The Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark is celebrating European Geoparks Week and their participation in The European Atlantic Geotourism Route by promoting the concept of geotourism to the region’s visitors.
The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has engaged local artists to visit popular tourism centres in the region as ‘Artists in Residence’ and to interact with the visitors while they paint the award-winning landscape.
‘Artists often see and appreciate the landscape in a very different way and by creating a conversation between them and the visitors to the region we hope to create an appreciation around the finer details of our surroundings and how we need to take care of it for future generations and visitors. By highlighting their work as artists and building new relationships with the tourism industry a more intimate and sustainable connection with the landscape can be forged’, commented Dr. Eamon Doyle, Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark Geologist.
The artists involved in the programme are the Ennistymon-based artists Sara Foust, Éanna Byrt, and Mary Fahy along with the Burren-based artists Doreen Drennan, Patsy Ricks and Kay Maahs.
The artists will be visiting Aillwee Cave, Doolin Cave, Caherconnell Fort, The Burren Nature Sanctuary, the Burren Centre and Moher Cottage over the two weeks from 27th May to the 7th June. An exhibition of their work will be presented in the Foust Gallery, Ennistymon later in the year.
The European Atlantic Geotourism Route is part of the EU-funded Interreg Atlantic Geoparks project which celebrates outstanding geological landscapes and has been created as a means of using UNESCO Global Geoparks to support the development of sustainable geotourism in a number of dramatically stunning landscapes in the European Atlantic Area. Clare County Council manages the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark and is a key partner in the Atlantic Geoparks project.
The Artists in residence programme will take place from 27th May – 7th June at several visitor centres including;
Local artists Sara Foust, Kay Maahs, Patsy Ricks, Éanna Byrt, Doreen Drennan and Mary Fahy will be visiting the centres during this time to draw and paint the landscape while interacting with the public.
Sara Foust is a professional artist living and working on the west coast of Ireland. Sara trained at Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design in the USA, and with master muralist Susan Cervantes in San Francisco. She exhibits her artwork throughout Ireland and internationally. Her work has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Clare County Council, and commissioned by CREATE, Leader/RRD, Cluid Housing and HSE.
Doreen Drennan is an impressionist painter documenting the Burren region and the Wild Atlantic Way for over 30 years. Doreen’s preferred medium is oil paint. She utilises brush and knife techniques to execute the challenging form, colour, texture and depth of her surroundings.
Her subjects range from the wildness of the Atlantic to the rugged marks left on the landscape by the sea. She is noted for her ability to capture the changing atmospheric sky lines above the Atlantic and is continually inspired by the dramatic fleeting light of the West.
Patsy Ricks
Patsy will be at:
Caherconnell Stone fort on Monday 3rd June
Patsy works mainly in watercolor and can be found at the courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon. She has been exhibiting her work in studios across Ireland and Co. Clare since 1978 and has pieces included in private collections in Ireland, England, Holland and Brazil.
Award-winning Artist Mary Fahy tends to paint outdoors, directly onto canvas, to capture the immediacy of the moment. Her paintings begin with direct observation of her surroundings. Working quickly, in a gestural way, she allows herself to be lead by the process. Mary has work in numerous public and private collections both national and international including the Revenue Commissioners, The Boyle Civic Art Collection, Camac Arts Centre in France and in the collection of President Michael D. Higgins. Her work is held in private collections worldwide including Ireland, the UK, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, The USA, Australia and The UAE.
Éanna Byrt
Éanna will be at:
Moher Cottage on Tuesday 4th June
A current resident of the Courthouse Studios in Ennistymon, Éanna is a former student of the Limerick School of Art and Design and more recently of the RHA graduate program. His current studio practice uses traditional painting methods to describe contemporary themes of the everyday. Through a blend of traditional methods augmented with digital techniques he portrays subject matter through the allegorical application of these techniques.
He finds influence in the work of Vincent Desiderio, Jenny Saville, Eric Fischell, Diego Velasquez and William Orpen.
Emerging artist Kaye Maahs is a native of Kerry who lives and works in the Burren, County Clare. Kaye’s work is rooted in both the local and the personal. Her practice is defined by daily observations and musings. It is the residue of these moments that informs her work.
About the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme
The European Atlantic Geotourism Route is co-funded by the EU Interreg Atlantic Area programme and Clare County Council. The 30 month project aims to forge new tourism links along a defined Atlantic route through highlighting the common interests and heritage of the destinations along the route.
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