‘A Mother and Daughter Exhibition’ comes to The Sean Hollywood Arts Centre

The Sean Hollywood Arts Centre welcomes ‘A Mother and Daughter Exhibition’ of Watercolour Paintings, Photography and Digital Artwork by Rita McKenna and Cathy Cassidy to The John Bell Gallery from Saturday 1 July to Monday 31 July 2017.

Rita McKenna said, “From a very early age I have always been interested in art and I feel I have handed this down to my daughters, who are the same way inclined.”

Rita continued, “At the age of 10, my mum and I left Ireland to join my dad, who was working in England; however we returned to our home in Ireland every summer. I would take photos and purchase scenic books and postcards of my homeland whilst there and when I returned to England I would sketch and paint these beautiful scenes. I returned to live in Ireland in the mid 1970’s, got married and have two beautiful daughters, both with a passion for art.”

“My youngest daughter, Cathy enticed me to exhibit some of these sentimental pieces painted from my final years in England which I hope you will enjoy, along with her exhibits of her various artistic talents demonstrated through her photography and artwork.”

Her daughter Cathy Cassidy said, “Inspiration comes in many forms and for as long as I can remember, nature has always been that inspiration for me. Throughout my childhood, teenage years and life to date, I have been heavily inspired by the beauty of nature to create art in various forms: music, photography and of course artwork (pencil and digital). To me, photographs and art are a wonderful way to encapsulate the beauty of a moment and preserve it for a lifetime.  My photography also provides me with the ability to view more of nature.”

Cathy continued, “I was born with a rare eye condition which means distance vision is very difficult to access and colours do not exist, my world consists of a series of monochromatic contrasts. My camera lens enables the light to pass more effectively to me so I can see a little more clarity of the beauty around me. My artwork contains what could be referred to as an abstract colour set, which is a result of my monochromatic vision. Hopefully this vision will excite your mind and you will enjoy walking through the colourful world of a colour blind artist.”