This article is from page 31 of the 2008-06-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
MEMORABLE paintings of the Cliffs of Moher were presented to members of the Guingamp commu- nity from France, who have just spent a week in their twin town Shannon.
The paintings, by Clare-based art- ist Sonia Schorman, were presented to Jean-Pierre Ellien, who represent- ed the mayor of Guingamp, while another painting was sent to a couple who have visited Shannon every year since the twinning was set up.
Lillian and Bernard Le Gac did not make the trip this year, as Bernard is ill, but they were not forgotten and Ms Schorman’s piece was dispatched to them in France.
Shannon Town Clerk Tomas Mac- Cormaic said he chose Ms Schor- man, as he was impressed by her paintings in the past.
“T picked Sonia because I had seen some of her painting and I liked it. She is also a member of our twinning association,” he said.
He said that Mr Ellien was most de- serving of his presentation.
‘He was responsible for the first twinning. He was the first person to come over here in 1989 to vet our town and the twinning took off from there,’ said Mr MacCormaic.
While the group of 30 was here, they visited several parts of Clare, including Ballyvaughan, the Cliffs of Moher and the Rock of Cashel.
They also attended receptions host- ed by the local twinning committee and Shannon Town Council.
72-year-old Ms Schorman_ was equally thrilled to have had her paint- ings commissioned for the visitors.
“T was delighted to be asked to do the paintings,’ said Ms Schorman.
Originally from Dublin, Ms Schor- man moved to Clare 30 years ago. She originally worked as a supervisor for a landscape firm and later worked at the folk park in Bunratty. She has also worked as a book sales repre- sentative, before taking up painting nine years ago.
‘After I took my pension, I started painting. I went to classes in the VEC. I never held a paint brush until my
mid-60s,” she laughed. She did the Cliffs of Moher painting by visiting the area. “What I do is go somewhere and take photographs and work from photographs and from memory. The paint brush takes over,” she said.
Ms Schorman was also responsi- ble for the establishment of the Inis artists group, seven years ago. The group has held exhibitions around the county, including a display of paintings upstairs in SkyCourt.