UMMERYROE

From Feb 3rd, 2011 To Feb 26th, 2011

Featuring

John O'Connor

 

My work is rooted in the town land of Ummeryroe, my mothers birthplace in county Sligo. Ummeryroe derives from the gaelic, iomaire rua , meaning red ridge. Red clay can still be found on the land.

I spent many summers there in childhood. A winding lane with high banks full of wild flowers and grasses led into my grandparents house. The comings and goings along this path were always full of expectation. I have made a series of paintings based on the lane on copper. I found the paint stood out on the surface and any mark made by hand was visable.
Bogland lies nearby and paintings of bog cotton on canvas were made as a series also.

I have re-visited the land in recent years and made paintings and drawings. Farm implements, sickle, pitchfork, potatoe-sprayer have inspired paintings and prints in the studio. A knitted cushion cover made by my grandmother on a sack used to contain chicken feed “knitted” itself into several large paintings. Painting the cross-stitch patterned coloured cover linked me with my past and to a time when life was simpler and hand craft like knitting was commonplace.

I have made paintings on old floorboards, where the marks of nails and time still exist. Memory plays a part. Paintings of white enamel buckets, hearthstone, wash-stone, all tell a story which is imbedded in my mind.