"Here in America, Irish dance has become ingrained in the popular imagination as a result of long-running juggernaut productions like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Kathy Fahey’s Fáinne Óir takes its rightful place beside those works. Fahey's music-dance-theater piece is a prodigious creative accomplishment and entrepreneurial feat. Not only did Fahey serve as composer, librettist, maestro, and creative force, she drew together the resources to bring her Irish company to NYC for a performance at Symphony Space.
What impressed me most about Fáinne Óir was not just the spectacular dance and music (featuring choreographer / lead dancer, Ciara Sexton and a 40-piece live orchestra with choral support), but its truly unique elements: the strong narrative drive, the seamless and powerful integration of art (Padraig McCaul’s luminous paintings serve as a constant backdrop to the piece), and the sheer joy of the experience, expressed by
an audience that spontaneously rose to their feet, moved to the music, and applauded during some of the more impressive and impactful moments of the show."
--Kevin Fortuna (Author, Movie Producer, Entrepreneur )
We are delighted to announce Padraig McCaul as the winner of our 2024 Favourite Painting art exhibition and competition.
This is a blog post I wrote back in 2014 about the first workshop I ran on Achill Island. I'm republishing it here, along with some others, to make sure I have them all in one place on my website.
Revisiting an interview I gave to the Mayo News in 2014 about moving to Achill and living and working on the island
Ten years is a long time! In 2013 I gave an interview to James Sweetman for his online e-Zine and Blog. In it we discussed my life before I became a painter and how I made the transition to full time artist. James is a highly-rated and well-respected Executive and Personal Coach, Trainer, Keynote Speaker, Author and Columnist, and he had some great questions. Below is the interview in full..
This is an article I wrote for the US website EmptyEasel.com in 2014. It is a short guide to my own philosophy around making a living as an artist.
In the world of art, few subjects have captured the imagination and creativity of artists as powerfully as landscapes. Here is an article written for the benefit of Google SEO :-)
My new solo exhibition, ‘The Ties That Bind’, opens in the Doorway Gallery, Dublin on July 7th and runs until July 28th. Here is an interview I gave to the Doorway Gallery as part of the social media campaign....
The RTE Nationwide TV programme is now available to view on the RTE Player.
In August this year I got to spend a magical 8 days at the Cill Rialaig artist residency in Co.Kerry
RTE Nationwide visited Achill in May, 2021 to film me in my studio and surroundings and to talk about my work and time on Achill Island
A DAY IN THE LIFE: PADRAIG MCCAUL, 20 APRIL 2021
An insightful, glowing review of Fáinne Óir from author and film producer, Kevin Fortuna.
Fáinne Óir opened to standing ovations in New York and Castlebar. Here is a comprehensive review by the Irish Echo, the oldest and largest selling Irish newspaper in USA.
Composer and conductor Kathy Fahey is bringing an ambitious new music and contemporary dance production to stage
I am absolutely thrilled to let you know about the world premiere of a new music and contemporary dance production, Fáinne Óir, which takes place on September 20th in the Theatre Royal, Castlebar before moving to New York for a performance in the Symphony Space Theatre, Broadway, on September 26th.
I am very excited to have been asked to create a set of new original paintings to be used as the backdrops for a new Irish contemporary music and dance production, Fáinne Óir.
A MAYO artist who is just back from a sell-out exhibition in Australia will be showing his vivid portraits of the Achill landscape at Ireland’s premier art fair Art Source, in the RDS from November 10 to 12.
http://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/articles/2017/11/01/4147921-mayo-artist-in-the-national-spotlight-after-australian-success/
I held my first exhibition in Australia in July this year at the Kidogo Arthouse, Fremantle. It was a great success and turned out to be a complete sell out.
I recently exhibited at the Affordable Art Fair in London with the Doorway Gallery. It's always an exciting fair to be at and this was, I think, my sixth time at the fair.
Here's a link to a great review of the show from William McKenzie.
Padraig McCaul paintings to feature in new national Eircode marketing campaign
Summer 2016 is going to be very busy, with paintings workshops, exhibitions and a major national marketing campaign to look forward to.
This is an interview I gave to the Galway Advertiser in the run up to my exhibition at the Townhall Theatre in Galway in March this year.
'Padraig McCaul’s luminous paintings...' Another FAINNE OIR Review
10/16/2019
"Here in America, Irish dance has become ingrained in the popular imagination as a result of long-running juggernaut productions like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Kathy Fahey’s Fáinne Óir takes its rightful place beside those works. Fahey's music-dance-theater piece is a prodigious creative accomplishment and entrepreneurial feat. Not only did Fahey serve as composer, librettist, maestro, and creative force, she drew together the resources to bring her Irish company to NYC for a performance at Symphony Space.
What impressed me most about Fáinne Óir was not just the spectacular dance and music (featuring choreographer / lead dancer, Ciara Sexton and a 40-piece live orchestra with choral support), but its truly unique elements: the strong narrative drive, the seamless and powerful integration of art (Padraig McCaul’s luminous paintings serve as a constant backdrop to the piece), and the sheer joy of the experience, expressed by
an audience that spontaneously rose to their feet, moved to the music, and applauded during some of the more impressive and impactful moments of the show."
--Kevin Fortuna (Author, Movie Producer, Entrepreneur )