Exhibition: Two Threads of a Landscape by Peader McDaid & Karol MacGarbheith

Exhibition launch: 04/07/2019 at 7:00pm. All welcome, light refreshments served.

Peadar McDaid

Peadar hails from Letterkenny and has been making artwork for over 30 years. He left school early and is self-taught which are usually good credentials for any artist wishing to develop their own visual language. His artistic practice began as graphic designer which led into ‘Celtic art’ (think Jim Fitzpatrick). Having a big heart and seeing a genuine gap in mental health provision, Peadar set about establishing the Create-a-link facility in Letterkenny. This is an amazing art programme that he manages, which provides spaces, art tuition and support for people recovering from mental health illnesses and is supported and funded by the HSE. In the early years of this project Peadar also managed to attend college in Limavady to study art for a number of years.

In 2017, Peadar undertook a 241k walk all around the county to highlight mental health provision in Donegal – and it seems a little miracle happened! Peadar had the time to really look ‘at’ the landscape – and this has had a profound impact on his work.

His art is fluid, confident and eloquent. Peadar does not strive for a realistic representation as his landscapes are about ‘essence’ – they are about encapsulations that search for the very core of a place. His practice therefore is based on observation, absorption and interpretation. These visual assimilations are then worked through on his surfaces as the artist journeys with the paint. It is no surprise then that Peadar McDaid was the recipient of The Derek Hill Award from The Glebe Gallery last year.

Karol Mac Gairbheith

Karol returned to his native Donegal in 2014 from living in London and working in the field of architecture. This move allowed all sorts of wonderful opportunities to emerge for Karol on his return. He quickly became part of the Create-a-link project in Letterkenny and embarked on a path to his true passion – that of art, all under the supportive wing of Peadar McDaid. It was clear from the outset that Karol had an innate talent and, again like Peadar above, he is essentially self-taught. With the appreciative eyes of the returning emigrant Karol embraced the landscape of his home in Gweedore. Karol paints both rural and urban landscapes for he has experience of and values both; he is Donegal-based and travels to quench his city appetite.

His rural works explore the western light, the rugged land, and dwellings and structures therein. In juxtaposition his urban artworks are vibrant, busy and populated. Karol has embraced the challenge of a variety of mediums - oil, watercolour, collage and drawing and his employment of these differing mediums yields a range of results. His oils are strong and determined; the watercolours are delicate yet still vibrant; his drawings are energetic, made with bold robust marks; and the collages hold really well together with vigorous marks. He connects with ethos of the ‘School of London’ painters as having a deep influence on his value for painting.

It is a pleasure to watch the development of Karol’s professional creative practice as he explores and tests his own visual language. He is prolific, hungry and utterly committed and dedicated to his true calling.