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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm SOLD Painted in a series of breathy layers, ‘A Second Coming – In Ciarraí’ was made while on residency in Cill Rialaig, in Kerry. It commemorates the life of a friend. My residency was in January when the world seemed slowly to begin again. From high up on Bolus Head during those short, moist days, I wondered how do we distinguish time and mark out days. Indeed, how do we capture the essence of a life – but in breaths. And so this painting was made slowly in lots of very loose layers. I wanted to paint like breath on glass – similar to the way weather, hovering between sea and sky, makes a ghostly impression over The Skelligs. The painting became a sum of it’s parts – lots of light layers which, when combined attempt to capture the essence of light and a life.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 120cm x 100cm SOLD The Outliers is the culmination of 10 years painting here in Ireland. It is from my first studio collection, that is –the first collection I have made from my studio rather than in response to a particular residency. It’s a reflection of 10 years of residencies and time out painting in Ireland, an amalgam of places I’ve painted – and a sort of hybrid of influences. By definition, an outlier is ‘is an observation point that is distant from other observations’. I like to think of the outliers as an outcrop of mythical islands just beyond my imagination – a sort of painting odyssey – a sort of unreachable destination I am happily propelling myself towards and constantly striving to capture.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 20cm x 20cm Ready to hang in slip frame
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 20cm x 20cm Ready to hang in slip frame
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SOLD OUT!
13th - 14th October 2018 | Block T, Dublin
** SOLD OUT ** This workshop teaches participants how to abstract elements of the landscape and create their own painterly response. Through a series of fun and stimulating exercises, you will learn how to approach landscape painting in a fresh and creative manner while tapping into and developing your own intuitive painting style. Participants will take home 2-4 completed paintings, renewed confidence in their painting ability and lots of skills to help them begin, work through and complete great paintings. Comprehensive Follow-On notes will ensure you can hit the ground running when you return home. Who is it for: Open to absolute beginners and those with a little or a lot of painting experience - the only thing you really need for this class is an open mind and a willingness to have fun while painting. The aim of this workshop is to help participants make their own unique and atmospheric response to the landscape. Please note: A key aim of this workshop is to help painters to loosen their painting style. If you want to create a photo-realist likeness this is not the workshop for you. -
NOTE: All sizes quoted are image size, please add 4.5cm to all sides for the white border (9cm addition to width and height). Example: 52cm x 52cm (image) 61cm x 61cm (paper size)
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SOLD OUT!
DATE: 13th, 14th & 15th September 2019 | VENUE: Cork City
**Early Bird Expires 20th January 2019** **Please note: Bookings on first come, first served basis.** My Master Classes have been created to help my students nurture and further develop their own painting practice. The aim of these intense 3-day sessions is to help you delve into your area(s) of curiosity, hone your skills and to ultimately develop your own unique painting collection. Who is it for: Designed with the end-user in mind, the Master Class follows on from my Level 1 Workshops, affording each student specific 1-2-1 tutorage to address and resolve any challenges they are experiencing with their work. The emphasis is on distilling the essence of your work and developing your individual painting practice. I fully expect this to be a 'game changer' for participants, so please bring your whole self and have your weetabix in advance! As per all workshops, you will laugh a lot and get a little (or a lot) messy! You will also take home completed paintings, a reinvigorated painting practice, oodles of ideas to take forward and a clear plan for completing your own body of work. What's included:- 3 days of intense painting tuition to help you develop your own painting style with a view to creating your own collection
- All materials including acrylics, oils, cold wax, mixed media and solvents (bring your own canvas to this session).
- Guided demo's developed in response to your requirements
- Lots of 1-2-1 tuition and support structured to your specific needs
- Plenty of learning resources including an extensive library
- A great, yum, nutritious lunch every day
- Unlimited refreshments and snacks
- Structured Follow-On notes filled with resources on everything you will need to complete your first painting collection.
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SOLD OUT!
7th - 8th November 2020 | Wexford
Please note: ** POSTPONED TO 7th - 8th November 2020** This workshop teaches participants how to abstract elements of the landscape and create their own painterly response. Through a series of fun and stimulating exercises, you will learn how to approach landscape painting in a fresh and creative manner while tapping into and developing your own intuitive painting style. Participants will take home 2-4 completed paintings, renewed confidence in their painting ability and lots of new skills to help them begin, work through and complete great paintings. Comprehensive Follow-On notes will ensure you can hit the ground running when you return home. Who is it for: Open to absolute beginners and those with a little or a lot of painting experience (in any medium!). The only thing you really need for this class is an open mind and a willingness to have fun while painting. What is included:- 2 days of intense painting tuition to help you create your own unique paintings in response to landscape.
