Press Release April 2003

Damaris Lysaght is an artist whose paintings are the essence of tranquillity, yet they are alive with colour, light and detail. Vibrancy and luminosity pervade her work.

"Nature and the eco-systems have evolved over the millennia on earth," she explains. "They are mysterious inter-weavings and interdependencies giving rich tapestries of biodiversity. The colours, textures, patterns and light effects are endless and ever changing. Nature is cyclical and ephemeral. I find it awe-inspiring."

"My paintings are a way of meditating on nature", she continues, " a way of being aware of the growth and inter-relationships, the varying moods and atmospheres.....literally watching plants grow. It is like seeing a bindweed's tip rotating full circle during a morning's painting in its effort to twine around a stem, or seeing a raindrop splash and send it's echo across a stretch of water. My paintings are an effort to capture a moment or fragment of this magnificence.

Damaris grew up near Doneraile, Co Cork, and studied Fine Art at Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork and at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin. The recipient of an Italian Government Scholarship, she continued her painting studies in Florence with the renowned teacher of classical painting, Nerina Simi for a period of four years. A granddaughter of the late Dr Edward Mac Lysaght, celebrated genealogist and historian, she lives and paints on a small organic farm in North Cork with the poet Séamus Hogan.

Solo exhibitions include the Caldwell Galleries in Dublin and Belfast, Fournier St. in London. She has works in corporative and private collections in Ireland, Britain, Italy, France, USA and Australia.