SUNDAY morning of last week, I was invited to a hanging in Crumlin Road Goal. I arrived at midday as scheduled and the courtyard was packed with people. Turned out they were groups from a cruise ship there for a tour and morning coffee. I climbed the stairs into the old chapel and was immediately surrounded – by paintings.
Titles were fascinating: Where The Unstoppable Meets The Immovable (£750), The Hungry Caterpillar (£950) and Sally on a Stool (£490). There were landscapes and portraits, watercolour, oils and acrylics, all stacked neatly on the floor: hanging had just begun.
This was the 66th annual exhibition of the Ulster Society of Women Artists (USWA), however I soon discovered they had recruited several men who were climbing ladders to affix the artworks to picture rails – but be sure the women were in charge.
This Society was founded by artist Gladys Maccabe, who formed the USWA in 1957 with 10 invited artists. Interesting that one of the original women was Renee Bickerstaff, my art teacher at Holyrood Junior School on Belfast's Lansdowne Road.
Gladys' motivation was that no local arts societies would accept female members, thus depriving local talent of opportunities to show their work. Much like the situation in Northern Ireland, the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin (celebrating it's 200th birthday this year) took a century before women artists were allowed to exhibit, and only elected a woman member to join the prestigious Academy 100 years ago when Sarah Purser blazed an artistic trail.
Gladys reckoned the best way round this misogyny was to set up an all-female society, and she served as the first president.
She was a woman of substance who, with her husband Max, originally started a group show just after the war. Their first outing was at Belfast's Robinson and Cleaver's department store in 1942.
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The couple exhibited in London, Dublin and Belfast and she was one of the artists on a touring exhibition to Rhode Island, Boston and to Ottawa in the mid-40s. She also showed in Paris and at the Royal Scottish Academy.
The Society's first major exhibition was in the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery in 1959. During the 1960s, Gladys was a fashion and arts correspondent for television and newspapers, including The Irish News.
So, the USWA have a proud tradition, and since the days of Gladys Maccabe they have built on her foundations: today, they have an exhibition boasting 143 works of art, with an expectation of selling 99 per cent by the time the doors close next Friday, when awards will have been made and trophies distributed.
MEMBERSHIP BRINGS PRESTIGE
Membership is by selection of submitted works by a jury and it takes four years to achieve full membership.
The society has expanded membership from the original 10 members to well over 100, and with the respect it has gained over the years, becoming a member offers prestige in the art world.
Treasurer Caroline McVeigh pointed out that to be part of the exhibition also brings in much needed funding for the successful artists, as paints and canvases – let alone framing – are expensive.
The standard is high, as these women are a mix of professionals and amateurs, and what hangs on the walls is the best of the best. As secretary of USWA, Lesley Ann Sharp, told me: "Each year I'm surprised I'm surprised."
But is a painting a good investment? President Catherine McKeever assured me that it is, even if only for the pleasure it brings the viewer, although there are plenty of galleries and sales are brisk.
Perfecting skills with paint and brush on canvas is also a good investment for the artist's wellbeing, and there is no age limit: some paintings on show have come from the talents of women in their 80s.
Look at Grandma Moses, for instance. This famous American folk artist was self-taught and only began painting when she was 78, turning out 1,500 works of art before she died, and is still sought after all over the world, with reproductions turning up on thousands of greeting cards.
Pablo Picasso said that there are only two types of woman, goddesses and doormats. He might have been a renowned painter, but he hadn't a clue about women. Pity he can't call into Crumlin Road Gaol and see for himself.
The USWA's 66th annual exhibition runs daily, 10am to 5pm, until August 11. More about the USWA at uswa.co.uk.
LIFE IS SO FRAGILE
BILLY Austin lives in the townland of Brackish near Tandragee and, at 84, he is a prolific portrait painter.
He's remarkable: he catches more than a likeness, and certainly the depth of the character is captured in his most recent work, Sinéad O'Connor, whose fans were so distressed by her death.
But we were all shocked with the recent news that, near Clones, beautiful young women Dlava Mohamed and Kiea McCann lost their lives on a night which had been full of promise, as they prepared for a debs ball.
I imagine these best friends doing their hair, putting on their make-up and their beautiful gowns, laughing and talking, thinking of the night to come and dancing the night away with school friends, then coming away with excitement about the boys they'd met and maybe arranged a date, discussing what other girls were wearing – just the whole joy of being a happy teenager on the verge of stepping out into the world.
Even before they got to the dance, their lives were cut so short in a car accident. Lives can change in an instant, as with the tragic death of Judith McMullan following another road crash, this time in Markethill.
The shockwaves ripple out beyond the family, friends and into the wider community. Sympathies are not enough, prayers perhaps help, time will not heal, and they will forever be remembered.
