Three siblings host art exhibition at Cork city's Black Market

THREE members of a Cork family are exhibiting their art at The Black Market on Monaghan Road for the month of April.

The Wyatts, described as “working class but never poor” by the eldest of the family of five, Marion, attribute their interest in and talent for art to their late father, Ned.

For Marion, 69, best known for theatrical productions such as The Sunbeam Girls at the Cork Opera House and retired from her theatre studies job at Colaiste Stiofáin Naofa, visual art is something she turned to when recovering from an illness. Marian developed bowel problems in 2014.

“It’s not terminal or anything but I’m still not completely recovered from it. Pain hits me now and then but I don’t dwell on it.

“I also had an emotional breakdown. I had a dual career with a very responsible position at Colaiste Stiofáin Naofa and I was directing plays and running my own production company. I burnt out. And I became addicted to painkillers.”

Now off painkillers, having got help to quit them, Marion finds art therapeutic. She sold more than 20 paintings at an exhibition in the Raven Bar in 2018, in aid of Cork Penny Dinners.

“I was never really into meditation. I’m spiritual in my nature but I can’t be still. I was drawn to doodling and that’s when my art was reignited. I still feel I haven’t found my voice. I’m not in the same league as Lorraine and Gerrard (who are in the family exhibition with Marion.)”

Marion is showing mostly abstract art at the exhibition.

“I also dabble in mixed media. And, like Lorraine, I like to knit and crochet but that’s not in the exhibition. But it’s how I got through Covid. I like to keep my hands busy.”

For Marion, painting “aligns my soul. It comes through me. I just follow the brush. I don’t plan.”

When she was aged ten, an art teacher, Olive Brennan, arrived at her primary school, St Patrick’s “like a hurricane”.

“Olive told us we could paint in any way we wanted to.”

She told her pupils not to worry about making a mess. Marion has never forgotten this teacher. She says she paints to heal and relax.

“If my paintings give pleasure, I’m happy.”

She was also privileged to be given art lessons by Cork’s famous sculptor, Seamus Murphy, on an extracurricular basis. And she was taught by his wife, Mairead Murphy.

Marion’s father, who died at just 44, put chalk, crayons, carpentry tools, putty and paint brushes into her hands at an early age. He always told Marion she could do anything she put her mind to. Her mother, Eily, taught her to cook, knit and sew.

When Marion’s father died, life was tough for her mother.

“In a way, I projected myself into taking over the paternal role. Maybe within my life, I alienated myself a bit from my siblings, disciplining them. It has taken me a lifetime to get back. That’s why this opportunity to exhibit with Gerrard and Lorraine is so important to me.”

The exhibition, entitled Not So Black and Wyatt, is Gerrard’s idea. Aged 55, Gerrard has been painting and drawing since he was a young boy. Being dyslexic, he always drew rather than wrote in order to be understood on paper.

“I had always thought that it was unusual to have three artists in one family, which is why I suggested the exhibition in the first place.”

Gerrard was seven when his father died.

“He was a big influence on me as he was a good artist. He showed me how to draw a dolphin when I was about five. I won a Best Art Student award when I was at Mayfield Community School. My teacher was Ms Sweetman.”

Although Gerrard won a scholarship to study at the Crawford College of Art and Design, circumstances went against him.

“My mother didn’t think studying art was a good idea. At the time, it was the ’80s. You needed to get a trade. I got into hairdressing in London, which is creative. It opened a lot of doors. I did fashion shows, doing the hair (of the models.) I spent 17 years in London. It was a very different way of life with lots of money. I did make-up as well. One thing led to another, I used to promote MAC.”

As a young gay man, Gerrard says getting out of Cork in 1985 was liberating.

“I went with three friends to Brixton. We had a great time. People weren’t judging you and you weren’t living in fear.”

When Gerrard returned to Cork, he wanted to concentrate on art. He now works part-time in a hairdressing salon.

“I do a lot of life drawing and I do twists on things such as the painting I did of Freddie Mercury, portraying him as the Queen.”

Gerrard is also a dab hand at sewing.

“I can make clothes. I chanced my arm making debs’ dresses for friends and making suits. I didn’t use patterns. My mother used to run out of the room when I started cutting material on the floor. I did everything by eye. I actually did my sister’s wedding dress. I used an old Singer sewing machine.”

Gerrard, who once had a piece in an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London, will be showing a variety of his work including a sculpture of a woman reclining, measuring 7ft x 3.6ft. It includes some stained glass. He says it’s hard to price the artwork given the amount of time involved in creating art as well as the cost of materials.

Lorraine Wyatt, 66. says her art teacher, Mairead Murphy at St Patrick’s in Gardiner’s Hill, phoned her parents to say she should go to art classes outside of school.

“I started going to the Crawford on Saturdays to embroidery classes. which I loved. and on Tuesday nights, I went to still life and life drawing classes there. I would have been 13. My father would drop me off and collect me after the class.”

When Lorraine moved to London, she had various jobs including a customer service job with Boots Pharmacy.

“But my passion was always art. My husband had a really good job making a lot of money. He said it would be lovely for me just to explore art.”

With her young daughter in tow, Lorraine attended King’s College on the Strand in London. It was ideal as there was a crèche there.

“I was in my element, doing different modules. I was a mature student in my thirties. At the end of the year, our tutors gave us a project. They said there were two places at St Martin’s College.

“Not thinking anything of it, myself and another mature student won the scholarships to go there. I couldn’t believe it. But I couldn’t take it up. My husband got terminal cancer and we moved back to Cork. He died. It was a very tough time.

“My scholarship was put on hold for 12 months. But I decided to stay in Cork. To get me through that difficult time, I decided to contact the Crawford.”

Lorraine presented the college with her portfolio.

“I found it very daunting because I had to go before a board. They were firing questions at me. Within 48 hours, I was offered a place. I did the degree in fine art. I specialise now in ceramics.”

Using paint, inks, recycled paper and cardboard, Lorraine says her work at the exhibition will reveal how she likes to push boundaries. Having recently retired from work, she is now in a position to concentrate on her passion ignited by her father. Clearly, she, Marion and Gerrard are a chip off the old block.