- All materials including acrylic paints, inks, mixed media and a variety of mediums*
- 2 X great quality canvasses and all paper supports*
- All tools, brushes and palette knives* All you need to bring is yourself!
- Guided demo’s developed in response to your requirements
- Lots of 1-2-1 tuition and support structured to your specific needs
- Plenty of learning resources including an extensive library
- A great, yum, nutritious lunch
- Unlimited refreshments and snacks
- Comprehensive Follow-On notes filled with LOTS of online and offline resources and structured guidance on everything from colour management, to how to start and stop!
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SOLD OUT!
4th - 5th April 2020 | Dublin
Please note: ** POSTPONED t0 2021** ** Fully booked ** please email: cora@coramurphy.com to join the wait list This workshop teaches participants how to abstract elements of the landscape and create their own painterly response. Through a series of fun and stimulating exercises, you will learn how to approach landscape painting in a fresh and creative manner while tapping into and developing your own intuitive painting style. Participants will take home 2-4 completed paintings, renewed confidence in their painting ability and lots of new skills to help them begin, work through and complete great paintings. Comprehensive Follow-On notes will ensure you can hit the ground running when you return home. Who is it for: Open to absolute beginners and those with a little or a lot of painting experience (in any medium!). The only thing you really need for this class is an open mind and a willingness to have fun while painting. What is included:- 2 days of intense painting tuition to help you create your own unique paintings in response to landscape.
- All materials including acrylic paints, inks, mixed media and a variety of mediums*
- 2 X great quality canvasses and all paper supports*
- All tools, brushes and palette knives* All you need to bring is yourself!
- Guided demo’s developed in response to your requirements
- Lots of 1-2-1 tuition and support structured to your specific needs
- Plenty of learning resources including an extensive library
- A great, yum, nutritious lunch
- Unlimited refreshments and snacks
- Comprehensive Follow-On notes filled with LOTS of online and offline resources and structured guidance on everything from colour management, to how to start and stop!
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SOLD OUT!
Sligo - Postponed to July 2021
Please note: Places are limited. Bookings are on a first come, first served basis. This workshop teaches participants how to abstract elements of the landscape and create their own painterly response. Through a series of fun and stimulating exercises, you will learn how to approach landscape painting in a fresh and creative manner while tapping into and developing your own intuitive painting style. Participants will take home 2-4 completed paintings, renewed confidence in their painting ability and lots of new skills to help them begin, work through and complete great paintings. Comprehensive Follow-On notes will ensure you can hit the ground running when you return home. Who is it for: Open to absolute beginners and those with a little or a lot of painting experience (in any medium!). The only thing you really need for this class is an open mind and a willingness to have fun while painting. What is included:- 2 days of intense painting tuition to help you create your own unique paintings in response to landscape.
- All materials including acrylic paints, inks, mixed media and a variety of mediums*
- 2 X great quality canvasses and all paper supports*
- All tools, brushes and palette knives* All you need to bring is yourself!
- Guided demo’s developed in response to your requirements
- Lots of 1-2-1 tuition and support structured to your specific needs
- Plenty of learning resources including an extensive library
- A great, yum, nutritious lunch
- Unlimited refreshments and snacks
- Comprehensive Follow-On notes filled with LOTS of online and offline resources and structured guidance on everything from colour management, to how to start and stop!
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SOLD OUT!
DATE: TBC| Cork
**Please note: Bookings on first come, first served basis.** My Level 2 Workshops have been created to help my students nurture and further develop their own painting practice while exploring oil paints and cold wax medium. The aim of these intense 3-day sessions is to help you delve into your area(s) of curiosity, hone your skills and deepen your painting practice to ultimately develop your own unique painting collection. Who is it for: Designed with the end-user in mind, this 'Master' Class follows on from my Level 1 Workshops, affording each student ample and specific 1-2-1 tutorage to address and resolve any challenges they are experiencing with their work. The emphasis is on distilling the essence of your work and developing your unique painting 'language'. This workshop has already proven to be a 'game changer' for many - with several participants going on to have their own exhibitions with great success. As per all workshops, you will laugh a lot and get a little (or a lot) messy! You will also take home completed paintings, a reinvigorated painting practice, a whole new skill set (oils and cold wax!), oodles of ideas to take forward and a clear plan for completing your own body of work. What's included:- 3 days of intense painting tuition to help you develop your own painting style with a view to creating your own collection
- All materials including acrylics, oils, cold wax, mixed media and solvents (bring your own canvas to this session).
