Capturing Lough Carra’s colourful notes

ON SHOW ‘Cloondaver’, an oil on canvas by Deirdre Walsh.

‘Silent notes’, a collection of new paintings of Lough Carra, by Partry-based artist Deirdre Walsh, is opening in the Custom House Studios Gallery at 7.30pm this Thursday, August 25, alongside a collection of photographs taken by Belcarra-based photographer Lynda Huxley. Two days later, on Saturday, the gallery will also host a series of talks entitled ‘Perspectives on Lakes’.
‘Silent Notes’ is comprised of a series of plein air works in which Walsh focuses on the striking limestone lake and its wild environs.
Walsh’s paintings are the result of a contemplative approach to the lake, its surrounding landscape and the ways in which light plays on both. Much of her time is spent in silence watching and waiting to respond to the brief light of her local landscape, a discipline learned during her training at the Art Students League of New York.
“The plein air painter must be alert to the elusive and ever-changing light of the outdoors,” says Walsh. “During my years at the Art Students League, I had been greatly influenced by the French and American Impressionists’ ability to fasten light to the canvas in what appeared to be a series of simple and confident brushstrokes.
“Since returning to Ireland in 1993 I have been compelled to respond to my local Mayo landscape, in particular Lough Carra. The painting experience became a fusion of an emotional response and a hurried chase to catch the light. This demanded taking my easel outdoors, to be alert, to seize the essentials and to finish quickly. Driven by a sense of urgency I continue to be caught up in this dance with nature.”And as with all dances, there is a tune. “Notes of colour appear and disappear as if through a mysterious veil. Every single brushstroke, like a clear note of a symphony must be deftly played. As in music there is no room for a discordant note. The light strikes, a moment is revealed and there is only a small window of time in which the tune can be played. For me each painting is a silent orchestral piece.”
The photographic exhibition accompanying ‘Silent Notes’ will showcase images by Lynda Huxley, who has been studying the lake for over 15 years. She and her ecologist husband, Chris, published a beautifully illustrated and informative book, ‘Lough Carra’, last year. Many will also know Lynda’s photography from her ‘Mayo Calendar’ and greetings cards.

Talks
The talks taking place on Saturday, from 2pm to 4.30pm, touch on a range of subjects, with lakes the common thread.   
Chris Huxley will present an outline of the varied aspects of Lough Carra, including its history, environment, ecology, wildlife and its links with literature.
Poet and writer SeΡn Lysaght will discuss lakes in myth and literature. Lakes have always been special places, with a particular heritage in legend, folklore and literature. Lakes were the home of monsters and a path to the Otherworld in Celtic tradition. Later romantic writers were drawn to lakes as scenes for adventure and reflection. Using examples from Ireland and Britain, SeΡn will evoke the lake’s special character and setting.
Yvonne McDermott, lecturer at GMIT, will consider the history and archaeology of the medieval churches of Kilkeeran, near Lough Carra, putting them in the context of their time.
Deirdre Walsh will speak of her many years observing the lake as a plein air painter, and will will give insight into the process of painting based on the works in the exhibition.
Finally, Lynda Huxley and Olive Greaney will describe the life and work of Stella Garvey, a once highly acclaimed writer who has now slipped from public consciousness, and introduce Garvey’s Lough Carra novel, ‘The Haunted Husband : or the Lord of Carra Isle’.

‘Silent Notes’ opens in The Custom House Studios Gallery on Thursday, August 25, and will run until September 18. All are welcome to attend the ‘Perspectives on Lakes’ series of talks on Saturday afternoon. Admission is free. To book a place, phone 098 28735 or email customhouse@eircom.net.