Munster Express
April 25th 2003
Liam Murphy

Joan Clancy Gallery in Ring, Dungarvan, has an exhibition of new work by Damaris Lysaght who lives and paints on a small organic farm in North Cork.

Her concerns are nature and eco-systems and her work in different way reflects that microenvironment.

Her chosen medium is mostly oil on board or oil on canvas on board. She describes her work as an effort to capture a moment or fragment of the magnificence of nature in flux. The work has a still-life quality that is very effective when the subject is flora, ferns, foxgloves and briars with thorns. The detail is sharp against a dense background. There is a strong private intensity and respect for the fine detail of nature. Bogland is executed in tones of brown, orange, yellow umber and ochre.

Oak, Coolagh Wood is impressive. Morning Glory is a vibrant study with floral trumpets of blue that seem to play a tune of life. Foxgloves and Briars, River Field are glorious examples of Damaris Lysaght at her vital best.