Saturday April 17, 2010 1pm - 4pm

This three hour workshop introduces the cyanotype: one of the oldest photographic process that produces a stunning vivid blue and white monochromatic image. Creating cyanotypes is a simple, effective way to introduce traditional photographic processes to students, without the need for a darkroom.

Participants will learn how to make a cyanotype, and explore practical applications for the classroom.

This workshop is free, please book a spot as there are limited spaces. Bring a pair of rubber gloves, and watercolour or printmaking paper. Everything else will be provided.

This photo of the Cow House and surrounding farm was taken August 2009; it shows all of the renovations that have taken place over the past 30 years when compared to the one we posted last year.

Mr. Jimmy Lennon and his wife, Madge, came to visit us just after we completed renovations. Mr. Lennon lives less than a mile away on Ballybawn Lane, and his uncle, mason Mick Lennon, built the Cow House in 1915. An impressive feat, constructing the 20 inch thick stone walls in 6 months.

Saturday, 14 November 2009, 11am - 5pm

Cow House Studios invite you to meet this years Artists in Residence; Julie Lequin (Canada), Aoife Collins (London) and Billy Rueck (USA).

During their ten week stay, these artists are given the time and space to concentrate on making a new body of work. Cow House Open Studios offers the community a chance to see our facilities, meet the artists, and view the work they have been creating. Please visit anytime between 11am and 5pm, or for the scheduled events listed below. 
All are welcome.


Above: Hanged-man orchid/Aceras anthropophora, artificial orchid taken apart thread by thread and reassembled, mixed media, 88 cm x 42 cm by Aoife Collins

Schedule of Events

11am - 1pm: Hat & masking making workshop for children.
This workshop is free. Please book your spot as there are limited spaces. Contact: Rosie O’Gorman (086) 2109027

3pm - 4pm: Artist Talk
Residency artists will discuss their work, addressing their materials and ideas, and take questions from visitors.

4pm - 5pm: Tea & Cakes

It took a little longer than we hoped, but please have a look at our online exhibition of artwork made during Art on the Farm, 2009. We’re very pleased with the quality of work everyone produced, and as you’ll see represent a variety of media and styles. The photograph here was made by second year student Will Rockafello, and beautifully depicts Dead Mans Island off the coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry.

Frank recently took part the project “About Town”, where Wexford Arts Centre working in association with Wexford Borough Council and the Heritage council, presented an outdoor photographic trail depicting the architectural heritage features of Wexford. Curated by Peter Pearson, Frank took the large scale photographs that are installed in exterior locations around the town. Additionally five prints are being exhibited in cafe D’Lush at Wexford Arts Centre.

We are pleased to welcome our 2009 Artists in Residence; Aoife Collins (London), William Rueck (USA) and Julie Lequin (Canada), who is the recipient of the International Artist in Residence and Exhibition run in partnership with the Wexford Arts Centre. All three artists are in residence for ten weeks from September 14 until November 22, 2009, and Julie Lequin will exhibit her work at the Wexford Arts Centre in January 2010.

Its been one short week since everyone left the farm and the place seems so quiet. As we get ready for the beginning of our residency next month we remember all the great times that were had chatting around the dinner table, goofing off in the darkroom, late-nite movies and trips. We’re so lucky to have had another summer of talented and fun people to spend six weeks with. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication. We think you all went away with some really interesting work, and more importantly a clearer understanding of your own artistic practice.

The last week in our second session was spent working hard in the studio. By the time critique rolled around it was evident that everyone had put a serious amount of effort into their final projects. In the midst of all this time in the studio we still managed to find a few moments to jump in the pond, hang out toasting marshmallows around the fire and take a midnight walk up to Kelly’s Trees. Have a look at our updated photos page to see our final week.

Have a great time for the rest of your summer break, and good luck in the upcoming school year. We hope to see all of you when we travel to the US and Europe this winter.

The past week has been a fruitful one where painting projects were completed on hand built canvases, and another photo project produced more prints in the darkroom. Our “one minute sculpture” project tested speed, creativity and sometimes balance, yielding some mysterious and imaginative photographs. On Thursday some people went to the under 18’s disco at the Lava Lounge in Wexford town. We were told the Cow House crew was the life of the party.

