MARY COLLINS GOES TO MONACO

To celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, the Princess Grace Irish Library in the Principality of Monaco will exhibit watercolours by painter and poet Mary Collins from Dún Laoghaire.
The private viewing (invitation only) will take place on Tuesday 17 March 2009. The exhibition will be open to the public from Wednesday 18 March to Friday 17 April 2009, from 11:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday.

Mary has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. She follows the advice given her some years ago by a friend: “Turn your disability into an ability”… and that has been her mantra ever since.
Mary tells us: “I started painting in 1990. The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) began offering a variety of classes, one of which was Art. I didn’t actually think it would be suitable because I can’t draw. However, my mum is an artist so I thought it might be in my genes and decided to try it. I fell in love with the medium of watercolour, but initially I used it only because it was the medium most suited to my disability. Acrylics and oils require you to keep applying paint to the canvas, whereas watercolour was much easier for me to control. Painting landscapes over other themes happened in a similar way. At first, I painted landscapes because of the ease with which I could acquire subject matter. Since I was unable to access many outside locations for painting, a postcard or photograph would suffice as a model from which to work. However, over time I have become very attached to landscapes and see it as a way to access parts of the world that aren’t so accessible! I’ve exhibited eleven times in total so far and am always looking for opportunities to display my work. Friends and family commission paintings from me on a wide variety of subject matter, and I enjoy the process of understanding someone’s vision for a painting and combining it with my own.”

Mary is delighted about the Monaco exhibition: “This is a wonderful and unexpected opportunity for me. As I am an Irish-American, Princess Grace holds a special place in my heart. For this first exhibition outside Ireland, I am overjoyed to show my watercolours in such a prestigious setting. My sincere thanks to the Trustees of the Princess Grace Irish Library.”
Mary is a fighter who is absolutely determined that her disability will not get in her way! She was even awarded two gold medals for shot-put and precision throw at the New York State Games for the Physically Challenged in 1988.