M I C H E L E     C O O P E R



 


events '04








Dunluce Castle
Michele's Traveling Studio
Irish Journal

Welcome to Michele's Traveling Studio Online! My name is Michele Cooper and through this web site I hope to keep in touch with my students, readers and friends in many countries around the world with whom I share a love for the art of painting watercolors. The Traveling Studio is currently gearing up for the Women Painters of Washington - Millennium Images Exhibit in Ireland. Check back from time to time for a peek into my Irish Journal. If I can access the internet while I'm there, I will post weekly updates. 

(I know this is basically a map enhancing the Republic of Ireland, but I hope to find another of Northern Ireland, soon. Send me a link if you find one first.)


The first stop on the tour is in Western Ireland: 

1. Galway, July 13-25
at Columban Hall 
Sea Road 
Galway, Ireland 
Galway Arts Festival 

Next stop, Northern Ireland with maybe a trip to Waterford and Kinvarra in between. 

2. Belfast, August 4-15
at Waterfront Hall 
Belfast City Council Conference and Concert Centre 
2 Lanyon Place, Belfast 
BT3 3LP Telephone 01232 334400 
Fax 01232 249862 

  Notes from Michele's Irish Journal 

"Self-Driving--Go for it!"

... that's what Rick Steves and his globe trotting pals all say in their guide books about Ireland. 

      Okaaay. Come to think of it, the left-brain/right-brain theory may come into play here. Let's see, if the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then it must also govern the left side of the highway . . . Perfect! And since the right side is the intuitive side, used mostly by artists, I will have a well honed, fail safe, emergency back-up system that will kick in if ever a driving puzzle presents itself.
     Can you tell how excited I am to be a part of this whole experience? As always, the people you meet make the journey memorable. Judging from the hospitable reputation of the Irish people, I am sure I will not be disappointed. But first, I think I should probably go out in the familiar countryside here at home and practice a few left lane driving techniques . . . so as not to tax their hospitable nature too greatly.


July 13 Update: 

"The Galway Girls", deliriously happy on a day of painting the Connemara Coastline. 

Tonight we go to Columban Hall in Galway for our first opening night of WPW Millenium Images-Ireland & America  Art Exhibit. At this very moment, Cathe Gill just returned from giving an impromptu 10 minute live radio interview with regarding our show on Radio Galway. 

More about the show and all, and all, after tonight. 

July 14 


Michele at Columban Hall with her watercolor "Northwest Coast" on opening night. 

July 17 

We have been taking photos like mad, yet it seems like a new world is around every corner in Ireland. Many of the original stone-built buildings have been adapted for current use. Here is one of my favorites, becoming a painting very soon! 

July 19 


The weather in Roundstone today is like the Pacific NW, only wetter! A cloud can engulf a whole mountain while you paint it! The temperature is not bad for people like us who know how to layer our entire wardrobes.

Then, when you're soaked through all the layers, go to the Pub for Irish Stew and Guinness. What a life! 

July 20

Kind artists invite us to their castle for dinner. Just the thing to do on a stormy Tuesday night.

July 27

Oh, how I would like to be at the pub right now! As I look up to my right, I see that we have driven nearly to the top of Slieve League in our 4-door mid-size sedan. Etched in stone on what looks like a grave marker is a wee reminder: "No cars beyond river."

There just isn't enough room in my camera to show a 1,000 ft. sheer descent from the "car park" at my feet looking left all the way down to the bottom of Slieve League, the highest cliff face in Europe.


 

July 28

Sea level and sun at last!  We have just enjoyed one of the most superior lectures and guided tours I have ever experienced. Our guide has led us through this ancient site and through time to give us a thoroughly fascinating picture of the megalithic artifacts and anthropological research that has been discovered here at Carrowmore. Thanks, again. 

Painting under a tree at Carrowmore. The weather is great for the third day in a row. Tonight is Wednesday and  we are going to a Dinner Theatre presentation of Yeats works and  Irish music. 
 
 
 
Complete details of our painting workshops are now available. If there is still space available on the barge, we would love to have you along in June, 2000. So sign up soon!

For many of you a visit to this web site will be our first meeting, so perhaps you would like to read a little bit more about me and my connection to the art world. 

I hope you'll visit this site often and I would love to hear from you - my e-mail address is michele@michelecooper.com
 

   
 
Copyright © 1999 Michele's NW Studio