“Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.”
[Gospel according to St. Luke: Chapter 2 – verses 15-16 (King James Version]
Now, with at least some Covid-19 virus restrictions lifted, one place to visit this 2020 Christmas season is the crib in the village of Two-Mile-Borris, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
The Crib is set up next door to the Church of St. James, in an old disused shed on the side of the main street, almost directly opposite John Tully’s Gala Supermarket in the village.
Remember on your visit: Strict adherence to social distancing and face covering please.
To those responsible for the crib’s construction – congratulations and well done – truly artistic and worthy of a visit by all and sundry, this Christmas period.
Portrait by Irish painter Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A. of Lady Evelyn Farquhar.
Billionaire and former K-Club owner, Dr. Michael Smurfit, who currently resides in Monaco, aged 83, is offering for sale certain Irish art works, the collection estimated at making up to €2 million at auction.
One of the paintings being offered for auction by Sotherby’s, is a portrait by Irish artist Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A. of ‘Lady Evelyn Farquhar‘; in impressionism style, which has an estimated price tag of some €800,000.
The oil on canvas features one of the daughters of the fifth Earl of Donoughmore; latter an old Irish family that originally hailed from Knocklofty House, Clonmel, here in Co. Tipperary.
Lady Evelyn the lady in the portrait, married Lieutenant Colonel Francis Douglas Farquhar in April 1905. Lieutenant Colonel Farquhar, alas, was killed in action early during WWI, in 1915 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), latter a military decoration of the United Kingdom. After eight years as a widow, Lady Evelyn then remarried in 1923, one Sir Dougal Orme Malcolm KCMG (Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George) of Poltalloch, in mid Argyll, Scotland; latter who died aged 78 years in 1955. Lady Evelyn herself died in 1966.
The painting has been described by the auction house as one of Lavery’s most successful and striking portraits.
Artmaterials.ie are among Ireland’s leading online art materials supply shops. Simply by entering, you receive a promo code entitling you to 20% off an art supplies order. In addition, for every entry they receive, they will donate €1 to their charity partners The Jack and Jill Foundation and Alone.
Entries must reflect the theme ‘Freedom in a Time of Constraint’ and will be accepted from amateur artists as well as those established in the art world.
Entrants can use any media they wish and entries can be submitted by individuals and teams. Entries must be submitted by midnight of June 9th 2020 via the entry form available HERE. Winners will be announced on June 30th.
For more information view the rules for entry which are available HERE.
“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” – Albert Einstein
With home schooling out for the weekend; are you wondering how you will occupy your time today, with weather promising to be uncertain?
What about this project to hone your creative skills?
Follow these 7 steps to create Word Art just for fun or why not create something memorable for an upcoming friend’s birthday, a graduation or other special event.
Click ‘Create now‘, (Button with green Background, found centre page).
On the next screen click ‘Import‘ (Button on left hand side under the heading ‘WORDS‘). In the box that will appear, type a list of words, for example the names of people in your family. Then click ‘Import words‘, (Bottom right of that same white box).
Next Click ‘SHAPES‘. (Shown bottom left.)
Pick a shape, for example, the “Love Heart” in our picture shown above. Then click ‘Visualize‘, (Button Red background at top, middle, beside ‘Undo’) to see your word art creation.
Click on ‘Fonts‘ and then the red button ‘Visualize‘; to observe the effect of the different fonts. Likewise click ‘Layout‘ or ‘Style‘ and then ‘Visualize‘ to experiment with different layout and style options.
To save your creation, simply click download and save your Word Art as a .JPEG(or other file format), to email to friends and family, and to celebrate, for example a birthday.
Top Tip: If you want to make a word bigger and make it stand out more than any other chosen word, go to ‘WORDS‘ and click on that particular word you chose and under ‘Size‘, enlarge same and again hit the ‘Visualize‘ red button.
During these difficult times, it is so important that the whole family finds ways to switch off, relax and reduce stress levels.
As many of us know and many studies highlight, drawing and making art can enable us all to reduce our stress levels and to practice mindfulness.
Some day this week why not schedule some time for making art? Don’t know where to start? Why not begin with directed drawing?
Directed drawing (sometimes referred to as guided drawing) is a step by step approach to drawing, led by a more experienced artist. In addition to reducing stress levels, it is particularly beneficial for children because it enables them to listen and concentrate, to follow instructions, to pay attention to detail and to ultimately draw with even greater confidence.
It’s so easy to get started. All you need is some paper and a pencil and someone to direct your drawing. There are lots of directed drawing ‘YouTube videos’ available, but one of the best and most popular is “Art for Kids Hub” at https://www.youtube.com/user/ArtforKidsHub.
Visit their channel and search from thousands of directed drawing videos. There is a directed drawing lesson to suit everyone from ‘Star Wars’ to ‘Unicorns’, ‘Minecraft to Marvel’ and ‘Dinosaurs’ to ‘Daisies’.
Need a break from phone and tablet screens? Remember many Smart TVs will play YouTube videos, so load a directed drawing video on the big screen and get the whole family drawing.
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