA ( Royal Hibernian Academy ) artists James Hanley, Carey Clarke ( former president of the RHA ) and Una Sealy. They were part of a group of fifteen artists that were here for a life drawing residency, organised by mutual friend and RUA painter Rosie McGurran. Continue reading →

Life drawing Residency in Roundstone

by Deborah Watkins. Posted on May 5, 2015

05 May

James Hanley (RHA), Carey Clarke (RHA), Gavin Lavelle and Una Sealy (RHA) outside the Lavelle Art Gallery, Clifden

Interview with Rosie McGurran

by Total WP Support Inc.. Posted on April 26, 2013

26 Apr

Cover image ‘The Black faced lamb’ by Rosie McGurran

Rosie McGurran is a painter who lives and works in the village of Roundstone in Connemara. Originally from Belfast, Rosie studied fine art at the University of Ulster. She has received many awards including the Conor prize for figurative painting at the Royal Ulster Academy of which she is now a member. Rosie has her own gallery in Roundstone ‘The Northern Star.’ I met up with her recently to talk about her work and her practices.

Why did you decide to live in Roundstone?

I was always fascinated by the light and landscape of Roundstone. I was invited to the Arts Week residency in 2000 and I decided to stay to see what it was like in the Winter. Twelve years later and I’m still here. I was also aware of the legacy of all the artists who had spent time in Roundstone in the past and I wanted to find out more.

What are your favourite subjects? What do you paint?

My main focus in on people, I like to tell stories in the work and set the figures in the local landscape like a parallel world that we can’t see all the time.

‘Blue faced doll’ by Rosie McGurran

Where do you get your inspiration? What other artists have influenced you?

When I was at art college I was primarily interested in painting the human figure, I also had a strong idea that I wanted to create a figurative language that was not quite literal or totally realistic. I was influenced by Stanley Spencer at that time and the Glasgow painters of the 80’s/90’s.

Do you see your work as autobiographical at all?

There is a definite autobiographical thread to my work. I use elements of things I see every day. Sometimes I have a very strong idea of what it means, sometimes I have no idea. I think it is important for me not to over explain the work as the act of making it is explanation enough.

Rosie with one of her paintings

What mediums do you use?

I work in acrylic on canvas, pastel, watercolour and charcoal, not all at once though. I love drawing – it is my favourite way of working. I always work on a dark surface, I paint on a very dark red canvas, it makes the colours more vibrant. When drawing, I work on brown paper – I enjoy drawing the images out of the darkness.

What themes crop up in your work? Do these themes re-occur?

Recent recurring themes would be the sea and the landscape, water has always been a strong theme. I love the sea and I don’t like being away from it.

‘Spring Inishlacken’ by Rosie McGurran

What are you reading, looking at or listening to at the moment to feed your work?

I have just finished reading ‘Art in America’ by Ron McLarty – it is a hilarious story about an unpublished writer who ends up in the depths of the Mid-West trying to write a play. I listen to BBC Radio 4 constantly – I enjoy the arts coverage and the documentaries and plays. I saw a lot of art recently in New York and I went to see the Government collection in the Ulster Museum in Belfast last week. That was an amazing exhibition, a mixture of traditional painting and contemporary art – it was probably one of the most inspirational shows I have seen.

Where do you work and how do you make the space work for you?

I work in my studio at home, it is very private and the phone doesn’t work so I can really shut myself away. I need plenty of space and I use a large piece of glass as a palette and set out the colours in sequence. When I finish a body of work I scrub down the palette to start again fresh.

What are you working on at the moment? Are you involved in any upcoming shows or events?

At present I am working towards an exhibition with Gavin Lavelle for Bog Week in Letterfrack. I will also be showing in Clifden Arts Week. I am hosting an exhibition by Margared Iriwin as part of the Bealtaine Festival in May. Also I will be holding the Inishlacken Project residency in June. In November I am going to Rome to spend six weeks preparing a solo exhibition.

What is the best piece of advice you have been given? What advice would you give to an aspiring painter?

The best piece of advice I was given – someone once told me if you don’t get out of bed in the morning and go in to your studio no one will care. It is your own personal responsibility to make the work and I would tell any aspiring artist that.

Tales from the West – Exhibition

by Deborah Watkins. Posted on May 12, 2012

12 May

This week, I attended the opening of a joint exhibition of work by two artists from Connemara. The title of the show is ‘Tales from the West‘ and it takes place in the

Peppercanister Gallery in Herbert Street in Dublin.

The first artist is my husband Gavin Lavelle and so I have watched the progress of his work for this show at first hand. Gavin studied fine art painting at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin from 1986 – 1991. He paints full – time as well as running his own gallery (The Lavelle Art Gallery) in the old family home here in Clifden.
His work is a mixture of collage and paint, sometimes applied on flat surfaces but also on wooden discs, icon shaped panels of board and specially formed domes of wood. The cut outs come from a multitude of sources – maps, printed work, texts, architecture, art history and religious imagery. These blend with paint and ink to form strange worlds of the imagination where opposing themes, histories and influences merge.
Here’s an example below simply called ‘Large Triptych Box’.

Rosie McGurran is also living and working in Connemara in the village of Roundstone. Rosie grew up in Belfast and studied fine art at the University of Ulster. She is a member of the Royal Ulster Academy of the Arts and she has worked in residencies in Rome, Australia, Iceland and New York. She discovered Roundstone and the island of Inishlacken in the late 1990’s and this ultimately led her to move here permanently, establishing Connemara as her home and also as the inspiration for her work. Rosie’s paintings describe the landscape, buildings, winding stone walls and field formations that make Connemara unique. A female figure commands the presence of some of these – she gazes outwards with a thoughtful, questioning look and she seems to gather houses and ruins in her skirts or on her head. These paintings are a response to the communities who live here and to those who are long gone. Rosie has a special affinity with the abandoned island of Inishlacken just off the shore of Roundstone. This was once a lively community which thrived from its own natural resource – the sea – but now it is a shadow of that time, it’s people dispersed, it’s houses abandoned except for a few Summer homes.
This painting of Rosie’s below is of Inishlacken.

The opening night was very enjoyable and there was a lively and welcoming atmosphere thanks to gallery owner Bryan Murphy and a thoughtful and eloquent introduction provided by Mr. Frank X Buckley. The show runs until June 2nd 2012. Go see it if you can.