Stendhal is very proud to be one of the biggest showcases for up and coming artists of all descriptions in Northern Ireland.
Not only do we showcase the performing arts, we passionately support traditional, contemporary and modern art in all its guises.
No more so is this obvious than at our Art Gallery where we showcase artwork from numerous artists, local and from further afield, of all levels of experience.
We are the only Festival in the country that also allows our artists to sell their work on site with a 0% commission.
Our Art Gallery, lovingly curated by the wonderful Melissa Hogg, will this year feature painting, sculpture, needlework, ceramics, Steam Punk Lighting and Breast milk Glasswork.
Our Featured Artist this year is the brilliant Geralyn Mulqueen whose work has seen her display around the world in esteemed artistic hubs such as Paris, Berlin, Dublin and now her work will reach a much more rural, but no less cultured audience in Limavady this summer.
Colour and light are inextricably woven together in her work to reflect innermost appreciation of her life journey to date as a woman, mother and artist. In reclaiming her creative voice through art and poetry she invites the viewer to embrace life.
The other excellent artists involved in the Art Gallery this year include; David Burke, Audrey Kyle, Jenny Watts, Nicola Nemec, Christine Cho, Christian Boyle, Vikkie Patterson (Painting), Richard Phelan (ceramics), Keith McAllister (Steam punk lights), Wooly Wild Folk, Dolls on Tour (needlework).
Artist Bios
Geralyn Mulqueen
Geralyn Mulqueen is an Irish artist living in County Down. Geralyn uses colour spontaneously in the emotional translation and captures the essence of reflection and emergence uniquely felt by the individual. The pieces are vital and honest always allowing for movement and growth.
Her interest in art as an expressive medium has been both therapeutic and passionate. Geralyn trained and worked as a Barrister before motherhood and later retrained as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in private practice. She was artist in residence from February 2010 to April 2011 at Priory Cottages, Art Craft and Design Studios Benburb, and since 2011 has been working from her studio in Killough. Colour and light are inextricably woven together in her work to reflect innermost appreciation of her life journey to date as a woman, mother and artist. In reclaiming her creative voice through art and poetry she invites the viewer to embrace life
David Burke
Armagh based artist David Burke. Born in Dublin in 1972, David has always had a passion for art, whether that be music or drawing and that passion has over the years, taken him in different directions.
After leaving college, participating in a chance music session, lead David to become a professional musician and he played and toured for the next ten years! However, even during this time, he still found time to draw and had
pieces of his work shown in Dublin, mainly in colleges and he undertook some private commissions as well.
Like many before him having started a family, David had less and less time to give to his art and in effect, he stopped drawing for many years while pursuing a career.
Ironically, it was while on a career break taken because of an injury sustained at work that David once again started to draw to help him relax.
Stendhal Featured Artist Geralyn Mulqueen
Audrey Kyle
Audrey Kyle lives on a farm close to the Gobbins Cliffs in Islandmagee, Co Antrim. She worked for the Northern Ireland Civil Service for 24 years after graduating with a BA Hons in Public Policy and Management and becoming a Fellow member with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Audrey enjoyed art at school however her passion for painting came back when she started using water colours in 2009 under the guidance of Paul Holmes, shortly after the birth of her second child. She currently runs the family farm and livery yard, which gives ample opportunity to getting close to nature and observing the changing seasons. This is where she finds her inspiration to paint. She enjoys expressing herself through the use of vibrant colour and works in a loose style letting the paint make its mark. She enjoys painting seascapes, animal florals and landscapes all in her own unique style.
Audrey has been a full member of the Art Society of Ulster since 2014 and is also a member of Islandmagee Originals, a group who host the Islandmagee Art Trail at the end of August each year.
2018 saw the development of a permanent studio/gallery in a converted stone barn on her farm at the edge of the Gobbins Cliffs.
She has recently been selected to join the Northern Ireland group E’conomusee which promotes local artisans.
“I just love letting go and getting lost in a painting, letting the subconscious pick the colours and develop the detail and mood of the picture.”
Jenny Watts
Jenny is a self-taught artist who has been experimenting with oils and acrylics for over twenty years.
She has two distinct styles. One is graphic and usually takes a wry look at modern life. The other is very abstract, concentrating more on colour and texture, representing a feeling or an idea.
At Stendhal last year she exhibited her graphic work and this this year she will be bringing her abstract paintings.
She will also be creating a piece depicting Stendhal 2019 and hopes invites our festival-goers to grab a brush and add their own touch.
Nicola Nemec
Born in Belfast, Nicola Nemec lives and works in Armoy, Co. Antrim.
