This article is from page 46 of the 2009-05-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 46 JPG
LAHINCH banker turned artist Michael Hanrahan will have the hon- our of being one of the first artists to exhibit paintings in the newly re- stored O’Brien’s Tower at the Cliffs of Moher.
Michael, along with Lisdoonvarna painter Doreen Drennan will pro- vide all the artwork for the official reopening of the historic building which takes place later this month. After holding a senior position with AIB for a number of years, Michael retired three years ago to explore a career in painting.
“The painting has really started to
take off in the last number of months. Jam now based full time at the Court- house Studio in Ennistymon which has been a great help and I have also developed my own web-page which is attracting a lot of people from abroad, America in particular, to my work,” said Michael.
‘“T have just finished a three months long exhibition with Doreen Dren- nan at the Cliffs of Moher and now that O’Brien’s Tower is reopening we were asked to put together a number of painting particularly to do with the Cliffs of Moher.
“It is a huge honour and I am ab- solutely thrilled. It 1s such an iconic building and it is very exciting to
be one of the first artists to exhibit in there. I have been working on a number of painting specifically for it over the last few months so I can’t wait.”
Michael first made his name as an artist by a number of successful ex- hibits in local art auctions.
“Painting is a tougher business than it was three or four years ago and people are looking for good value and things like art auctions are becoming more and more popular. Dolan’s Art Auction in Galway have been fantastic, they have sold more than 30 of my paintings over the last few months so it’s been a great suc- cess,” he said.
‘Also I have recently taken a real interest 1n painting scenes from the horse fair in Ennistymon. The horse fair takes place twice a year in En- nistymon and I have come across some great scenes from the fair including local people like Willie Daly.
“I have also been invited to take up a position as artist in resident in Roundstone in Galway, as well as an- other similar position in Kerry later in the year, which is a great honour for me.”
For more information check out www.imichaelhanrahan.net.