The KAVA community art gallery in Kinvara’s former courthouse is the venue for Beneath our Feet, Brenda Kennelly’s first solo exhibition, which opens at 7pm next Thursday, September 5, and runs until Sunday, September 15, from 11am to 5pm daily.

The Ballyvaughan-based artist has been making mosaics for many years and after a career in finance is finally satisfying her creative and artistic side more fully.

Her mosaics are an intriguing and captivating combination of natural slate and stone combined with glass and vibrantly coloured smalti.

She translates the form, movement and flow of the earth into mosaic wall art in a truly original fashion. Brenda is primarily self-taught, taking guidance from other mosaic artists.

As a walker she takes inspiration from the earth, land and sea surrounding her.

Being close to the Burren amongst the dry-stone walls, the karst landscape and the hazel woodland along with nature’s ever-changing light and texture inspires her current body of work.

“I love to walk the earth, noticing what’s beneath my feet”, explains Brenda, “The natural materials I use include slate, stone, shale, glass and other objects. Each piece of stone and glass is cleaned, cut and shaped, piece by piece, to bring texture, colour and flow to the mosaic.”

Beneath our Feet is a soulful and provoking exhibition, and Brenda’s mosaic art invites viewers to feel the emotion provoked by a connection with the earth.

For some people, the fascination is in how the stone and slate is cut and shaped, for others it transports them to caving expeditions deep beneath the earth we walk on. Still others just respond naturally to the unique beauty of each piece.

Further details are available on www.brendakennelly.com

Pictured: Artist Brenda Kennelly with an example of her work.