Cavan Lakelands inspires artist's Water Lands exhibition
Image 1 of 3
Artist Margaret McKenna (centre) with Arts Officer at Cavan Arts, Karina Charles (left) and Sinéad McArdle of Virginia Library at the launch of Margaret’s Tailte Uisce / Wager Lands exhibition of paintings.Image 2 of 3
One of the paintings in Margaret McKenna’s Tailte Uisce / Waterlands exhibition on in the Virginia Civic, Library and Cultural Centre.Image 3 of 3
A seascape painted by local artist Margaret McKenna for her latest exhibition called Tailte Uisce at the Ramor Art CentreFROM DUBLIN to Cavan, artist Margaret McKenna has always lived close to the water’s edge.
And the difference in the lakelands of Cavan and the Irish Sea is something she has contemplated for her latest exhibition of 20 paintings, which can be viewed at Virginia Library until November 5.
Lough Ramor inspired several of her paintings, so this exhibition is also like a “coming home” for Margaret and her work.
“I’ve always been inspired by the lakes here,” Margaret told the Celt. The keen kayaker says she loves the “peace and serenity you only feel from being out on the water.”
The inspiration for the seascapes in the exhibition 'Tailte Uisce/Water Lands' came from a residential in Belmullet on the west coast of Ireland recently.
Half the paintings in the exhibition are of seascapes and the other half are of lakes, and each collection is book-ended with a larger, “outlier” painting in the Celtic mythology style. When it came to her materials, Margaret painted half of each collection in oils and one half in acrylics.
To achieve the “tranquillity and almost other-worldly atmosphere” of lakes, Margaret used brushwork but, when it came to capturing the “much more evocative power of the sea”, the artist opted for palette knife, which gave her a heavy covering of paint especially in oils.
Anyone who is familiar with Margaret's work will know that she is also knowledgeable and passionate about Irish mythology and legend.
Living in Oldcastle, means she is close to Lough Derravarragh where the Children of Lir were turned into swans by their stepmother Aoife.
While in Belmullet, she was close to the birth and burial place of pirate queen, Gráinne Ní Mhaille. It’s not surprising then, that Margaret used both Irish legends as the subject of her outlier lakelands and seascape paintings.
As with all McKenna collections, ‘Tailte Uisce / Water Lands’ is accompanied by a brochure, which gives a brief explanation of the background to each painting. It is available in the library.
“Of course, I like to know if people get the same reaction as I intended and if they don’t that is great as well,” Margaret told the Celt.
When asked about the strong colours so often evident in her work, Margaret said she tries to “bring out the colours we often see but ignore like a purple in the shrubbery or a streak of light in the sky,” she said.
“I hope people enjoy the contrasting energies and different textures you get from the sea compared to lakes,” Margaret enthused, “and also the colour schemes especially from a lake scene I painted in the evening and how it brings out a sense of entering another world.
“I want people to get out and see for themselves and pick up these colours and contrasts and differences from themselves,” she added.
Tailte Uisce / Water Lands by Margaret McKenna is now showing in the Virginia Civic, Library and Cultural Centre (part of Ramor Art centre) until November 5.