Midlands artist to launch solo exhibition next weekend
A Midlands mixed media artist who lived and worked in Athlone for 35 years as a social care worker and also as a personal trainer in Shannonside Gym, is set to launch a solo exhibition of her work in Laragh House, Maynooth next weekend.
The exhibition, titled 'Poets and Warriors' which will be launched on Saturday next, May 12, and will continue throughout the month of May, features the stunning collage paintings of Offaly native, Ann Mitchell, who works under the name of AnnieMae Art.
Laragh House dates back to the 1740's and Ann Mitchell says the "decayed beautiful building" is perfect for her art. Kildare-based emerging singer/songwriter, Tia Burke, who has performed in the Olympia and at Electic Picnic, will perform at the official opening of the exhibition.
Directly after the Maynooth exhibition, Ann Mitchell will hold a joint exhibition in Portumna Castle alongside Westmeath-based ceramic artist, Caroline Barry, which opens on June 1 next. The joint exhibition is titled 'Siren in All Her Phases.'
Ann Mitchell is daughter of Niall (who was the former lock-keeper in Rahan) and the late Bridie Mitchell from Gallen in Ferbane, and currently resides in what was the original family home in Gallen.
She comes from a very creative family with her sister, Caroline, a million-selling author and another sister, Louise, working as a landscape artist.
Working under the name of AnnieMae Art, Ann Mitchell says each of her paintings is “made with love” and she focuses on many aspects of the human condition in her works, such as beauty, pain, hope, strength, resilience and overcoming adversity. “Art is how I express what it means to be human, the vulnerability, strength and resilience that we as humans possess,” she says, adding that, for her, “art is healing”.
Her breathtaking collage portraits featuring a kaleidoscope of colour have captured the art world by storm since she first started painting in recent years. She admits that while she was always creative, she is "a bit of a late convert" to the world of art having only started making mosaics after her retirement.