Monday morning we headed for Dublin. Architect Joan Murphy gave an architectural walking tour of the city, taking us through Viking remains, medieval graveyards and Georgian mansions. We saw some exciting contemporary art at exhibitions in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Trinity College, and the Hugh Lane Gallery, and even found time for shopping on Grafton Street. We enjoyed Beschoff’s famous fish and chips by the river Liffey before leaving for the Cow House on Tuesday evening.

After breakfast pancakes on Wednesday everyone was refreshed and ready for large scale charcoal drawings and our last life drawing session. Now, with just four days to go everyone is focusing on their self directed projects, spending lots of time printing in the dark room, drawing and painting in the studio and working with their mentor to develop their ideas.

Be sure to have a look at our photo page for new images.

We’re now halfway through our second session here at the Cow House, and the last ten days here have been an eventful mix of art making and travel. Please have a look at our photo gallery for a look at what we’ve been up to.

The first few days were spent getting to know eachother. The students had a chance to go up against the mentors in Darragh’s bridge challenge. We spent time learning about a manual film camera and making cyanotypes with Jenny and Frank, and made our first few prints in the darkroom. For some, figure drawing with Matt was the first time they’ve had a chance to draw from a live model. Everyone put in a hard two days work and got some great results.

With all the work we still found time to have a swim in the pond, and thanks to Jacapo, Dylan and Alessia we had a tasty dinner of rainbow trout too. On Matt and Jenny’s last day we had a brief critique of our work, and said our sad goodbyes. A huge thank you to Mat and Jenny for all the great work they did while they were here. There is no doubt your teaching made a huge impact on everyones drawing and photography skills. We will miss you dearly.

Sunday morning we left for the Burren, a rocky terrain out west full of spectacular vistas, undeground caves and traces of Irelands history dating from 2500 bc. After a long day of touring the sites we had a dinner of fish and chips while enjoying some live music. The next day we got on a ferry to Inis Mor one of the three Aran Islands off the coast of Galway. The weather was beautiful so we rented some bikes and rode along the coast to see Dun Aengus, a Megalithic ring fort situated on the edge of a cliff. Some shooting, sketching and a slow ride back to the hostel was greeted by a wonderful bbq prepared by Marco, our gracious host. The next day many went to the sweater shop to get a hand woven authentic Aran wool sweater. Galway city was our last stop before heading back to the Cow House where we arrived late in the evening.

It’s back to work in the studios before we head to Dublin in five short days. Be sure to check back next week for more photos from our trip.

Matt and Jenny’s arrival on Monday brought a new energy to the farm, giving everyone a needed boost for their final week of intense work in the studio. Whether it was a life drawing session with Matt, a portrait project with Jenny, inspiring artist talks, or a one on one tutorial the new perspective brought a freshness to the work created.

While some stretched canvases for oil paintings others made site specific & temporary sculptures or diligently worked in the darkroom. There was of course still time for swimming in the lake, for Will to bake scones and spend an afternoon fishing. A special thanks to Sophia, Christie and Arietta for catching our dinner. Will and Sarah were also successful in catching fish, but we let them back to fatten for another day. Ned wins the prize for hooking the most fish, but never managed to get any of them ashore. Other activities included another night shoot and a ghost tour of Kelly's Trees where some people swore they heard the sound of Kelly’s chains.

Our session ended with a desert of Banoffi Pie and a late night critique of the weeks accomplishments. We would like to congratulate this years participants for their hard work and dedication. Its evident that your efforts paid off in the end. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and know that you will be missed!

Be sure to have a look at the photos page for images from the last week.

