IMAGINE our H&H group for Artists and Art Lovers goes from strength to strength with our new group of IMAGINE ADVISORS.

Dec 14

IMAGINE….A Way Forwards.

Today we say CONGRATULATIONS to ALL Imaginers! We have created a phenomenal success. With 4200 Members, this ever-growing group was dreamt up at the start of lockdown 18th March 2020 as a means of connecting creatives in challenging times. With a starting membership of just one person, Imagine has grown beyond all expectations and hopes. We have successfully created a safe-haven and space of growth for Artists and Art-Lovers and are growing hugely still with new members over the last week coming in at 200. What we are doing is REALLY SPECIAL and needs constant nurturing and care.

We have therefore created a group of IMAGINE ADVISORS who are pictured below with a brief introduction. The IMAGINE ADVISORS will meet regularly to bounce ideas and grow our IMAGINE group. We met for the first time yesterday evening and we look forward to sharing the great outcomes of our discussion with you later today.

IMAGINE ADVISORS

Image 1. Ciara Hambly. Owner & Director of Hambly & Hambly Art Gallery and Cultural Hub, Ciara is a curator and gallery director with a long history in education. She has a passion for growing creative initiatives and making Art real, meaningful and accessible to all. The idea for IMAGINE and the formation of the group IMAGINE came from her.

Image 2 Noelle McAlinden is an Arts Activist, Artist, Advisor and Curator. She is a founding member of IMAGINE. She is a champion for The Arts with a great history in education. Noelle is involved in many initiatives within the Arts and works across many organisations. She is passionate about making Art core to enhancing our wellbeing and protecting our mental health.

Image 3 Harry McMahon is a retired Professor from The University of Ulster and a life-long Artist. He is a founding member of Imagine who has continued to support and advise all initiatives within the group. He is passionate and considerate in his vision for progressing Imagine. His contribution to Imagine has been key to developing our initiatives.

Image 4 Billy Moore.is a founding member of Imagine and a long-standing Artist with H&H. He is a supremely talented sculptor and painter. Billy is exceptionally supportive and involved with all H&H initiatives. He has sponsored the Award in an Imagine group exhibition for The Greatest Imaginer and contributed a beautiful bronze sculpture to the Winner. He is entirely committed to developing opportunities for Artists.His approach is visionary and exemplary.

Image 5 Rikki van den Berg is an Artist, Curator and Educationalist. A founding member, she alongside Ciara now forms the administrative team behind Imagine. She is exceptionally enthusiastic about the future of Imagine having appreciated all opportunities afforded by the group since joining at the very start. She curated the Imagine Christmas group show.Rikki is a long-standing Artist at H&H who contributes valuably to our initiatives and development.

Maria Noonan McDermott is a poet and visual Artist. She is founding member of Imagine whose exceptional enthusiasm and long-standing commitment to the group has steered forward Imagine initiatives. Maria is a greatly valued mentor to fellow Artists. She is a long-standing exhibiting Artist at H&H and has been involved in consulting our gallery initiatives and progress. We value her input greatly.

Maria Noonan-McDermott

Irish Artist Maria Noonan-McDermott Bio

Originally from Donegal, Irish artist and poet Maria Noonan McDermott now lives and works from her studio in Kinlough, Co. Leitrim.

Heavily influenced by the impressionist movement, her work focuses on the study of light and form in Irish landscapes.

With a love of folklore and story-telling, Noonan McDermott's influences lie in rural Ireland, it is in these magical places that share a colloquial history where stories and the people are often ingrained into the landscape.

I began my artistic career in Dublin in 1985 and qualified in Fashion and Design. I returned to college and completed a certificate in visual education before continuing on to study Fine Art. In the year 1990, I had my first solo exhibition of paintings. The feedback and encouragement I received helped direct me on my current path.

My work has always been influenced by a deep connection with the natural environment, the beautiful rugged Irish landscape with its endlessly changing skies and dramatic seas. I am equally fascinated by the people that the land holds so tightly and am firmly bound in kinship with their poetic writing, their stories and soulful lyrics.

I've always been in awe of the storyteller, those gifted people who so fluidly guide you into their fantasy worlds, who submerge you so deeply, you cry, laugh and often seethe with anger and frustration. To me, this is true magic, possessing the rare skill of creating something from nothing, evoking such passion and emotion.

Growing up I found words didn't come so easily to me, art and writing became my outlet. I was transformed into the 'Cailleach Feasa', the storyteller. I recorded and recollected all the tales from times gone by, breathing life back into places and quirky characters I met along the way.

I was raised in a small village in Donegal and like most small communities in Ireland, it was filled with the most amazing characters.

As a child, my head was filled with fantastical stories told and dramatised by neighbours and family, the gatekeepers of local history. These tales, were, of course, exaggerated and embellished with such fun and gusto, like only true Irish seanchai can, that I couldn't help growing up with a great love of the people around me and all their fascinating antics.

In my work, I narrate the stories with colour and humour as over the years they've formed and shaped in my memory.
My paintings become the text and you the reader and as the reader, you are challenged to participate and choose your own journey. Thus, enabling the story to live all over again!

This attachment is ingrained in my work and I strive to bring forth its warmth in the most honest and pure way I know how.

https://www.marianoonan-mcdermott.com

IMAGINE our H&H group for Artists and Art Lovers goes from strength to strength with our new group of IMAGINE ADVISORS.

IHF Seed Grant 2021 – 2022 recipients

‘Hark’ Christmas Opening at Hambly & Hambly

©Maria Noonan-McDermott Artist