Oldcastle artist’s brush with genius
A MEATH artist who decided to honour local hero, Sean Boylan during lockdown, has presented the former Meath football manager with a portrait of himself. Brid Fanning, who is based in Oldcastle, is now raising funds for the Meath Hospice by selling prints of the painting.
"During lockdown we all realised the importance of celebrating and shopping local. After honouring our frontline workers and deservingly so, I took the opportunity to celebrate a local hero. As a Meath football fan my decision was made easy and not only because this man is a local hero but he is a national GAA legend.
"Seán is such a big personality and an all-round amazing human being, someone that I have huge admiration and respect for, like so many of us do. I had never met Sean but as a child of the eighties I felt I knew him as he was such a big part of our lives growing up. As a Meath fan he gave us amazing memories that we will always cherish.
"After making the decision to paint Seán, I took out all my old Meath books to do my research. I did lots of sketching beforehand to figure out his bone structure and to study his characteristics. Seán has such a distinctive smile and I always remember those smiling eyes, a magical twinkle in them. He oozes positivity and it felt fitting to paint him in bold colour. It was important for me to try and capture some of that amazing personality. My overall objective was to create a painting which would evoke so many happy memories for those of us who experienced those glory years!
"I felt so privileged to have met Seán and presented it to him. What an honour to meet such a legend. They say you should never meet your heroes but that couldn't be further from the truth in this case. Sean was so humble and such a gentleman. I was a bit starstruck if I'm honest!
"Seán is an ambassador for the Meath Hospice so in the spirit of supporting local I am going to give 100per cent of the sale of one of the framed prints of his portrait signed by Seán himself to this worthy cause. I only have six signed copies available. I have a limited number of unsigned prints which are also available and I am also giving 10 per cent of every other sale to the hospice.”
Brid also did her bit to honour Ireland's front line workers earlier this year, by painting a portrait of a nurse working on the frontline during the pandemic.
She got involved in the online #portraitsforhseheroes movement, where Irish artists thanked the HSE workers on the frontline during the Covid-19 , by offering to do their portrait.
“I was matched with Clare McGuire who was nominated by her brother. I got sent a photo of her,” says Brid.
“It was taken at the donning station where staff put on their PPE before entering the critical care area for Covid patients. Donning and doffing buddies are so important to observe that PPE is applied and removed correctly and safely.”
Bríd is a graphic designer by profession and has over 20 years experience working with large corporate companies from various disciplines including architecture, finance, online gaming and animal nutrition, but took the big decision last December to follow her heart and concentrate on art on a full-time basis.
Bríd likes to create art where she explores our Irish culture and heritage through different mediums. “Whether it’s our people, animals or our landscape, I like to express who we are through bold colour. I am hugely influenced by the rural environment that surrounds me. Loughcrew, Mullaghmeen forest, fairy forts and caves are all around me so its easy to find inspiration .”
Starting a business in a pandemic is a challenge but there are huge opportunities too.
“All forms of Art can bring great joy in these times. It can be a relief from the fast-paced world we are experiencing. We are living through history right now, so, it would be nice to be able to look back in years to come and know that I managed to capture an important moment in time, a moment that will be forever etched in our history,”.
You can buy Brid’s work on her website www.bridfanningart.com and keep up to date on her progress on her Facebook page and Instagram page @bridfanningart.