Her paintings convey an intimate knowledge and continual observation, of the shifting climate, light and atmosphere of the landscape in which she lives. The local harbours, bog lands, mountains and seascapes are recurring features in the work.
‘My creative process operates between memory, intuition and the physical reality of painting, allowing me to revisit the landscape to create a ‘sense of place’. Layering memories and paint to create depth, reflecting the layering of the landscape itself.’
In 1994 while exhibiting at a National Graduate Exhibition, she was selected from several hundred students to win a free SPACE studio award in East London. Since then she has had regular solo exhibitions in London, and has exhibited extensively across the UK and Ireland. Her work is represented in Public and private collections worldwide, including the Ireland Office of Public Works and Ecotricity. She has been featured on BBC Newsline and Radio Ulster. She was recently awarded a prestigious Heinrich Boll Association residency on Achill Island, and a Causeway Coast and Glens Individual Artist’s Bursary.
Christian Boyle
Christian Boyle is a 19-years-old Cinematic arts Student at Ulster University.
Christian has always had a passion for fine art, especially pencil and ink work, however during the period in which he studied Art & Design in secondary education he became more open to the idea of using paintings to portray his ideas and feelings on certain subject matter.
Keith McAllister
Keith McAllister is an electrician by trade and his vocation has spawned a passion for the creation of steam punk style lights.
Beautifully hand crafted, these pieces merge the practical with a stylized aesthetic, which combine to stunningly beautiful results.
Helen Hancock
As a Cuidui Breastfeeding Counsellor, Doula & Glassblower, Helen Hancock grasps the depth of passion behind each piece of glass she creates.
Working with families for several years has offered her great insight into how deeply connected we feel to our precious milk.
Raising awareness around Breastfeeding and Normalising lactation is a very important part of who she is and what she does.
Vikkie Patterson
Vickie Patterson paints onto coarse painting supports in order to allow the texture to form an integral part of the surface and, influenced by phenomenological theory and art brut, she tries to stay present in the studio and attuned to the materiality and happy accidents which can occur when working with new mediums and supports.
Her most recent body of work is a collection of moments of reflection on the fragility of life on this planet.
Vikkie’s practice employs visual metaphor, vivid colour juxtaposition and relaxed brushwork to produce a paean to the present. Some paintings represent the embodied now, others the refraction of time already lived; a post-traumatic flashback, a recurring dream.
In this series of paintings, the light and colours of the Caribbean are worked directly through oil paint application onto carefully prepared, recycled coffee bean sacks.
Her personal experiences of living on these islands as well as an interest in historical and contemporary global socio-political events inform the work.
The boundaries between practice and theory, between abstract and figurative blurred, the implicit meaning of each painting is surmised through curatorial choices.
Christine Cho
Christine Cho was born in South Korea.
She worked in Kuwait and lived in Venezuela, Czech Republic, Germany, India and settled in France since 1999.
Living among various cultures and encountering different people accentuated her natural creativity, curiosity and open-mindness. She had attended evening classes in The Fine Art School in Lyon, France for two years to explore different art techniques. When she reached 60 years old, she was looking for something which can make herself pleased as well as find her inner peace.
She had found that Painting s one of the best ways of peaceful well being for herself.
Her mediums are Acrylic and Oil.
She as a self learner, takes her inspiration in the raw beauty of nature and devotes unlimited time and efforts for the betterment of her paintings.
She mainly paints landscapes and says ; “The nature is too beautiful not to be painted”.
The Keady Clachan presents ” Dolls On Tour.”
Dolls on Tour is a collection of knitted dolls are of musicians and bands who have performed at The stunning Keady Clachan, found on the Ringsend Road, just outside Limavady.
The story began when Cathy McCann, wool artist from Burtonport, and new to knitting was challenged by The Keady Clachan to knit the Dublin band Lankum in May 2016 .
She beautifully presented them to Joan and Micky at Stendhal Festival Aug 16 where Lankum performed.
The challenges continued over time and now the collection has grown and has become known as “The Wool of Fame.”
KODAK Digital Still Camera
Wooly Wild Folk
Carolyn rom Wooly Wild Folk is a reformed book keeper who had had her creative spirit re-ignited three years ago when she attended some craft workshops in Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre run by a few of the many talented craftspeople who inhabit this corner of Northern Ireland.
She had dabbled with willow and played with wire, crocheted and knitted, tried patchwork and clay but Woolly Wild Folk only came about when she discovered needle felting and the buzz of seeing little creatures coming to life in her hands using nothing but fluff and a needle.
This magical and highly addictive craft requires no patterns (Yay!), requires no expensive materials or equipment, uses natural, sustainable and biodegradable materials and is the most forgiving craft you may ever come across!
