Cork artist's exhibition of works in gratitude to people who supported her through cancer

When Andrea Jameson wanted to give something back to the health professionals who supported her through her cancer journeys, an art exhibition in their honour was the natural choice.

For Andrea, art is in the blood.

The Waterford-based painter is the granddaughter of Joan Jameson, a prominent member of the Dublin Painters, as was Joan’s cousin, Evie Hone.

Andrea describes painting as her “lifetime career”. She was first inspired to pick up a brush during a childhood spent in nature. “I remember it very well,” she says. “I thought the alder tree down by the river was so beautiful that I drew it under lamplight.”

Nature has long been Andrea’s muse, and her love for the outdoors is reflected in her work. “I’m drawn to being outside,” she explains, “I live in a lovely place. Ireland has the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the skies. It has everything.”

The daughter of a Norwegian mum and an Irish dad, Andrea was born in Oslo. Despite living over the county border in Cappoquin by the River Blackwater, her connections to Cork run deep.

Andrea has fond memories of studying under renowned Cork artist Frank Sanquest at the Crawford College of Art and Design - “he helped me to paint more boldly and catch a moment, and not be frightened to just paint,” she recalls.

And as a Jameson, Andrea is a direct descendant of the family responsible for one of East Cork’s most famous exports, the whiskey.

Having exhibited across Ireland and the world, Andrea is now preparing to showcase a special collection of paintings here in Cork at the Ballymaloe Grainstore in Shanagarry.

The exhibition is dedicated to the surgical and oncology consultants, their teams and everyone at Cork University and Bon Secours hospitals who treated and cared for Andrea during her two separate battles with cancer.

“I had lung cancer and breast cancer,” she says. “And both times, the people I met, they were just phenomenal. They just took me under their wing”.

“When you first hear you have cancer,” Andrea continues, “you carry a huge tension and kind of fright. And then the relief when you hear you’re okay... I don’t know to describe it. It’s indescribable.”

As an artist, Andrea likes to express herself through her paintings. Her exhibition is entitled ‘A Year of Happiness’. This may sound odd, as a reflection on a cancer journey. Andrea explains why it is in fact so fitting, as a year of happiness that she might not have had. “It is a whole year of living. Of seeing, of experiencing, of feeling. The exhibition is a thank you that I have been given this, that which could possibly have been taken away. Through my paintings, I can express this.”

As well as a thank-you to her surgical and oncology teams, Andrea hopes that her exhibition will, as she notes, “highlight their hard work, and their families who give them support in such a challenging job. I saw the conditions a lot of them are working in, so they deserve the best working environment and help from us all... What was outstanding about them was their total focus, their kindness, and their capacity to carry on, even though they meet insurmountable sadness.”

With her health struggles, Andrea has witnessed first-hand the dark times that life can bring. She hopes that the joyful escapism of her art can provide some solace for people facing their own challenges.

“We live in a very unsettled world, and maybe through my paintings I can bring a respite of possibility, of positivity into our lives – the ability to see what is around us, the wonderment of this planet.”

Even in the midst of cancer treatment, Andrea never lost her passion for art.

She found inspiration in the kindness of those around her.

“I felt so lucky to have painting, because I would sit down and draw the bunches of flowers that people gave me. I loved it.

“A few of [these paintings] are in the exhibition. I had to paint them with my left hand because I couldn’t use my right hand, but I think I was just so happy that I just wanted to tell people how lovely their presents were!”

‘A Year of Happiness’ consists of around 50 paintings, each one, as Andrea describes, capturing a memory. “Every single painting is a moment that I will always remember. It’s like a diary, in a way.”

Andrea hopes that visitors to the exhibition will come away with a sense of “the beauty that is around us”.

“It’s a totally upbeat, happy reflection on life. We are battered by the awfulness and the tragedies, but hey, there is another side to life. They are coinciding”.

As she prepares for the exhibition, which opens tomorrow, Thursday, September 10, with an introduction by Robert O’Byrne, Andrea reflects on the teamwork that has supported her on every step of her journey.

“This exhibition hasn’t only been by me,” she explains, considering the help she has received from friends and her sisters. “It’s been a team of people who have supported me, helped me organise lists and frames and everything... I wouldn’t have managed all of that by myself.”

Painting may be a solo pursuit, but exhibiting is not. Neither, for that matter, is cancer treatment. The skills and care of her surgical and oncology teams, Andrea stresses, are what made ‘A Year of Happiness’ possible.

‘A Year of Happiness’, an exhibition of new paintings by Andrea Jameson, will run at Ballymaloe Grainstore, Shanagarry, daily from September 11 to October 10, 9am-5pm. Entry to the exhibition is free of charge. Profits raised will go to CUH Charity and the Cúnamh Cancer Support Group.