- Guided demo's developed in response to your requirements
- Lots of 1-2-1 tuition and support structured to your specific needs
- Plenty of learning resources including an extensive library
- A great, yum, nutritious lunch every day
- Unlimited refreshments and snacks
- Structured Follow-On notes filled with resources on everything you will need to complete your first painting collection.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame After many years traveling and living overseas. It is a constant comfort to feel 'at home' in Ireland. It is a place for my heart to rest.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame I am not a strong swimmer (and a terrible surfer!) but anyhow - I love to do both - there is a feeling being in or on the sea that thrills and renews me at a cellular level. It is one of my favourite happy places!
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame I was lucky to spend many of my childhood Summers in Wexford. This past Summer I spent a lovely week in Rosslare and was delighted to note the magic is still as magnificent when walking at low tide on moon lit nights.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame While on a fellowship at The Ballinglen Arts Foundation at the beginning of this year, I used to walk the shoreline at sunset. Most usually I was alone on the beach with my thoughts and it was a lovely opportunity to exercise my mind and body. It occurred to me late on one of those evenings how the sea is so soothing - inhaling and exhaling in a rhythm as it does. Funny to get to my age before realising how the sea shows us how to breathe.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame The back strand at Lacken in North Mayo is one of the most breath-taking places I have ever been. It's wide and long and surrounded by huge, high dunes. In the early part of the year, a breeze blows directly across the beach creating gentle gusts of sand - it feels otherworldly and a bit magical - as if for a few moments you are suspended between worlds, neither holding on or letting go.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame This collection has felt very much like a bunch of songs of praise to the shoreline and the magic, renewable energy of nature. This was painted after listening to Jack Lukeman's song - Magic Days & Magic Ways - a really lovely, hopeful tune - listen to it HERE.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm Ready to hang in slip frame Oró, Oró was painted while on a painting fellowship at The Ballinglen Foundation in North Mayo. While walking along the shoreline in Ballycastle the tune deeply embedded in every Irish childhood psyche - 'Oró se do bheatha bhaile' - came free in my mind. It is traditionally a rallying call but always to my mind - conjured up the image of rowing across waves, homewards. It heralded (to me!) a new way of painting, that felt much like being on the crest of a wave with home in sight.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame I was fortunate to walk some of the Camino de Santiago trail earlier this year. It was wonderful - lovely clear seascapes and plenty of sunny times. I think I brought back some of the blue with me as it magic-ed it's way into my work for some time afterwards. As did this determined figure - a pilgrim who seemed to forge forward in faith - sure of just rewards.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame Suaimhneas is the Irish word for tranquility or relaxation - to be at peace. In recent times it has come to be associated with mindfulness and being aware of ones surroundings. Eitherway, being tranquil or mindful - the sea is always a balm to me. **Now Available As A Limited Edition Print HERE**
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame There is a moody, broodiness to the Mayo landscape - sometimes one can feel almost between worlds. I have heard it said 'the veil is thin' there - as if our ancestors are close by. I take this to be a comfort, and maybe a guiding hand that leads me and my work onwards.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame This painting is another song of praise, an ode to the sea as it renews, invigorates and keeps us buoyant - leading us homewards.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame There is a motion in the ocean that helps - I think - to move forwards out of 'stuckness' and onwards. The constancy of the sea and holding on and letting go are a constant theme for me.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame Another of my happy places! This was painted in my studio but harks back to happy times close to the boglands in Ciarraí. It is, in recent years, a contentment to me to take inspiration out in the landscape before incorporating it into the rhythm of a studio schedule. For a long time, I felt perpetually on residency - out in some landscape or other, it was enchanting but often unsettling. Now a new studio rhythm feels an enhancement, an orderly way to tap into influences and mine memories.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame Some paintings make themselves. This ones was made on a painting fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation and seemed to bring my work onwards - in a sure way, forwards - towards new paintings I wanted to make. Which is just as well as the felt the path behind had fallen away.