You Hum It, Son, I’ll Paint It

t was a little over a year ago when Mary-Kate Hardy was given her latest oddball commission.

Given the Greystones artist’s vast experience – from larger-than-life window paintings to murals, and her funky escape room escapades – being asked to paint an old piano shouldn’t have been all that much of a challenge.

But, it stumped her. It stumped her good.

To the point that Mary-Kate would spend hours, just staring at that old piano.

Which must have been fun.

Exasperated, Mary-Kate dared to venture beyond Greystones’ borders in search of inspiration, visiting the art galleries of our fair city. Where she would spend hours staring at the tactile paintings of Louis Le Brocquy, Francis Bacon and – becoming particularly entranced by his heavy, heavy palette knife style – Jack B. Yeats.

The work was going to take months upon months of applying layer upon layer of acrylics, and going down a cul de sac on such a Lord of The Rings journey really wasn’t an option. 

Swinging down to the Greystones Studios this afternoon, we caught up with Mary-Kate and her finally completed splatter of artistic expression, to find out just how she got from there to here…

Situated in The Yellow Studio on the first floor of Greystones Studios on Theatre Lane, go check out this remarkable work of art for yourself. Mary-Kate even left a chair at the perfect distance, so you can take it all in. Whilst having a nap.