Celebrated folk singer debuts art career with Kilkenny exhibition
The former De Dannan singer is displaying 25 paintings over a 10-day exhibition
Renowned Irish folk singer Eleanor Shanley unveiled her debut art exhibition, The Ghost of You, at the Pembroke Hotel on Thursday as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival fringe events running from August 6 to 16.
A well-known storyteller through her music, Eleanor’s paintings continue this storytelling through the visual arts. Each painting is named after lyrics from one of the songs from her 30-year music career.
Broadcaster Mary Kennedy, who has been friends with the singer for 30 years, officially launched the exhibition of 25 paintings in acrylic, oils and encaustic (a heated-wax technique), marking a new chapter in Shanley’s creative life.
The exhibition is a study of the natural world, the colours of nature, and decaying things, such as old doors, windows and trees. “Anything that has a past and a story to tell,” she explains. “Colour is what tends to capture my imagination most.”
The singer will host pop-up lunchtime music sessions throughout Kilkenny Arts Week at Pembroke Kilkenny with all welcome to attend.
The Leitrim-born singer says art was her first love, along with music, drama and English. “I had a wonderful teacher, Sr Veronica, in secondary school in Carrick-on-Shannon who taught me all the ‘rules’ of painting,” she explains.
“Art was not considered to be a career back then, so after school, I went off to Dublin to work, but I spent most of my evenings studying drama with Betty Ann Norton and pursuing my music. Art took a second, or third, seat.”
The musician returned to painting seriously 15 years ago, and honed her abstract art practice. Shanley explains: “I totally fell in love with painting all over again. I paint with brushes and trowels on canvas or board.”
“It is a very freeing way to paint. Sometimes I have a plan, but more often I have several layers of paint put down before I see something emerge from the layers. After 15 years of painting, the house is fairly full of art, so it’s time I let some of my ‘babies’ go.”
Shanley first came to prominence in the early 90s with the legendary group De Dannan, before establishing a successful solo career, releasing seven studio albums to date. Her collaborations include Sharon Shannon, Charlie McGettigan, Ronnie Drew, Dolores Keane, The Dubliners and Christy Moore among others.
Shanley’s debut art exhibition shares its title, The Ghost of You, with a new four-track EP release with Mike Hanrahan to coincide with their Irish summer tour dates.
She is also working with Ultan Conlon and Jimmy Higgins of The Stunning on Sweep Down to the Sea, the song of Percy French and touring throughout the year to many sold-out shows.