As Edgar Degas put it, “Art is not what you see but what you make others see.” Fiona sees the artist’s mission as conveying to the viewer the emotional sense of a place that she feels from looking at it. She seeks to find beauty in everyday life, to venerate it and to show it to the world to the best of her ability.
A graduate of Fine Art from Sligo IT in 1988, Fiona Power was a member of the Pigeon Loft Studios in Sligo and of the Backwater Artists Group in Cork city. She has been living and working in West Cork for over 20 years, where her studio overlooks Dunmanus Bay.
“Living in West Cork offers constant inspiration for many subjects. I’m interested in the land, sea and sky that present themselves in ever-evolving moments of drama and beauty.”
“Working en plein air and in my studio, I employ a variety of techniques and materials – glazing, impasto and drawing. I’m inspired by the beauty of colour and the emotion of the ethereal moments of change in the atmosphere of a particular place and time.”
Working on a series gives Fiona the opportunity to explore many aspects of the subject matter and how it can be interpreted. Her current water-lily series is inspired by stunning wild lily bog pools located close to her home.
“The inspiration for the wild lily series comes from a particularly beautiful pond on the Mizen Peninsula. It’s a tangle of coloured leaves and lilies, where colours of the bog flowers are reflected in the sepia waters that surround them. It’s wonderful inspiration.”
Fiona has a particular interest in the Golden Hour and this is reflected in all her paintings, including seascapes, landscapes and marine scenes.
Selected Exhibitions
• Group show; The Model, Sligo (1992)
• “Aishling”; group show, The Pantheon Gallery, Dublin (1993)
• “Iontas”; Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo (1993)
• “Three of a Kind”; three-person show, McCanny Gallery, Sligo (1993)
• “Art Presence”; Crawford Gallery, Cork (1993)
• Boyle Arts Festival; Boyle (1993)
• Monaghan Open Exhibition; Monaghan (1993)
• RHA Annual Exhibition; Dublin (1994)
• Christmas Group Show, The Model, Sligo (1994)
• “Sciop”; Siamsa Tíre Arts Centre, Tralee (1995)
• “Iontas”; Sligo, RHA Dublin & Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast (1995)
• Group show; Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (1995)
• Group show; The Lavit Gallery, Cork (2004)
• Group show; Hamilton Gallery, Sligo (2007)
• Group show; The Lavit Gallery, Cork (2007)
• Group Show; Blue House Gallery, Schull (2014)
• Group Show; The Lavit Gallery, Cork (2014)
• Cairde Visual Open Exhibition; Hyde Bridge Gallery, Sligo (2015)
• Cairde Visual Open Exhibition; Hyde Bridge Gallery, Sligo (2016)
• Doswell Gallery Summer Show; Rosscarbery (2016)
• “Two of a Kind” 2-person exhibition with Cormac O’Leary, Aisling Gallery (2016)
• “Summer Select” group exhibition; The Lavit Gallery (2017)
• “Abundance: Land, Water, Light” 2-person exhibition with Anastasia O’Donoghue-Healy; Aisling Gallery (2017)
• Skibbereen Arts Festival with the Blue House Gallery; Group Show, Skibbereen (2017)
• “Five Artists” Group Show (with Eithne Roberts, Margo Banks, Aidan Butler and Annabel Langrish) ; Heron Gallery, Ahakista, West Cork (2017)
• ‘Regions’, Open Exibition, Uillean, Skibberreen, West Cork (2017)
• Christmas exhibition, The Lavit Gallery Group show, December 2017
• Christmas exhibition, The Blue House Gallery Group Show, December 2017
• Group Show, Aisling Gallery, Ballydehob, March 2018
• Skibbereen Annual Members’ Exhibition, May 2018
• “Tribal” Group Show, The Blue House Gallery, June 2018
• “Bloom” Floral & Botanical Selected Exhibition, June 2018
• “An Irish Airman Foresees his Death”, Invited Exhibition, The Hamilton Gallery, Sligo, June 2018
Forthcoming Exhibitions
• Skibbereen Arts Festival (August 2018)
• Two-person show, Aisling Gallery, Ballydehob (with Anastasia O’Donoghue-Healy), August 2018
• West Cork Creates “Under Shelter” Exhibition, Skibbereen, August 2018
Residencies
• Fiona has been awarded a two-month residency at Villa Fontaine, Antibes, France.