ARTS Cong gallery hosts Ten Cross Painters exhibition

FEAST OF COLOUR?‘Coffee and Biscuits’, by Westport-based artist Noelle Angley.

Cong gallery hosts Ten Cross Painters exhibition 


Members of The Ten Cross Painters have just completed their two-year Professional Artist Development course in John Dinan’s studio in Cross. An exhibition of their recent work was officially opened in Cong Art Gallery on Saturday, June 15, by author and broadcaster Leo Cullen, nephew of legendary singer Delia Murphy. It will continue to run at the gallery for two weeks.
The group includes local artists Louise Conroy, originally from The Neale but now living in Castlebar, and Noelle Angley from Westport – Noelle is a professional architect but painting is very close to her heart. Other participants hail from Sligo and various parts of Dublin.
This unique course included painting theory and practice, as well as how to develop their business as a practising artist. Issues such as business planning, developing a website and using online publishing to create a portfolio of their paintings were also part of their training.
Over the two years, the artists were visited by many guest speakers, including John Behan RHA, the renowned Galway-based sculptor; Tom Kenny of Kenny’s Art Gallery; John McNulty of Roundfort, an eminent painter and graphic artist who has a one-man show currently on view at the Linenhall Castlebar; as well as several business and motivational speakers.
Other existing gallery artists in this summer group exhibition include James English RHA, Bernadette Madden, Rose Stapleton, Charlotte Kelly, Pat Cowley, Stephen Lawlor, John McNulty and Malcolm Bennett.
The two-year ‘Becoming a Professional Painter’ course was the brainchild of John Dinan, a professional artist who lives and works in Cross. Before becoming a full-time painter, Dinan was a successful business consultant, so he decided to combine both his business and artistic talents into a unique practical course for ambitious mature art students. Dinan’s wife, Sheila, runs Cong Art Gallery.

For online viewing of the exhibition, go to www.congartgallery.com. For further information on John Dinan’s art workshops go to www.johndinan.com. The  Ten Cross Painters’ exhibition will continue until June 29 at Cong Art Gallery, which is open weekdays, 11am to 5pm, and Sundays, 12 noon to 4.30pm.