Paintings

Bernadette Madden
Batik is the ancient oriental art of patterning fabric. Designs are drawn onto the cloth with molten wax and when the cloth is immersed in a cold water dyebath, the waxed areas resist the colour, thus making a pattern. Over the past 30 years or so, batik has become increasingly well known in the west, and has been accepted as an art form, in addition to being a craft needing considerable skill. Bernadette Madden has painted through the medium of batik since graduating from the National College of Art & Design in Dublin. Her gallery and studio is located in Haddington Road, Dublin.

David Begley
David is from Bunclody Co. Wexford. He paints in oils. David graduated from NCAD in 1994. To date he has had nine solo exhibitions in Ireland. In 2001 he was selected for the Irish Arts Showcase exhibition in Carmarthen, Wales, and was also selected for the RHA and Eigse Arts Festival.

Ann McDonald
Ann works under the name Bitten Image, in Waterford city, where she produces hand printed etchings. The first stage of this process is to choose an image, one that captures the essence of Ireland. To make the etching, a piece of sheet copper is covered with a layer of etch resistant film. Then, the chosen picture is drawn through the resist revealing the copper underneath, which is then etched or "bitten" away. The etch resistant coating is removed and ink is pushed into the crevices which have been bitten away. Specialised etching paper is then placed over the copper and is run through the etching press, similar to the old fashioned clothes mangle. The pressure from the press results in the paper picking up the ink from the copper. A limited edition hand printed etching makes it much more valuable.

Frieda Meaney
Frieda studied in Limerick College of Art and Design and also at Galway RTC in the 1970's. She has her own studio in Cork city. She works as a painter and printmaker. She is a member of the Cork Artists Collective. At present her work looks at the settlement patterns, both ancient and modern, discernible in the remote landscapes of the Beara Peninsula and Andalusia in Spain.

Jill Ronayne
Jill completed an art, craft and design course in Stiofain Naofa and a Fine Art Degree at Crawford College of Art in 2000. Awards include Thomas Damann Travel Bursary 2000, Tim Mara printmaking Prize 2000 and Cork Printmakers Studio prize 2000.

Carol O'Sullivan
Carol's studio is in Kilworth Co. Cork. She produces detailed embroidered pictures, all of which are hand made.