Niamh Clancy graduated holds a Joint Honours Degree in The History of Art and Fine Art from The National College of Art and Design, Dublin and an MA in Printmaking from The Royal College of Art, London. She currently lives and works in London. She has exhibited across Ireland as well as in Europe and America.

Read an interview with this artist here:

Can you tell us how you came to be a printmaker?
During my first year at NCAD, I was introduced to new techniques of working (stone sculpture, ceramics, fashion, printmaking etc.) and I loved absolutely everything. So much so I found it difficult to decide what to specialise in when it came to my degree. I asked myself what made me happy. I used to sing when I printed and this was the indicator for me. It was the right choice. Printmaking continues to make me happy, I love what I do. Determined to continue my art practice, I became a member of the Blackchurch Print Studio and I worked part time to fund my art and participated in group shows in Ireland and abroad.

What factors were important in helping you decide to make that your profession?
I can only describe it an inherent thing and it stems back to my school days. On entering my second year of secondary school I was advised not to do art but to do science instead. On the teachers advice I did just that.
I hated science. So when it came to the state exams, I went in for the art exam instead of the science. I got an A. This was a good lesson in that I should listen to my gut and my own thought process before anyone else’s. Following this result I knew that this is what I wanted to do and went about researching what was needed to secure a place at Art College.

What kinds of challenges have you faced in your career?
I have worked extremely hard to continue working in the art world and especially to continue with my art practice. Early in my career I was lucky to secure funding from the Irish Arts Council. This allowed me to spend time in the studio and focus on creating work for exhibitions. The sales from these shows in turn helped fund my education on a Master’s Degree course in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art, London. In conjunction with studying/my own art practice I have always worked two jobs. I continue with the hope that my art practice alone will provide a stable living.

Can you tell us about the work you have in our collection?
Ex Zhou was one of a series of prints looking at the history of the written word and the question of truth. It was made towards the end of 1999/beginning of 2000 and was one of a series of prints that was created for my first solo exhibition and was part of my portfolio application for my MA.

What was the impetus for making the piece?
As part of my joint degree course at NCAD we studied a lot of Early Irish art- Neolithic, iron age etc. I became interested in the history of this work but also the interpretation of it and the information that we were to believe as fact.
The recorded word is one view point. So looking at the documenting of events with the history of the alphabet, I went about doctoring existing examples of text and found archaeological objects alongside fictitious and presented them as fact. Would it be questioned? It was quite an experimental period for me, working a lot with carborundum and multiple plates. The print carries a theme that still underlies my current practice and a subject that still interests me.

Tell us a little about your current practice?
My most recent body of work was produced on a residency in Stavanger, Norway. This series of work is a fictitious narrative that relates to the history of the city, its museum collections and neighbouring islands. I attach images.
In conjunction with my art practice I teach printmaking at third level at City & Guild of London Art School and have established a reputable editioning service for established artists/ architects & designers. I have worked with Sir Nicholas Grimshaw PPRA, Prof. Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Prof. Ian Ritchie CBE RA, Ian McKeever RA, John Maine RA, Alan Stanton RA, Yorkshire Sculpture Park/Nigel Hall RA among others.

Find out more about this artist here: www.niamhclancy.com

Jim Collins was born in Huntington West Virginia in 1934 and lives in Signal Mountain Tennessee. He studied art in Marshal University, West Virginia, holds an M.P.H. degree from the University of Michigan, and an M.F.A. degree in sculpture from Ohio University. He works in a variety of media and exhibits widely in the U.S and Ireland.

Read more about this artist here:

“My mixed media collages with assemblage frames are somewhat challenging in that the art is not finalized until the viewer completes it. In general, there is no prearranged single story, idea, or philosophy inherent in the work. Because the work is made of many parts on different layers each viewer will see different parts one at a time, and in turn will assign a value to each part of the work as it relates to the whole. That is within the viewer’s frame of reference. Specifically, some will see simple pattern or recognize symbols, a logo, or familiar images. All of the apparent parts will determine what is important to each individual in making up the art. Ideally, this experience will be much like theatre, in that the stage is set and the viewer writes the play.”

Jim Collins was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on the Ohio River. Rivers have always held a fascination and mystery for the artist. From as early as five years old he was making moulded animals of clay given to him by his father and according to his mother, who in later life became a painter herself, “Jim spent much of his time doing creative things.” Although none of his family studied art in a formal capacity, many of his relatives were artistic. Family influences came from observation of and the encouragement from his Grandmother (who was a naïve painter), uncles and an aunt that had talent in oil painting. Probably the greatest influence came from working summers and some weekends with his Grandfather, a retired C&O railroad worker and farmer. Granddad, as he was called, was a master of recycling with the ability of turning tossed out articles into useful items. This early training is evidenced in many of Collins’ sculptures and most of his mixed media collages.
Besides Granddad, the inspiration that guides the concepts and execution of his work comes from the beautiful forms and combinations of materials found in Egyptian sculpture , the timeless stories of the human condition that can be discovered through Classical Mythology and the power of Folk Art, an alternate way of communication using whatever is available, bringing us back to Granddad.