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame As an Irish landscape painter, I have great reverence towards (and am inspired by) our great history in the field. As islanders, the Sea is a constant theme in Irish art - we are steeped in it - literally and figuratively. It is very much a part of us. It is important to me to reference the Sean Nós (The Old Ways) while progressing my own work and I felt this painting went someway to creating an accommodation between both.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 25cm x 25cm Ready to hang in slip frame Sometimes the littlest paintings have more than their fair share of magic. This one was painted in about 50 layers and I was just about to give up when it presented itself, like a secret kingdom - just beyond our imagination.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 25cm x 25cm Ready to hang in slip frame This painting was made in many layers and took me on a bit of a journey. It was inspired by Bic Runga's song - of the same title - Everything is beautiful and new. Listen to it HERE. The song was inspired by Bic's first-time motherhood - the enchantment, fragility and wonder of the new. It's appropriate to any journey - that is challenging, a personal stretch but ultimately a happy song.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 25cm x 25cm Ready to hang in slip frame Another painting made in many, many layers - often the smaller ones have that way about them. This painting was in itself an enchantment. I loved making it - as it seemed to form itself over many layers. It puts me in mind of salmon skies and Summer nights, striding homewards through high grasses not far from the sea.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 76cm x 51cm Ready to hang in slip frame Mayo has some magic places, DownPatrick Head being a case in point. It's the edge of Ireland and not for the faint-hearted. The sea lashes it for much of the time - making for dramatic sea spray and the foamiest, thundering current but then at other times it is all calm - like at day break when the sun steals its way in silence into the sky. The stormy times are not forgotten, but behind us now as we begin again.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40" x 30" (i.e. 102cm x 76cm) Ready to hang in slip frame I am a fan of islands but despite having spent much of my painting time in Ciarraí, I have only recently started to document Valentia island. I love the sea-crossing - short as it is - and Bray Head, and the lapping water at ever side. I love too that you can go way, way high up and low down again into the sea. This is one of my first paintings from this place - it was made following a stormy Summers crossing.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40" x 30" (i.e. 102cm x 76cm) Ready to hang in slip frame The sea adjoining Ciarraí can often catch colours of the tropics - turquoise and fizzy greens that don't quite match our inky skies. I have been greatly infleunced by Sorolla this past year - visiting his studio in Madrid and seeing his shows in London and Dublin. I wonder how he might have painted our sea - with all the drama but not so much sun, I imagine the Spaniard may have had much to say in paint.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40" x 30" (i.e. 102cm x 76cm) Ready to hang in slip frame Valentia Island - as a location - had a pivotal and pioneering role in transatlantic communications. I find walking alone the shoreline and swimming very inspiring - it so often translates into my work. While I find abundance in the waves, it makes me think Marconi must have had a magic, marvelous mind to see so much potential beyond those waves.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm Ready to hang in slip frame This painting was inspired by a night walk along the shoreline. There is quite a bit of gold in this painting - a departure for me - that I think captures the otherworldliness of the sea at night-time.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm Ready to hang in slip frame
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 125cm x 112cm This large painting happened immediately after I had taken a short holiday in Rosslare last Summer. It was such a lovely little holiday - I had spent most of my childhood Summers in Wexford - so doing the 'borough' beach walk every morning felt - in someways like re-enchanting a long, held connection.
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NOTE: All sizes quoted are image size, please add 4.5cm to all sides for the white border (9cm addition to width and height). Example: 52cm x 52cm (image) 61cm x 61cm (paper size)
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NOTE: All sizes quoted are image size, please add 4.5cm to all sides for the white border (9cm addition to width and height). Example: 52cm x 52cm (image) 61cm x 61cm (paper size)
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 100cm x 70cm Ready to hang in slip frame I made this painting while on a painting fellowship at The Ballinglen Artists Foundation in Ballycastle, Co Mayo. Dun Bristé - or the stack - is a tiny landmass just off Downpatrick Head. It’s a sanctuary for birds now but legend has it that the chunk of rock broke away from the mainland when St Patrick struck the earth with his stick in response to a naysayer who doubted his Christian doctrine! Either way it is striking and I love to paint it!