Our second week began with two full days of figure drawing, and a birthday celebration for Anna’s 17th. After a long day in the studio everyone adorned their finest evening attire. Mary’s Pavlova was a hit for desert. Wednesday morning we headed for Kerry VERY early. We arrived in the West before anyone had a chance to wake up. Upon our arrival we boarded a boat for the Great Blasket Island. We spent the day sketching, shooting, trying to hug sheep, and enjoying the wild seals swimming close to the waters edge. The sun was glorious.
For our night in Dingle we enjoyed home made ice cream, fish and chips and a bit of traditional music. The next day we headed for Gallarus Oratory, a 1000 year old chapel constructed entirely of stone with no mortar. To this day the interior remains dry. In a brief trip to the beach Darragh “drew a line to the dead man” with help from Rosie and Will while others explored the rocky terrain. At the end of the day we headed for Cahirsiveen where we witnessed a victory parade and spent a few hours that night taking photographs. The next day we broke up a rainy drive home to the Cow House through the scenic “Ring of Kerry” and a stop in Cork for lunch and a visit to the gallery at the Crawford College of Art. Please have a look at our updated photo gallery.

Rosie and Frank visited the Presentation Secondary School in Wexford town in March, to host workshops with the transition year students. Frank taught a cyanotypes workshop, and Rosie worked with the girls to produce large scale charcoal drawings focusing on negative space. Here are a few photos of the days activities.

From July 12 to July 25 we will host artists Matt Davis and Jennifer K. Beal Davis for one week during each of our sessions of Art on the Farm. During this time they will run workshops, give individual tutorials and speak about their own creative process. For more examples of their work please go here.

Jennifer K. Beal Davis

Jenny is a photographer and graphic designer based in New York and Philadelphia. She graduated from RISD with a BFA in Photography in 2001, and studied photography internationally at Spéos in Paris, France. Jenny has a deep passion for teaching. An expert printer, she's a traditionalist at heart, in love with the big clunk her Hasselblad camera makes with every film exposure. In her professional life she designs illustrated books and stationery at Clarkson Potter/Publishers with authors including Rachael Ray, Colin Cowie, theknot.com and many more. Jenny was formerly the Photo Editor at Packaged Goods, and a Photo Shoot Coordinator at Rockport Publishers, Fairwinds Press, and Quarry Books. She art directs photo shoots and works with photography on a daily basis.

Matt Davis

Matt is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design where he received a BFA in Illustration. He is the Creative Director for a franchise corporation and has a busy freelance illustration career specializing in collectible silkscreen posters for popular music acts. His art tends to favor surrealism, traditional tattoo imagery, symmetry and pretty ladies.

We have a great schedule of Camp Fairs this winter in the United States, France and Spain for Art on the Farm. If you’re interested in spending three weeks in Ireland this summer making art the you’ll want to come by our booth to meet either Rosie or Frank. We can give you more details about the programme and answer any questions you might have. Happy holidays, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Greenwich High School
Greenwich, CT: Wednesday, January 26, 6 - 9 PM

Tower Hill School
Wilmington, DE: Thursday, January 29, 3:30 - 7 PM

Chestnut Hill Academy
Philadelphia, PA: Saturday, January 31, 11 AM - 3 PM

Potomac School
McLean, VA: Saturday, January 31, 12 - 3 PM

Metro Kids Super Camp Fair
King of Prussia Mall, PA: Sunday, February 1, 10 AM - 4 PM

Concord Carlisle High School
Concord, MA: Monday, February 2, 5:30 - 8:30 PM

Dalton School
New York, NY: Tuesday, February 3, 4-6:30 PM

Franco American Centre
Paris, France: Saturday, February 7, 2 - 7 PM

Phillips Andover Academy
Andover, MA: Sunday, February 8, 11 AM - 2 PM

Newton South High School
Newton Centre, MA: Monday, February 9, 5:30 - 8:30 PM

Jeannine Manuel
Lille, France: Monday, February 9, 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Jeannine Manuel
Paris, France: Tuesday, February 10, 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Colegio San Augustin
Madrid, Spain: Thursday, February 12, 5 - 9 PM

Choate Rosemary Hall
Wallingford, CT: Sunday, February 22, 11 AM - 2 PM

I am happy to announce that we have posted new websites for Cow House directors Rosie O’Gorman and Frank Abruzzese. You may visit Rosie’s site at www.rosieogorman.com, and Frank’s can be found at www.frankabruzzese.com. Pictured above left is an installation view of “Remain” by Rosie, and above right is “Everyone” answering the question, What do people look like in A=AGHT? by Frank.