LISTEN - Homecoming exhibition for Cookstown born artist

by Gráinne Connolly

A new exhibition featuring the painted meadows of Tyrone and Donegal is to take place in the Burnavon in Cookstown for the remainder of January, including the work of Tyrone born Janet Graham.

Janet was a pupil at Cookstown High School in the seventies and grew up spending her weekends and family holidays camping in the wild mountains and bog lands of Tyrone and Donegal. 

Now living in Donegal and having grown up in Cooktown, Janet sees this exhibition as her homecoming.
 

As she continues to live and work from her studio across the border, Janet's work honours the wild beauty of the bog land and meadows of the two border counties which have influenced her childhood. 

She is known for her richly coloured surreal paintings and also for her muted, wild landscapes of the remote western seaboard. 

In particular, this exhibition celebrates the exquisite plants that grow quietly in this beautifully lit and unspoilt countryside: 

(Pieces of Janet's artwork influenced by the Tyrone and Donegal countryside). 

Janet is also dedicating this exhibition at the Burnavon to her Cookstown family, in particular her mother Peggy Graham.

Janet's work has featured in solo and group exhibitions in Ireland and abroad. For many years she was fortunate enough to have been tutored by the well known painter Stephen McKenna PPRHA, whose work hangs in collections and museums across Europe. 

Her work is held in private collections in Europe, USA and Japan and has been reviewed in The Belfast Telegraph, Irish News, Newsletter and The Ulster Tatler.

She has also been the featured artist in “Homes and Interiors” magazine.

Q Radio caught up with the local born artist to hear a bit more about the artwork in detail, the exhibition and why it's so close to her. 

Listen to Q Radio's Gráinne Connolly interview with Janet Graham: 

The ‘Painted Meadowlands of Tyrone and Donegal’ exhibition is now on display in the Burnavon’s First Floor Gallery until the 31st of January, during normal open hours and from 1 hour before a performance when the theatre is open.

Admission is free. For more information contact the Burnavon Box Office on 028 8676 9949.