I have absolutely no excuse for the lack of communication for so long, suddenly over a year has passed and now it’s May 2025! How did that happen?

It’s not like nothing happened: I was busy during ’24.

 

This one from the series is often jokingly nicknamed: Ted's Caravan!

 

I spent a very productive two weeks in February at the magical Tyrone Guthrie Centre, followed by a solo show at the recently opened Esker Arts Centre in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

 

 

 

Some views of the house and grounds and the fabulous studio space that printmakers can enjoy.

 

 

Hidden in plain sight comprised of 25 large-format drypoint prints, and a wall of 27 large drawings. I honestly don’t think my work has looked, or ever will look, so well again. The airiness of the space gave the work room to breathe. And best of all, the County Council bought two large pieces for their collection.

 

 

Views of the Esker Arts Centre gallery space and the impressive wall of drawings.

 

I also had work selected for RHA and RUA last year

 

 

The drawing and subsequent print from Hidden in plain sight IV

 

Later in the year, I ventured completely out of my own comfort zone, and accepted Alan Keane’s invitation to participate in his Artists Well series of YT videos. I have never spoken about my work/life, except when giving printmaking demonstrations; I just clam up when speaking in public. But, once Alan started the online interview in my studio, I was totally at ease: it was as if it was just the two of us having a chat. I went into a type of fugue state and “suddenly” found myself, an hour later, in our kitchen… with absolutely no memory of the interview!

 

You can watch that interview HERE

 

So now to this year

 

The first 3 months of every year are the busiest. It’s the time that most exhibition entry deadlines for the year occur. So it is total bedlam at 110: pages of exhibition information; entry forms and lists of various works strewn everywhere; framed and unframed work in almost every room; and all flat surfaces in the house: all desperate last minute attempts to finish work.

 

And then the big wait…

 

I was luckily selected for RHA

 

 

The print from Hidden in plain sight XXI

 

I am also included in, Leaning on the line at Graphic Studio Gallery. A celebration of line-driven printmaking.

 

 

The print from Hidden in plain sight II

 

and Home exhibition at the Seamus Ennis Centre, in the Naul, Co. Dublin.

 

 

The print from Sanctum

 

Sanctum was also selected for Natural World at Chelsea Arts Club, London.

 

But the highlight this year has been my solo show in Radicondoli, Nascosto in piena vista.

 

I don’t think I would have made the drawings or the drypoints anywhere else but in Radicondoli, and because of this I dedicated the show to town and its people. They have been so kind and generous to us since we arrived over twenty years ago.

 

I never know what people will make of my work in general and more particularly this series. Anyone expecting ‘typical’Tuscan landscapes would be bitterly disappointed. So the reaction by the locals and visitors from further afield completely took me by surprise: they have certainly put a pep in my step!

 

 

As if this wasn’t enough, a group from the Contemporary Irish Arts Society visited the show during their trip to Siena. How lucky am I?