Artists

Both these artists wanted to take their work out into the wider community and they exhibited in the local library and found two empty shop fronts in which they displayed their work. The work was changed after two weeks. Here are some of those finished pieces.


11-1 Weave Study by Sharon Murphy
11-2 Kenny Dread by Claudia Bose
11-3 Lime Ball by Sharon Murphy
11-4 Colour Studies by Claudia Bose
11-5 The Children of England by Claudia Bose

Sharon is from Dublin. She studied in L.I.T. Limerick and completed her BA in Fine Art from N.C.A.D. Dublin.

"Sharon Murphy - Personal Statement (23.10.2007)

As a painter and mixed media artist the grid strongly features in my work. Since beginning work at Belmont Mill, the work has slowly become influenced by the beautiful hinterland that surrounds Belmont.

I arrived here in September of this year with the task of putting together a solo show that would take place shortly after this residency ended. I was very aware of the need to fully experience the immediate area I found myself in, and was reluctant to stick strictly to the plans that I had drawn up. The local bog area, spanning Offaly and Westmeath has had a profound effect on paintings and wire pieces that I am producing. I have found myself reinterpreting my relationship with the grid, layering and stratification, the use of positive and negative space and it has induced much colour experimentation.

The studio space given to me by Tom and Sandy is the best I have ever experienced, with excellent wall space, light sources and cleaning facilities. The Mill building and land has been restored to its former appearance and the owners’ specific alterations have adapted the place into a small, self-contained artistic community.

This unique opportunity has given me a chance to share ideas, influences and work approaches with both Irish and international artists. This wonderful space gives the needed support, self-sufficiency and personal creative space that allows visual research and art-making a very natural occurrence.
"

Claudia is German but lives in England. She obtained her BA in Fine Art, Painting from St. Martins London then carried out her Post graduate Diploma at Royal Academy School in London. She has had many solo exhibitions in London, Berlin and Ipswich.

"I am here in Ireland to deepen my relationship with painting. Since my arrival in September I have been following three main threads:

I am reflecting on the space of what I see and what I make of it. What is it about a location where I am able to converse with perception and experience?

Secondly I am exploring boundaries of observation, representation and abstraction. What is it in a place that enhances my imagination?

The third focus is on handling materials and how this relationship {with paints, rags, oils, boards, masking tape, stencils etc} generates evidence and expression of being in the world.

This is an amazing place and time with people, and a mode of being where painting can happen.

October 2007"

Fiona will leave us to go to Crawford College in Cork to continue her studies.

Fiona came to us after a residency in Reykjavik, Iceland and has concentrated on wood cuts and printmaking while here at Belmont. She creates relief prints which she cuts and prints by hand.

"My work deals with the fragmentation of thought and identity in society. I take common place objects that I feel I can empathize with, and put them into an individualized context by portraying them as flotsam in their own personal void, revealing their inherent characters."

The pictures below show Fernanda working in the studio on a piece which is part of a larger collection.

"The Belmont Mill residence is a perfect place for artists to keep their mind focused in their work. Very peaceful atmosphere, and loads of subject matter for research.

I'd say it also offers a quite unique experience for international artists to get to know Ireland beyond Dublin. I can easily foresee this place as a main centre of contemporary art in the midlands of Ireland.

My congratulations to Sandy and Tom for taking the initiative of transforming an old dead mill into a place that boosts up creative energy both for the artists and the community."

Kenneth Lambert has been residing in Belmont Mill Artists Studio at Belmont Co Offaly since September of last year. Having being awarded a residency from September until December 06 he decided to stay on indefinitely living and working on the grounds. After completing his studies in Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology he has managed to consistently work in creative fields of one form or another while still practicing and developing his own work. Over the last number of years he has been able to spend the majority of his time on his own practice mainly as a sculptor but also in drawing and animation work. This has been made possible due to several sales of his work, residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Belmont Mills and bursary awards from South Dublin County Council in 2006 and from Offaly County Council in 2007. In May 2007 he received the prestigious Royal Hibernian Academy sculpture award of €10,000 at the annual RHA exhibition. These achievements have enabled him to concentrate fully on his practice and he will be a participating artist at the Sculpture in Context exhibition taking place at the Botanic Gardens in September 2007 and Offaly Open Submission 2007 in July 2007. Ken attributes his recent achievements to his surroundings and time at Belmont Mill.

"I have found my time over the past ten months in Offaly to be the most inspiring and productive period of my life as an artist to date. As soon as I had arrived I developed a strong feel for the place, it really captivated me in the autumn; the colours of the large maple and birch trees, the horses straddling the fields, the layered history of the immediate area of the Mills.



When I look at the original mill house with its doorway intact and inscribed in very definite and elegant French 'Le Strange' above the arch and dated 1673 it fascinates me. I think the delicate style of the writing is juxtaposed to both its age and its seasonally harsh surroundings; essentially it is so stylish and so French. Then there is the house that I am presently living in with its quirky English gentrified post war feel and the writing 'Perry and sons Estab. 1927' across the front window in an art deco type face. This area was not just lived in by the French Huguenots and the Anglo Irish it was also cultivated by them. Hopefully as we grow and mature as a contemporary Irish society we will value these simple doorways and houses as part of our heritage. In Ferbane there are some great crafted windows and doorways. Seamus in the hardware shop 'Bits and Pieces' told me that these particular features were made by a carpenter by the name of Jackson known to the area at the turn of the century.



I feel that these elements of our towns become more precious as the monoculture of Spars and Centra’s spread out from the larger cities. I know that these convenience shops are probably a much welcomed addition to a lot of towns but how they are nestled in towns such as Ferbane is very American. In this respect I hope that in the future we will look more to our European neighbours for architectural and town planning inspiration..



This whole area around Belmont has become so special to me, the bridges, the weir, the walk along the canal. I have never spent a full cycle of all the seasons in the countryside before and it really has been a powerful time especially the spring, watching the birth of so much life simultaneously. I feel that I am experiencing Belmont Mills at a great time of renewal; I have seen the mills get new roofs and the pebbledash taken off to reveal such beautiful brickwork in the glorious month of April as I sit writing this now in the tempestuous month of June! Presently I am working on an installation to be exhibited at the botanic gardens in Dublin during the month of September.

The work will consist of seven full sized microcrystalline wax toy horses placed in a group amongst the trees. The theme of the horses is based around a sense of cyclical rebirth and a personal homage to 'Der blau reiter' group and artists such as Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky.



I feel that Belmont mills and its immediate area is a precious part of our country and heritage and should be both treasured and nurtured for our future generations. I would like to thank Sinead O Reilly, Tom and Sandy and family, Pine and Sandy, Jeff and Kay Perry and say hello to everybody else I've had the fortune to call a friend in Offaly and like Arnie, I'll be back!



(This article first appeared in Visual Artist and by their kind permission we are able to replicate it here on our website. We are grateful to them for this facility.)"

Jennifer Comber is a Ceramic Artist who makes both decorative/functional and sculptural ceramics. She completed a Masters of Art specialising in ceramics in 2004 in Limerick School of Art and Design; later that year she became the overall winner of Westmeath County Council's Graduate and Emerging Artists commisionary programme. She has worked in studios in Castleknock and Stoneybatter, Dublin before relocating to Belmont in March 2006.


Selected shows.


'Masters of Art Show', The March 2004 Church Gallery, Limerick School of Art and Design.


'Fusion' The Ritz Gallery, Castlestreet, Mullingar December 2005.


Irish Contempoary Ceramics Touring Exhibition January 2006 www.irishcontemporaryceramics.ie

"Belmont Mills Studio is a great place to work. It is in an inspiring setting with very well equipped large studios. With the mix of other artists both National and International there is great potential for some very exciting work in the future."

Mark McGreevy was born in Northern Ireland. He received a first class honours Degree from the University of Ulster in 1999 and a pass with Distinction MFA in 2003. Since graduating he has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally and has been shortlisted for the AIB Artist of Promise Award 2004 and BOC Emerging Artist Award, London. He most recently completed The Artist Residency Programme in the Irish Museum of Modern Art and The Ballinglen Fellowship in Mayo.

"Belmont Mill and Studios are some of the best studios I've had the pleasure to work in. They are large and spacious with great daylight and artificial fluorescents which has given me the opportunity to concentrate on producing some large scale work.
Belmont has a very relaxed friendly atmosphere which has made settling into Offaly much easier.
For anybody considering the Belmont Residency I would encourage them to apply and have the same productiove experience I have had."

Caroline studied printing and textiles at Edinburgh College of Art gaining a 1st Class Honours degree and Post Grad. Diploma. She works as a relief printmaker and is currently engaged on a series of figurative, water-based works, printing many translucent layers of colours from each block.

"Belmont studios have a great atmosphere and are a really inspiring place to work. Being in a big, bright, warm studio has benefited my work enormously. Tom and Sandy are very helpful and accommodating and I feel very lucky to be here."

Salah is well known and highly regarded hot glass artist, lived and worked here for 3 years until his retirement to Egypt last year.

Jørn is from Denmark. He has created many sculptural works, commissions and projects in Denmark, Ireland, England, Norway and Holland. He has been working on and off at Belmont since 2003.


He maintains a small studio here for on going work:

"I am a Danish environmental sculptor and I have been working at Belmont Mill Studios on many occasions since 2002, where I took part in the first Sculpture Symposium in Lough Boora Parklands.


Being one of the first artists to visit Belmont Mill Studios I have felt very privileged, having not only excellent conditions for making large scale sculpture, but also being the first to enjoy the facilities of the new apartments for artists and the quiet atmosphere with the opportunity for meditative walks along the mirroring waters of the Grand Canal or just enjoying the soothing sound of the Brosna River water running through the mill race near by.


Last but certainly not least I will emphasize the friendliness, hospitality, flexibility and generosity of Tom Dolan and his wonderful family. Without their support I would not have been able to create and exhibit my hitherto most ambitious environmental sculpture series "The Scriptorium Project", which had its world premiere in the County Council Hall in Tullamore before starting its Irish and European tour.


I feel that Ireland and Belmont has become my second home and I have now been able to rent - on a more permanent basis - a small workshop space here at Belmont Mill Studios, where I look forward to realize some of the ideas that have sprung from my visits - and from some interesting logs of wood with a history, that I have come across!"