Genevieve's first solo art exhibition in April "a dream come true"

Best selling author, stand-up comedian and mental health advocate, Rory O'Connor (aka 'Rory's Stories') will travel to Tullamore next month for a gig of a different kind – the launch of his aunt's very first solo art exhibition.

The exhibition, which is due to launch in Tullamore Library on Thursday, April 3 next, will feature the artistic talents of Offaly artist Genevieve Murphy, who will exhibit over 20 paintings from her collection featuring a range of styles, textures and mediums.

The exhibition – which is called 'The Ubiquitous Collection' - is set to run throughout the month of April in the library.

Genevieve cannot remember a time when she wasn't doodling with a sketchpad in her hand, and she says her love of art started at a very early age with “a simple box of paints” she got from Santa at her home in the small townsland of Coolagh, Geashill on the Offaly border with Laois.

Growing up in an era when art was “a very overlooked subject” in the education system and was not viewed as being the pathway to a career, Genevieve says there was “no encouragement” for art when she was in secondary school, despite the fact that she had both an obvious love and flair for all things artistic.

Becoming a young bride (at 19 years of age) and rearing a family of three sons and one daughter, Neil, Michelle, Bréifne and David, with her husband, Brendan Murphy from Portarlington, conspired to put Genevieve Murphy's art “on the back burner” once again. In a bid to keep her artistic streak alive, however, she turned to floristry and opened a flower shop in Mountmellick in 1990 which operated for over a decade. She also taught floristry classes in the adult education sector in both Athlone and Kildare, as well as organising flower arranging classes for smaller groups at a number of venues across the Midlands.

“I always had a pencil in my hand so if a bride came to me looking for a bouquet and gave me an idea of her dress I would start by sketching the dress and then designing the bouquet,” she recalls.

The Offaly artist credits her enrolment in The National Certificate in Art and Design Level 5 Course at Moate Business College in 2017 as being the catalyst to turning her long-held dream of becoming an artist into a reality.

“I honestly couldn't speak highly enough of Moate Business College,” she says, “the atmosphere there was so inclusive and encouraging and our lecturers, Patrick Bennis and Fiona Bracken, were absolutely brilliant”.

Genevieve points out that she was “rearing kids” at an age when a lot of her peers were in college, so getting a second chance at pursuing her love of art in a college setting was “a pure gift” that she wholeheartedly embraced. Her stint in Moate encouraged her to enrol on a full-time Art and Design Course in Galway Technical Institute (GTI), which is a college of further education situated on the west side of Galway city.

“Covid hit when I was in GTI, so we had to switch to remote learning which, in itself, was another steep learning curve for me because technology would not be my strong point,” she says.

A testament to Genevieve's skill as an artist is the fact that she achieved distinctions in all her modules both in Moate and in GTI. She then applied for, and was accepted, onto the Fine Art programme in the National College of Art and Design but as of yet she has not taken up the offer.

“Every day is a school day in the world of art, you could be learning forever and sometimes the best teacher is just observation,” she says, adding that she gets a lot of inspiration from nature and the world around her. “I have 48,000 pictures on my phone, and I am very inspired by the beauty of the Midlands, particularly Lough Boora, the Grand Canal and even my own back garden and I draw inspiration from everything around me”.

Genevieve, who has seven grandchildren, has a studio behind her house in Mucklagh's Tegan Court, from where she works both on her own paintings and on commissions. She is also very passionate about teaching art, and currently teaches cultural art to students in the Lakelands Academy in Tullamore, Athlone and Mullingar, as well as giving private lessons and she is also available to deliver art classes in group settings.

With such a wide range of influences, Genevieve Murphy finds it difficult to describe her artistic style. “I love cultural art, religious art, working with encaustic paint, charcoal, silhouette illustrations, basically any art work that tells a story and I am very heavily influenced by Irish artists, both past and present, and by Irish history”.

All these themes will be explored in the 'Ubiquitous Collection' of paintings which will be launched at 6.30pm in Tullamore Library by Genevieve Murphy's nephew, Rory O'Connor at 6.30pm on Thursday, April 3 next.

Genevieve is full of praise for Megan Cronly and the staff in Tullamore Library for affording her the opportunity to launch her very first solo exhibition and showcase her paintings.

“They have been so encouraging and so willing to foster the creative process” she says, adding that her upcoming exhibition is “really a dream come true.”