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NOTE: All sizes quoted are image size, add 10cm to width and height for paper size. (inc white border)
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SOLD OUT!
** NEWSFLASH** ** NEWSFLASH** ** NEWSFLASH**
WE RAISED €5593.06 FOR MERCY NURSES! (That's 580 tickets @ €10 less credit card fees!).
And the WINNERS ARE:
1. Emer Harrington 2.Siobhan Fleming 3.Caroline Foley 4. Simone O’Neill 5. Waldo Gibson 6. Annemarie Coady 7. Daire Halpin 8. John Welch 9. Claire Laurie 10. Niamh Harbourne
Thanks so much for ALL YOUR SUPPORT You are ALL amazing And we ARE ALL BETTER TOGETHER** COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!First Prize:
The Sun Also Rises
Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm Ready to hang in slip frame RRP: €695Second Prize:
Skylarkin' by the Shoreline
Limited Edition Print (Medium size) RRP: €22510 Prizes in Total:
8 X Bundle Packs
Each bundle (RRP €55 each) includes: A Gift Box of Art Cards, A set of Notelets and a copy of my book HOME!Yours for €10! Buy a Raffle Ticket Below.
Please help me to treat the Mercy Nursing Staff. ***TICKET SALES UPATE** 13th April 2020: Thank you all SO much, we have already sold 500 tickets - that's €5,000 going directly to the Mercy Hospital Nurses. Please keep spreading the word. Please note: Winner(s!) will be announced following close of COVID restrictions. I'll update here re: additional prizes xx You are ALL heroes!My studio is located alongside the Mercy Hospital here in Cork city.As a close neighbour I see the sheer kindness and absolute professionalism of the hospital staff on a daily basis. I also see how hard they work and how much they genuinely care for us.Like many of you, since this Covid-19 Crisis began, I have wanted to do something to demonstrate my support for the Nursing Staff who are working so hard and so selflessly to keep us all alive.I will ensure the support we can offer collectively - the proceeds of this raffle - goes directly to the nurses for them to spend as they wish.I understand other fundraisers are taking care of their food needs etc, so I’m keen this money will go directly to the nurses to use as a treat - in whatever way makes their life easier / better - be that hand creams for all, or foot spas in the common rooms.Please trust I will make sure every cent raised from this raffle will be of direct benefit to The Mercy Nursing Staff.Prize Winners will be announced on Monday 18th May 2020Following discussions with Nurse Representatives and The Mercy Hospital Trust, it was decided to allow the Raffle to roll until Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and we can safely meet to conduct the raffle. Thanks so much for your ongoing support.Please take a second to sign up to my email list below (or in the checkout) to receive updates AND get 10% OFF everything on site as a warm, extra large, big grip of a welcoming HUG!Please do share this raffle with your friends and anyone else you think might be interested.If you have any queries please contact me at: cora@coramurphy.comGood luck, lean ar aghaidh and thanks! -
SOLD OUT!Oil & Cold Wax on Canvas 120cm x 100cm in slip frame ready to hang This painting was made in many, many layers. I started it in my early explorations of cold wax and returned to it - adding layers and experience - over years. The crosshatching motion of the work over time gave depth and seemed to embody the experience of the painting. It isn't specifically about any place but is something of a journey-man painting - as it takes the essence of my experiences over several artists' residences across choppy lakes and along moody shorelines. Although the palette is dark it is ultimately an uplifting piece - signaling home in the midst of a torrent. We are never forever, truly lost, we can always re calibrate, chart out course and navigate our way towards a sense of home.
