By Siobhán Holliman, Tuam Herald
AGRICULTURAL buildings and the communities around North Galway have provided the inspiration for works included in a new art exhibition being launched in Tuam this week.
Artist Kathy Ross relocated to Togher, Tuam last year where she has established an art studio and has been working with nearby national schools and art studios.
The exhibition entitled “Timeless” will be opened by County Councillor Mary Hoade in Leaf and Bean in Tuam tomorrow Thursday, June 29 at 7pm.
Since moving to the Tuam area Kathy, from Doughiska in Galway, has been taken aback by the beauty of her surrounding landscape and began working on a collection inspired the area. Many of the pieces reflect buildings in the Coolreagh area where she lives.
“There is a great agricultural community and lots of interesting old buildings, including Farrell’s Mill, one of the old mills on the Grange River.
“I am particularly drawn to abandoned and derelict country houses and sheds in the area hidden away like treasures waiting to be found. Reclaimed by nature to become something infinitely more interesting and beautiful.
“These rural areas are like pockets in time, untouched and unchanged by modernity; they possess a stillness and silence that is captivating. It’s this slow way of life that I wish to capture,” explains Kathy.
The Leaf and Bean exhibition will feature 12 of the 18 painting that make up the full collection and Kathy is eager to show these locally before they move to a larger solo show in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre in August.
Kathy has followed in the artistic footsteps of her mother Margaret Watson, who was a very prolific artist. She has been painting from a young age and graduated from the NCAD in 2001.
