“For the last several years I have been fascinated with the landscape of my home county. I was born and raised in Monaghan and while I’ve lived large portions of my life outside of it, I find myself being drawn back. The entire county is criss-crossed with narrow roads that never seem to end; they are always meandering, always leading you to some small unseen part of the world.
It has taken me quite some time to understand why I continually return to painting these roads After all, I have travelled these for many years, in my childhood and then in raising my family, travelling the same roads but each time as a different person.
They have seen me at every stage, at every point in my life, be it school runs, coffee with friends, weddings, funerals, and everything in between. I have been on them in good times and in bad and all those times where nothing happened. They are the everyday constant that above all the large moments in life can hold the most beauty. Seeing the light dapple through the leaves can remind you of what an extreme privilege it is to be.
I think it’s why I am so drawn to paint them; I love the visual drama they hold, the unlimited potential of a road without end. The contrast of light and dark, of colour and tone and the ability to use it all to draw attention to a single focal point. For me, the process of layering and shifting the paint on the canvas is as important as the subject matter. It is this mixture of craft and subject that can truly make a painting a piece of art. Every brush stroke, every layer exists to enhance the relationship between itself and the rest of the painting. And all of it coming together to create something that is so much more than the sum of its parts.”
Kate Beagan studied art in Galway but immigrated to Australia before finishing her degree in 1984.
While there she continued to paint and exhibit with many of Brisbane’s leading galleries before returning to Ireland in 1995.
Her work is in the collection of the OPW and in many private and corporate bodies in Ireland, Europe and Australia.
Solo Shows:
The Market House, Monaghan 2022
The Doorway Gallery, South Fredrick St. Dublin 2019
Iontas Arts Centre, Castleblaney 2019
The Market House. Monaghan. 2017.
The Doorway Gallery , Dublin 2016.
The Chimera Gallery . Mullingar . 2015
Kenny Gallery . LaHinch. 2012
Hungry Hill Gallery Co. Cork 2008
“Joint Exhibition”
RHA, Dublin 2022
RUA, Belfast 2022
Dublin painting Sketching club. 2022
RUA, Belfast. 2021
Kilkenny Gallery, Arts festival 2022/2021/2018/17. The Whitethorn gallery. Clifton 2021/2019/2018
RUA. Belfast 2017
The Kenny Gallery, LaHinch, summer show2021/ 2017/18/19
Wexford Arts Festival 2017.
Croi8Collective Ardee,Co.Louth,2010
Hungry Hill Gallery, Co. Cork, 2009 Kenny Gallery, Co. Clare, 2009
Bad Art Gallery, Dublin, 2009
K. Gallery, Cork city, 2009
Liam Rodgers Gallery. Co. Down. 2006.
Iontas Gallery Co. Monaghan. 2006
John Hurley Gallery. Co. Kerry. 2006
The Carrick Gallery. Carrickmacross. 2006
Cavan Arts Centre. Co. Cavan. 2005
Blackrock Collage. Dublin. 2004 +2005.
The Grange Gallery, Old town. Co. Meath.2002 –2003 Lindsey Gallery, Belfast. 2002.
Residencies: Cill Realaig . Kerry 2016/2018
Florence academy of Art. Florence, Italy 2019.
