Johnny Boyle presents a series of new works inspired by the poetry of Francis Harvey.
Today as I climb the mountain in drifts of rain
The sea sends up its smoke signals among the rocks,
The season for orchids has long passed
And the ferns in the scree have begun
Into traceries of rusted wrought iron filigree.
‘On Leahan’ by Francis Harvey.
“I first met Frank Harvey as a young boy in my parents’ hotel in Glenties. He and his wife Agnes were frequent visitors. Over the years we had many conversations. We both shared a love for the wild landscape of West Donegal; he in his poetry and I in my paintings.
My first trip to Tory Island was along with Frank. It was a memorable time, and i am now a frequent visitor to the island.
‘Collected Poems: Francis Harvey’ published in 2007 has almost 300 poems. I could have selected most of these poems for this project as they are so visually evocative. My choice was very arbitrary although there were certain poems that I really wanted to use. I recall Frank telling me how he could spend several hours, even days, trying to find the right word for a particular poem, so it made me feel very inadequate to then transform his words into space, line, and colour. He often told me he loved the colours and textures of the landscape, especially the rocks and stones. This was foremost in my mind while I was making these paintings.
As an artist this project has given me an opportunity to do work that is more challenging, it has taken me from my comfort zone. I have read and reread the poems. The images that have emerged in these paintings are the result, albeit some of the paintings have a very tenuous relationship with the poems.
Frank was a very humble, quiet and gracious man, and his company was always very enriching.”
Born in Glenties, County Donegal in 1951, Johnny has been making art from an early age. He spent two years at the Dun Laoighaire College of Art in the early 1970s but considers himself mainly self-taught. He started painting professionally in 1988 when he exhibited at The McGill Summer School in Glenties. His paintings are, almost exclusively, landscapes. He is always trying new ways of expressing his feelings for his surrounding area of West Donegal in various media. His paintings, especially his watercolours, are well regarded and sought after throughout the North of Ireland and in Donegal in particular, and can be found in private collections worldwide.
Exhibition finishes on Saturday 1st March.
