Celebrated singer to debut art career in Kilkenny this week

Renowned Irish folk singer Eleanor Shanley is set to unveil her debut art exhibition, The Ghost of You, at Kilkenny’s Pembroke Hotel as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival fringe events from August 6 to 16.

A well-known storyteller through her music, the paintings are a continuation of her stories through the visual arts. Each painting is named after one of the songs from her 30-year career.

The exhibition, which will be officially launched by broadcaster Mary Kennedy, marks a new public chapter in Shanley’s creative life. The natural world inspires her artwork, 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 exhibition consists of 25 original framed paintings in acrylic, oils and encaustic (a heated-wax technique).

Shanley will have pop-up lunchtime music sessions throughout Arts Week at the Pembroke 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 paintings,” 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, joining Gables Art Group and becoming immersed in art. She went on to hone her skills at the Creative Visionary Program - Art2Life course based in California and started to develop 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 are a ‘who’s who’ of Irish trad and folk music, including Sharon Shannon, Charlie McGettigan, Ronnie Drew, Dolores Keane, The Dubliners and Christy Moore among others.

She has had a platinum album, received numerous awards for her contributions to folk music, and most recently, been inducted into the Tonder Festival Hall of Fame in Denmark.