Official launch of ‘Time-Lapse’ at The Alley Arts Centre in Strabane.

Written By Maria Noonan-McDermott

Here are a selection of photographs, both sent Officially from Derry City and Strabane District Council and from some lovely people who shared their visit of my 'Time-lapse exhibition in The Alley Arts Centre in Strabane, which launched on Monday 21st November and continues on until December 23rd.

Thank you Dr. Orla Noonan-Sweeney for a very eloquent Opening speech.

It was also a great honour to have the Mayor attend the Opening.
Pictured alongside the Mayor in the photos is The Alley Arts Centre curator, Patrick McCabe.

I'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming out to share this very special exhibition with me. It was lovely to be exhibiting close to home and see so many familiar faces.

A special thanks to the Alley Arts Centre for giving me the opportunity of exhibiting in their wonderful space.
Thank you to all the staff and crew for your kindness and support, to Sylvia Kavanagh, Louise Boyce and Curator Patrick McCabe. You've made this whole experience for me thoroughly enjoyable.

Many thanks to my right hand man, Derek for once again photographing and documenting all the work. Transporting all the paintings and help set up each show. I really couldn't do it without you.

Thanks to Ramsey Framers in Enniskillen and to Erne printers in Ballyshannon for my text on the walls.

Thanks to the Irish Hospice Foundation and The Creative Ireland Programme for helping kick start this project at the beginning of the year and to the Leitrim County Council.

This exhibition is about immortality. A state of life beyond the power of death.

As Emily Dickinson wrote...

Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.


Living with Alzheimers and helping care for Mum has had a transformative impact on my life and of course a major influence on my work over the past number of years and this is the premise of 'Time-Lapse'.
Preserving all her memories, capturing all our emotions and translating them onto canvas and paper and sometimes even on walls which is the case today!

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
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‘Time-Lapse’ Exhibition all set up and ready to go!