4th April 2007

Four for Four, the Easter show at Joan Clancy Gallery in the Ring Gaeltacht, which is set to open on Thursday April 5th, will once again focus attention on a gallery lauded by The Irish Times as "one of the highlights of Waterford City and County which can be enjoyed for free."

The small but vibrant gallery will host another spectacular collection of new works by up-and-coming artists –Rayleen Clancy, Blawnin Clancy, Leah Murphy, Eileen Healy, Sinéad Ní Chionaola, Rita O'Connell and others.

Running over the long Easter weekend from Thursday April 5th until Monday April 9th, Joan Clancy Gallery will be open from 11 to 5pm each day. It is well worth a drive to this gem of a gallery in the Ring Gaeltacht overlooking the stunning Co Waterford coastline and the Comeraghs and Knockmealdowns.

Rayleen Clancy's growing reputation will only be further enhanced by her latest works. The former National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and San Francisco Art Institute student has composed a vibrant collection of work, displaying the trusting innocence of childhood and early teenage years –creating a strong dichotomy with underlying hidden portents. The beguiling figurative images are evocative, and her use of colour makes the ordinary seem extraordinary. Many of these images have Wyeth-like quality with wide open heartland against a big sky and her restrained use of light is very effective.

Mweelnahorna beach is the inspiration for much of Blawnin Clancy's current body of work. During the Penal Days the perpendicular rock formations called Redmond's Temple provided shelter for Catholics to secretly attend masses, and Blawnin captures the essence and natural environment of this secret unspoilt land and beachscape with delicately painted oils on canvas, invoking a magic realism not unlike the American painter Edward Hopper. A graduate of National College of Art & Design, Blawnin enjoyed a successful solo show in STAC, and has featured on Nationwide and other TV programmes.

An admirer of Picasso, Basquait and American painters of the 60's and 70's the work of Leah Murphy is steadily gaining the important professional accolades it deserves. Her new oils on canvas are confident and stunning. Imbued with rich but restrained hues, the work engages the viewer in exploring the world of abstracted landscapes and skilful figurations.

Eileen Healy is predominantly a figurative artist who works mainly in pastel and oil. The paintings she creates are very direct, honest, and strong portraits of people, who sit for her in her studio. Healy has exhibited her work throughout Ireland and abroad both in solo exhibitions and several selected shows. She is a part time drawing tutor at Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork.

Rayleen Clancy studied at NCAD and at San Francisco Art Institute and graduated from Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology in Film Studies. Solo exhibitions include the Dyehouse Waterford, and STAC. She exhibited in the 173rd Annual RHA Exhibition, the Oisin Gallery Dublin, Mullingar Arts Centre, The Old Market House Dungarvan, and Wexford Arts Centre. She held an acclaimed joint exhibition with her sister Blawnin in Greyfriars Municipal Gallery, Waterford; they also featured in Joan Clancy Gallery on Nationwide on RTE1 on a few occasions, and are currently in Spotlight the Waterford City TV arts and entertainment programme hosted by Orla Rapple.

Blawnin Clancy studied at Crawford College of Art & Design and graduated from NCAD. The Swimmer appeared in the 2005 Daler-Rowney Calender. She has exhibited in Green Acres Wexford, The Form Gallery Cork, Garter Lane Waterford, Lismore Arts Centre, Mullingar Arts Centre, The Old Market House Dungarvan, Wexford Arts Centre. Her work and Rayleen's were exhibited in WRH as part of Healing Arts Trust, and both are included in civic, corporate and private collections.

Leah Murphy graduated from Crawford with an Honours degree in Fine Art Painting in 1997. An admirer of Picasso, Basquait, Susan Rothenberg, Robert Rauschenberg and other American painters of the 60's and 70's, her work is steadily gaining the important professional accolades it deserves, and is featured in Peter Jordan's tome Waterford Municipal Art Collection.

Eileen Healy a much feted artist says ‘Drawing from life is the backbone of my work. It keeps my work alive. I am attracted to the immediacy and freshness of recreating in my own language what is in front of me.

Sinéad Ní Chionaola is, according to Sophie Gorman art critic from the Irish Independent "a seriously hot tip…..you won't be throwing caution to the wind if you invest in a painting by her". A graduate of Crawford College of Art & Design, Sinéad has won many important awards and residencies which have enabled her to work and exhibit in Russia, America, Australia, Canada and Europe. She says of her work "…There is an almost sensual quality created by the dense layering of acrylic on canvas…" Her work forms part of major corporate, civic and private collections.

A graduate of Crawford College of Art and a teacher of art for 24 years, Rita O'Connell has exhibited with the Lavit Gallery Cork, Lismore Arts Centre, Joan Clancy Gallery; she had solo shows in Limerick and in Alliance Francaise de Cork (December 2006 – January 2007). Her work forms part of many important collections.