Five artists who met at a course in plein-air landscape painting in 2021 have joined forces for a new exhibition, Quintessence, that will open in Kinvara’s Courthouse Gallery this Friday, August 1.

“Although we are all very different, as people and artists, we have continued to talk about art and to paint together ever since,” says Josephine Boland of the all-woman group.

Josephine, Ann Fripps, Auveen Byrne, Catherine Christie and Jennifer Hennessy became friends in art while attending the course, given by Dave West of Artform in Dunmore East, County Waterford.

“We draw inspiration and encouragement from one another as we develop our individual styles, painting in the studio and en plein air,” says Josephine.

She explains that, in the Middle Ages, people believed that everything was made of four elements – earth, air, fire and water. People thought the stars and planets were made up of yet another, and its Latin name was quinta essentia, literally the fifth essence.

“They believed it was essential to all kinds of matter. If they could isolate it, it would cure all disease,” says Josephine.  The term survives as quintessence – the purest essence of anything.  We’ve found that the quintessence is what we give to and get from each other, and try to instil in our practice.”

Josephine lives near Kinvara and is inspired by  the local landscape. A committed plein air painter, her work represents the familiar and her focus is on capturing the magic of light and colour.

Geographer and town planner Auveen Byrne from Dublin, says a love of landscape and environment is central to her process.

In her art, Auveen tries to convey a “sense of place” and to bring the viewer to that place. She loves people and the privilege of having a sitter before her for a life-drawing or portrait, trying to convey the essence of that person in paint.

Catherine Christie, an oil painter based in Dublin, specialises in plein air landscapes and still life paintings. Her work celebrates the beauty of nature and stillness.

Jennifer Hennessy is also from Dublin and in her art, she studies the essence of things, often looking deeply into something simple and scaling it up to magnify its beauty or simplicity.

Having long expressed her creativity through photography, Waterford woman Ann Fripps has more recently been exploring new dimensions of texture and colour though painting and drawing. Whether she’s behind the lens or working on paper, her art is a quiet, focused study of light and the stories it tells.

Quintessence will open this Friday at 7pm and run until Sunday, August 10, in Kinvara’s Courthouse Gallery, from 11am-6pm daily. All are welcome.

Pictured: Ballyvaughan Sunset by Ann Frips.