Clifden Art Festival 2025
The Clifden Arts Festival is the longest-running community arts festival in Ireland now heading into its 48th year. Running from 17th to 28th September, the festival boasts a high quality artistic programme including literary, musical and visual art content.
I am delighted to have one of pieces ‘Mapping the Way’ (acrylic, gouache and plaster on paper with embossed detail) in Clifden Pharmacy window as part of the Clifden Art Trail.
Mapping the Way’ is from a body of work titled Natural Processes, inspired by my hillwalking journeys, marrying the topographic/ ordnance survey maps with my experience and contemplation of the landscape, the environment, and the ever-changing weather.
The series title reflects not only themes of mountain and land, but also a natural shift in process—repurposing plaster slabs (originally carved for ceramics) to print and emboss onto paper during a time without kiln access. I particularly liked how fragments of plaster lifted with the paint, becoming an integral element of the landscape narrative.
Though created some time ago, this series has only recently been framed and revisited with fresh eyes. Like many artists, I often set work aside, unsure of its place or timing. But, now feels like that moment—I'm glad to see 'Mapping the Way' step into the light and into the public realm as part of the Clifden Art Trail and the Clifden Art Festival