Now, that’s what I call a good job!

a painting by John Bradley

Sometimes we artists take ourselves too seriously. Well, I do anyway. All this talk of degrees and MFAs, Artist’s Statements and such…

But I was the guest speaker at an art exhibition recently and those paintings and drawings certainly gave me pause for thought.

Flamboyant, uninhibited, joyful – that’s how I’d describe the work – and it was refreshing to just enjoy the unconstrained creativity and to relish the boisterous colours and bold lines.

a painting by Emma O’Connor

a painting by Mark Coyle

a painting by Paul Broderick

a painting by Lorcan Tully

In fact, I’m not going to say much more about it but simply let the work speak for itself. These are all from an exhibition in Stewart’s Hospital in Palmerstown, Co. Dublin. Now called Stewarts Care Ltd, it is a voluntary organisation providing community-based services to people with an intellectual disability.

Hilde Creagh, an artist friend of mine who works there, invited me to officially open the show. I can’t say enough about the care and commitment of all the staff there and… this blog post is a tribute to all their good work.

a painting by Anne Marie Farrell

http://www.stewartscare.ie/

http://www.oliviercornetgallery.com/

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