Art education was somewhat a rarity in river towns and the hills of West Virginia. However, while attending St. Joseph High School in Huntington, with no art instruction, Sister did allow him to take an Art Class at Huntington High School where there was an outstanding instructor. After graduation he entered Marshall University pursuing his favourite subject. There he studied with a Joseph Jablonski, who insisted on the finest craftsmanship in an old world tradition. After receiving his Art Degree, Collins went to work for the local Health Department. In 1960 he received a scholarship to attend the University of Michigan to study Public Health Education. He received a M.P.H. degree in 1961 and returned to Huntington working until the “the call to return to art” became his guide. In 1963 the family moved to Athens, Ohio, to work for a District Health Department and pursue a sculpture degree at Ohio University. His new boss, Dr. H. M. Boocks, who sympathized with Collins’ dream of a career in art, allowed him to attend a few art history classes during the day by making up the time presenting lectures to interested groups in the evening. Studio classes were jam-packed into nights and weekends. It was a busy three years.

Armed with a M.F.A. degree Collins started teaching at the University of Chattanooga, later to become the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga continuing until 1983 when the full-professor quit his job in protest of the inequities in salaries and the lack of loyalty of a top-heavy University.

Following the romantic notion of making a living as artists, Collins and his wife Debbe left Chattanooga and moved to Ripley, Ohio. In Ripley they renovated an 1860 Old Bank building on the banks of the Ohio River. This became both home and studio for the pair until 1987 when they returned to Chattanooga.

The work in the Louth County Collection, Texas Hold’em is inspired by the poker game of that name. The currency bills used in the work are 50 mark bills from hyperinflation Germany, circa 1920. He had some at home, but began to run out when making the piece, and located a seller in Brooklyn who had a hundred, so he purchased them replenish his stock. Every element in this piece that surrounds the old photograph of the men playing cards is currency from different times and countries.The cowhide that surrounds the piece is taken from cowhide rugs that his wife bought for their house. It is the only collage that the artist has framed in fur.“Texas Hold’em is a favorite of mine, is now and will always be. I am honoured to have it the collection of County Louth.”

Find out more about this artist here: www.collins3d.com

Seán Cotter lives in Ardee, Co. Louth. He was educated at The National College of Art and Design. His work in the collections of Louth Local Authorities’ is based on observations of birds; their movements and patterns. He has exhibited his pieces widely and his work is held in various collections throughout the world.

Read an interview with this artist here:

What was your route to becoming an artist full time?
I was always very fond of drawing as a child and loved the chance to spend time at it. My father raised and trained race horses and as my other passion was riding out at the weekends and during the summer for my Dad, it was natural that horses were my favourite subject growing up. It was an aunt of mine that suggested Art College to me as a career option. I think I was about 13 and it had never occurred to me that it was an option. From that moment I decided what I was going to do, except for a brief period where I entertained the thought of riding professionally. The support of my parents was essential in the pursuit of my dream even though I’m sure they knew it wouldn’t be an easy life. There really wasn’t any other choice for me as far as I was concerned.

Do you have any words of advice for artists starting out?
At the beginning, join a co-operative of other artists. The shared knowledge and experience of others coupled with the emotional support and artistic criticism is a great boon to many a struggling artist.
How do you keep your profile up?
It’s always important for me to foresee larger prominent exhibitions every three to five years. These are what keep you on people’s radar and they are also what I look forward to most. It is a way to make the largest statements on your practise, expressing a vision of how your painted language is progressing.

Can you tell us about the work in our collections?
These are all based around the image of the rook, crow and raven. All members of the Corvidae family of birds. I did a lot of travelling around Ireland and I loved watching the aerial manoeuvres of these birds. It got to the point where I imagined their flights, either during the day or returning to the roost at night, as drawings in the sky. There black forms against the white clouds or blue of the sky. The eerie noise of them returning to the rookery at dusk, it was so powerful but somehow at the same time I felt a comforting by it. They are a very family orientated creature who mate for life and family is important to me. They became a symbol for this on one level but they were also an inspiration and genesis for mark making on paper. These drawings are as much about aesthetic balance and beauty as they are symbols for something deeper in the psyche. You can almost hear the noise of charcoal on paper as much as the cawing and crowing of the rooks
These pieces were created in 2005/6 and still have a significant impact on some of the work I create today. I do still like them, which can’t be said for all of my work. A constant refrain in me is “I can do better”, how else do you grow as an artist if you don’t challenge yourself. You must be your own harshest critic

What are you working on at the moment?
Currently I’m studying at DKIT ‘Web Site Development for Business’ two days a week. I feel I need a greater understanding of the web and social media. My website is four years out of date and I need to know how to rectify this myself.
Currently I have a studio in Ardee where I work when I can. I exhibit with Gormley’s Gallery in Dublin and Belfast and have work with other galleries around Ireland. Having just completed a project that included three other artists and toured to three venues in two countries I feel the need to focus on one larger solo exhibition within the next three years.

Find out more about this artist here: www.seancotter.com
Watch a short film of Seán talking about his practice here: