Arts & Culture

AN exhibition of paintings by Newmarket-on-Fergus based artist Frances Bailey is on display in the County Museum for the next month.Still Life and Living is a sample of her works which she has created in her studio at Urlanmore.Frances is a fifth-generation daughter of Ennis, of the McNamara family of Chapel Lane. She now lives in Newmarket-on-Fergus, with her husband Edwin, two daughters, Rebecca and Ruth and granddaughter, Nyrenee. She was educated in the Convent of Mercy primary school, Ennis and afterwards did a commercial course at the Ennis Vocational School. Soon afterwards, she entered the convent of the Sisters of Mercy, Auckland, New Zealand and while there, she studied art at the teachers training college in Remuera.There she was introduced to many forms of art, such as batik, silk-screen printing, lino cuts, clay modelling and painting. It was there that she developed her love for the subject which she later developed by attending night school. She returned home to …

FOURTH-class pupils from Ballyea National School have been improving their spoken Irish and getting over stage fright over the past few weeks in the lead-up to their performance in the Féile Scoildramaíochta Náisiúnta in Mullingar last week.

EMPTY Pockets, an exhibition of paintings by Jim McKee, opens this year’s season of exhibitions at the Russell Gallery in New Quay.Jim McKee is a renaissance man, a singer, a songwriter, a musician, a bit of a philosopher and very much a visual artist. He is self-taught and is fearless with paint and has developed, in a short space of time, a personal and recognisable style, imbued with life and energy and colour.This is a one-off show reflecting the current climate change that is affecting everyone, a new body of work that will give an ironic and mindful look at the Irish society and its landscape in the era of recession.Inspired very much by the spirit and nature of the west of Ireland, Jim’s work is humorous and honest, his subjects are impressionistic renderings and reflections of Ireland today, its passing traditions, its people and its places; his images are an emotional and enthusiastic response to his surroundings. He has …

A NUMBER of contemporary art forms come together to form a unique performance at Glór next week.Madam Silk is a co-production between Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Company (IRL) and Cie Drapés Aériens (France). The show has been created to include several art forms including aerial dance, contemporary circus dance, music and video. Three female aerial dancers, who evolve in a universe of veils and drapes, create a sensual atmosphere that gives birth to beautiful choreography while performed to eclectic music and film projections. The three female aerial dancers performing are Chantal McCormick from Fidget Feet, Lindsey Butcher from Gravity and Levity (Brighton) and Jennifer Paterson from All or Nothing (Scotland). The renowned international aerialist, Fred Deb’, (Drapés Aériens) is the choreographer. Creating a world where the stage is filled with fabric, the women explore different ways of dancing in and suspending from it. Madam Silk has a beautiful French style with he music composed and mixed live by Jym Daly. …

TO coincide with the release of his latest album, Stormy Lullaby, Freddie White will play at Glór for one night on Friday, May 7.Whether interpreting songs by his favourite writers, such as Randy Newman, Tom Waits, John Hiatt and Guy Clark, or performing his own compositions, White’s live performances have been described as “nothing short of legendary”.Born in Cobh, County Cork into a musical family, by age 13, he was playing in school bands and by 17, playing professionally. At 19, he moved to London where he busked and developed his unique voice and guitar style.In 1974, he was a founding member of Scullion, together with Philip King and Sonny Condell. Later, he formed The Fake, regarded as one of the seminal Irish bands of the late 1970s, before The Freddie White Band was formed in 1978, which toured with Eric Clapton that year.His first album, Live on Tour, recorded by Nicky Ryan while touring with Clannad, brought him national …

THE fourth annual Burren Painting Centre outdoor landscape painting competition in Lisdoonvarna from May 21-23 will bring together amateur artists from all corners of Ireland.Their challenge is to paint outdoors and capture the magical scenery of the Burren. Local businesses have contributed prizes totalling €3,000. The Burren Painting Centre is providing a free painting holiday for the overall winner along with a cash prize.Lorraine Wall, a well-known watercolorist from Ennis, will start off the weekend of art and fun, with a painting demonstration on the Friday evening in the studio of the Burren Painting Centre in Lisdoonvarna. It is open to the public as well as the competing painters.The competitors will make an early start on the Saturday morning, registering at the national school, before choosing their painting locations. They may enter one or two paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel or mixed media. Professional artists will be on hand for advice and will visit the competitors during the day. …

THE Kilfenora and Tulla Céilí bands have been confirmed as participants of the 2010 Willie Clancy Festival and Summer School in Miltown Malbay. The annual event takes place from Saturday, July 3, to Sunday, July 11.The Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is Ireland’s largest traditional music summer school, held annually since 1973 in memory of the piper Willie Clancy. During the week, nearly a thousand students from every part of the world attend daily classes taught by experts in Irish music and dance. In addition, a full program of lectures, recitals, céilithe and exhibitions are run by the summer school.There will also be language courses in Irish and Scot’s Gaelic.The school gets underway on July 3 with enrolment at the community hall from 2 to 6pm.  The hall will host this year’s Breandán Breathnach Memorial Lecture, entitled The Traditional Arts and the National Economy and will be hosted by Philip King, musician, broadcaster and filmmaker.Among the other highlights of this year’s …

Caoimhe Garvey (19) from Tralee, who has been short-listed to appear on the upcoming RTÉ show to try and win the lead role in Fame The Musical, has West Clare connections. Her father, Paddy Garvey, is originally from Labasheeda.The family have relations and many friends in the county that they are hoping will get behind Caoimhe (pictured) and vote to keep her in the competition.The Tralee woman has come through both the auditions and an intense workshop to feature in the show, which will be screened live from the Helix every Sunday night at 6.30pm. Although the show went out live on April 25, Caoimhe will begin singing for survival on this Sunday. Currently studying French and Spanish at NUI Cork, she enrolled in a local performance school in Tralee when she was 11. From this young age, she has been trained vocally by Bryan Carr of Shannon Star Stage School and Sharon Reidy. An accomplished modern dancer, Caoimhe has …