Turning music into a fine art
A Connemara artist who used her time in lockdown to put her work on social media – in an effort to garner a wider fanbase – has had 25 of her most vibrant pieces put to music…by a virtual band which got together in the pandemic and has only released work online.
The collaboration between Aoife Dowd from Carna and Galway retro-rockers The Opacas has so far garnered 100 views on YouTube. But the band’s Pat Boyle says their sincere hope is that Aoife gets sales from the artistic collusion, which features a piano version of their summer single ‘Outta Time’.
“It’s played by keyboardist Peter Tobin and his laid-back jazz rendition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s9FuOc1ovk
itself perfectly to showcasing Aoife’s work. We have used piano versions of our songs to showcase other painters and photographers in the past. Peter is a well-known musician in Galway and his piano versions are lovely so we wanted to use them to promote other artists.”
Aoife, who now lives in Oughterard with husband Noel Joyce and children, Cayden (10) and Holly (6), works as an art teacher in Scoil Phobail Mhic Dara Secondary school in Carna.
The 45-year-old paints in her spare time. The daughter of Carna artist Maureen Dowd and local businessman and builder Jackie Dowd, she began her creative studies in The Grennan Mill Craft School, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, later going on to receive am honours degree and Hdip from the Limerick School of Art and Design.
“My artwork would probably be described as vibrant and impressionistic. I paint mostly landscapes in oil, I like to use strong and bright colours said as I love the energy they convey,” she reveals.
She draws her inspiration from the ever-changing moods, colours, light and vibrancy of the landscape in Connemara.
“I hope to capture more than just a scene in my work, but to draw the viewer in through a vibrant use of colour and textures. I want to create a sense of wonder, spirit and curiosity.”
She has had some successful exhibitions but this was not possible in the 18 months of lockdown, so she began to make use of Instagram and twitter to share her artwork.
“This led to lots of interest in my work and questions about a website. This is something I have always thought of setting up, so lockdown just motivated me to get it done. It has been going really well so far. Fine art prints and special commissions of portraits and landscapes have been popular.”
The Opacas are Galway musicians Steve Talbot, Peter Tobin and Pat Boyle, joined by Leeds based guitarist Mark Rayner.
“We are dedicated to making fun music and videos which they hope make people smile. The Opacas came about during the first Covid-19 lockdown when all venues for live performance were shut down. We released our first single in September 2020.
“The Opacas collaborate with local artists, theatre groups and musicians in creating music and videos which we publish on YouTube and social media.”
The band have released acoustic piano versions of their previous releases on YouTube and have showcased the work of painters Jin Yong, Patrick Kinneally and Emma Cownie. They have also showcased the work of photographers Chaosheng Zhang and Rebecca Harris.
Their video for ‘Outta Time’ features Lego creations at various Galway landmarks. A previous video was filmed around hotspots of Kinvara.
All Opacas videos can be found on YouTube or on www.Opacas.com. Aoife’s art can be viewed and purchased on www.aoifedowdartist.com.