Rare chance to catch Laois art exhibition by Mountmellick native

A Laois artist who has settled in Cork is bringing it all back home for a rare exhibition of her oil paintings this May.

Nano Culliton's art will feature in a month long exhibition in the sought after Abbeyleix Library Gallery, launching on Thursday evening, May 1.

She grew up in the historic Grange Lodge Mountmellick, where she was influenced and inspired to paint by well known Laois artist Gemma Guihan.

"Gemma was the first artist I ever saw at work. She lived across the road. My mother gave her a studio space to paint in our house. I used to creep in at night and see her painting growing. I was fascinated by oil paints. I credit her with a lot of my determination to paint," Nano said.

Now in a lovely full circle some 40 years later, Gemma is to perform the official opening for Nano's exhibition, her first in Laois for many years.

Nano spoke to the Leinster Express / Laois Live about her own life and work.

"I probably always painted. I went to college for a while in Waterford, then I went travelling, to Pakistan, to Italy, and set up a studio then. I would miss it. It's the only thing that keeps me level. 

"I have had three shows in Laois in the past, in the late Jim Tynan's restaurant, he was very supportive. I had exhibitions in Kilkenny and May too. I settled in Cork, I went to University College Cork and while there I met Steve and we married in 2001. I've lived in Cork now for 27 years, and we have three grown children now," she said.

Nano held her first show in five years last January, in On The Pig's Back in Douglas, Cork and it led to the Laois exhibition.

"I work part time in a credit union in Cork, so that I don't have to make my art viable, I want the freedom to paint what I like," she explains.

She painted all through 2024 to create a new collection for the exhibition. It was a success with many works sold, so she decided to seek another venue.

"I always fancied exhibiting in Abbeyleix library, you can see the work when you stop at the traffic lights. I had a chat and applied and they booked me in for October 2027, promising to ring if they had a cancellation. And then they rang me offering this May.  I feel really lucky," she said.

Nano and supporters at the opening of her recent Cork exhibition.

Nano's work is influenced by nature.

"My pictures are very observational. I grew up on the farm, my dad died when I was nine. But I remember waking up and hearing him sing to the cows, he said it made them milk better. He would let me into the parlour and I'd be standing under these huge cows looking up and loving them. Now I paint farm animals, landscapes, kids, and commissions," she said.

Her works are all framed, priced from approximately €150 to €600.

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She is hoping that people will come along in support for the exhibition opening.

"I have a cadre of people who follow my work in Cork but I feel a bit exposed not knowing if I will get as many in Laois. I do have family there, there's lots of us, so I hope that family and other people can come along," she said.

Nano Culliton's exhibition opening is from 6.15pm until 7.30pm on Thursday, May 1 in Abbeyleix Library Gallery. It will run until May 31, open during library hours. 

See Gemma Guihan's website here.