Let me tell you a little about my background: I have been a working artist since graduating from Art School in the mid seventies and have been represented by the Taylor Galleries, Dublin since 1979. In addition to raising a family, teaching has been a big part of my life and I have worked in various institutions including Dun Laoghaire School of Art and University College Dublin. Upon moving back to Kilkenny I establishing an art school in Ormonde College in 1995. I trained as a sculptor and worked with a variety of materials until I discovered wax as a medium while working on a small commission in the early nineties. When, in a whimsical moment, I put beeswax together with pigments, I discovered the ancient art of encaustic painting used by the Egyptians and Greeks. That was 21 years ago and I have continued to explore and refine works in this medium ever since. Eight years ago I gave up teaching to devote myself fulltime to this absorbing work.

This solo exhibition of seven large canvasses (7 x 5 x 5ft) is my first in five years and as it is on my home turf in Kilkenny it is very important to me. Layer by layer, week by week, the paintings have grown until they have yielded their hidden rhythms, colours and textures. The paintings are finished and ready to be launched into the world, the culmination of quite a journey.

At this point the paintings need to be photographed to produce a good quality catalogue so these works can live on. This process is costly and there is a budget shortfall. This is where I need your help. I ask for your support for this project. Whatever you can give will make all the difference and make this catalogue possible.

Thanks loads!

Helen