Coalisland artist wins top awards
7th December 2011 | By: Laura-Fox | Comments Off on Coalisland artist wins top awards
A Coalisland artist has received two prestigious awards from The Royal Ulster Academy of Art.
Catherine Creaney took part in the RUA’s 130th annual exhibition, held at the Ulster Museum, Belfast, where she won the drawing prize, sponsored by the Tom Caldwell Gallery, and also received the prestigious Rowel Friers Perpetual Trophy, sponsored by Bewleys Ltd.
Catherine’s work is displayed in collections throughout Ireland and the UK. Her paintings range from detailed realism to pure abstraction, and over the last few years her work has mainly focused on portraiture.
The Belfast Telegraph heralded her piece, ‘The Fallen Feather’, a self portrait in oils, as a return to the craft of painting. Inside Ireland has also described her as having a flair for more traditional styles.
The Royal Ulster Academy’s exhibition, which opened on October 21 and finished on November 20, featured 311 pieces of work by 223 artists.
One of Coalisland artist Catherine Creaney’s portraits
Among those contributing were Academy members, invited artists and those selected from open submission. Of the 1010 pieces of work that were submitted, only 191 pieces by 150 artists were chosen for the exhibition.
Catherine said: “I was so honored and surprised to receive the drawing prize sponsored by the Tom Caldwell Gallery and the Rowel Friers Perpetual Trophy at this years RUA annual exhibition.
“I have been working as an artist and exhibiting in Ireland for at least 10 years and to get recognition for my work has been pretty overwhelming.
“The piece I exhibited at this year’s RUA was a portrait in soft pastels. In it I tried to capture a light and expression that would give the piece a life of its own.
“Over the last few years my work has focused mainly on portraiture and I have been working on creating portraits of subtle human expressions that capture the viewer and draw them into the sitters world and thoughts.
“At present I am working on a new body of work for future shows and hopefully a solo show in Belfast in the not too distant future.”
Catherine’s work is currently on display in the Tom Caldwell Gallery Christmas Exhibition from Tuesday, November 29 until Saturday, January 7, 2012. Alternatively you can view Catherine’s impressive portfolio of work on her website.
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