An artist originally from Mountrath has opened her first art exhibition at Lough Boora Discovery Park Visitor Centre.
Marian Murphy’s art exhibition opened on August 4th at the boglands centre between Tullamore and Cloghan, close to the old Ferbane Power Station in Offaly.
The location is described as the ideal place for this collection of paintings as all of the paintings are inspired by the bogs of Laois, Offaly, Galway, Mayo and West Cork.
Originally from Mountrath, Marian (nee Flanagan) depicts the wild beauty of the untouched peatland and of the areas where turf is cut and saved.
Happily, the artist also depicts the visible effects of preservation, conservation and rehabilitation of bogs, and the hope this poses for their future and the important part they play in our national tradition and culture.
Marian said the works reminded her of her native county. “Absolutely, it brought it all back to me,” she said.
She and her husband Matt, from Clonaslee, moved to Cork around 40 years ago.
However, her latest works certainly brought her back home.
“Matt and myself walked all around the bogs and took loads of photographs. I love that area, around the Slieve Blooms. I love the idea of this wild scene,” she said.
Delicate
Marian includes some paintings of the more delicate aspects of bog life too – its flora particularly, including the wonderful bog cotton that blows in the wind and the sphagnum mosses which are known as ‘the bog builders’.
Marian is a member of Uilinn, the West Cork Art Centre, and has recently exhibited there along with many other Cork venues. She is also an active member of Bandon Art Group.
For this, her first solo exhibition, she has come back to her midlands roots!
The exhibition continues until August 18th and the Lough Boora Visitor Centre is open 10-6 daily.
The exhibition is due to put on display in the Dunamase Theatre, Portlaoise in October.
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