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NOTE: All sizes quoted are image size, please add 4.5cm to all sides for the white border (9cm addition to width and height). Example: 52cm x 52cm (image) 61cm x 61cm (paper size)
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NOTE: All sizes quoted are image size, please add 4.5cm to all sides for the white border (9cm addition to width and height). Example: 52cm x 52cm (image) 61cm x 61cm (paper size)
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €745.00 I have been fortunate to undertake many artist residencies. It's a period of time - for me, it's been anything from a week to three months - most usually spent in solitude, contemplating new work quietly. The kind of time most parents would sell their teeth for! The quiet gets intense in the beginning - thoughts of being an utter fraud with a wasted life, devoid of any talent get noisy - and days and nights are long. I believe - wholeheartedly - if you are to make your own unique work, you must hear your own unique thoughts - warts and all - thus, there is nothing for it but to turn off your phone, walk in all weather and face forward the maelstrom of the mind. Slowly, fresh grounds of a new idea, germs of connectedness with nature shoot surely - and an enchantedness with the work begins again. Soon the silence that was solitary is now a balm - your thoughts and indeed your place on the earth seem to rhyme - or at least have a co-herence - a rhythm! It's then, in that super sweet spot, I have my best shots of inspiration - sometimes it seems a simple download, a hymn to the silence.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 5ft x 5ft (152cm x 152cm) In slip frame, ready to hang.
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
- Anais Nin -
When I visited Spike Island, I was struck by how stunningly beautiful it is, how wild and yet how much grows there. It feels otherworldly - a strange edgy energy is pervasive. I couldn't help thinking about all the pilgrims, monks and prisoners who have passed through. The island's small surface area and it's situation make it impossible to forget you are on an island. I wondered were those temporary residents taunted by the lapping tide from the far shore. Many must have contemplated making a swim for it! It would require courage to leave and maybe another courage to stay. I think all of us in this quiet time have contemplated change - our personal precipice. For me making these big paintings is a personal jumping off point. When painting, I jot down notes - often a series of words - random ramblings and gems. For this Precipice - I noted:Resilience - Connectedness - Home - Belonging
I think all of us - pilgrims, prisoners and painters - maybe sing to the same tune. -
SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 112cm x 112cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €4,450.00 Spike Island was once a remote monastery, a fortress and the world’s largest prison! 'The Idea of an Island' collection attempts to present the contrast of what is potentially an idyll and a place of pain and suffering. The palette in these paintings is itself a contrast – a mix from cheery pinks to a spectrum of blacks. ‘Fools Rush In’ was made during the Covid isolation and draws on the idyll of the sea – it’s spectacular beauty which can be so comforting – but also it’s inherent power and danger. One of the first things I did post-lockdown was to swim in the sea – it was freezing but full of freedom! ‘Fools Rush In’ I hope illustrates life’s contrasts – how nothing is ever completely lost or indeed perfect – but made up of a series of magnificent moments. The present happening over and over again.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 36cm x 47cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €745.00 One the first things I did post-lockdown (V1.0) was to got to the sea and swim. I had missed the sea and a full body immersion (while baltic!) was invigorating and restorative. I am a fair-weather swimmer but have a notion of a dry robe, flask and those flipper-bootie-thingies - I love the communion of it and the connection to both the elements and ones own innate vitality. Even if I don't always brave beyond the shore, everything is significantly better when I Sea through Blue!
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 36cm x 47cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €745.00 The Covid quiet time was an interesting time to be painting about Spike Island. Pausing our own lives and regular routines gave rise to questions about why we do what we do and how we are spending our time / lives. It felt often, as if we were all sent to our rooms to examine our collective conscience! After the initial terror, I - and almost everyone I know - was grateful for the silence but that relief soon became a resolve to do things better when we were back to 'normal'. In many ways it felt as if I was primed to restart - almost evangelical - as inhabitants of Spike Island must have felt upon their re-emergence to civilisation - as if A Dweller on the Threshold -'tis ALL before us.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 36cm x 47cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €745.00 It is said there are no lines in nature - and yet - the tide lines on the shoreline mark the sea's inhalations and exhalations. If ever I need to settle my mind, I take it down to the sea where the tides eases my freeflow and scattered thoughts - soon my breath keeps time with the tide and my thoughts harmonize - or dissipate. Perhaps it is more true to say there are no straight lines in nature - as in life.
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SOLD OUT!Oil on canvas 40cm x 40cm In slip frame, ready to hang. €745.00 While making 'The Idea of an Island', I became familiar with the work of late Mayo musician Conor Walsh. His work is splendid. Sadly his album The Lucid was only released post-humorously - following Conor's sudden death. I listened to The Lucid a lot while making this collection and called this painting after Conor to some how honor his contribution. The Irish Times review described the album as "a victory for his music and a partial triumph over death itself". I'd strongly recommend a listen to it HERE. I have included the track on a Spotify playlist of music I listened to while making this collection in solitude. You can hear the full playlist HERE.