The artists selected by curator Clare Hartigan for POPA this year travelled to Stradbally Hall two weeks before the festival. We had from Tuesday to Friday to create our artworks to be hung during the Picnic. One each, measuring 12ft x 8ft! Mammoth!. I love painting large but this was to be my largest yet.

All was good until the day before when I had a major panic! How was I going to paint this with basic outdoor paints? Was my image going to work? How on earth was I going to do it on time? What had I signed myself up for? But I had signed myself up, so I just had to get on with it. And how happy I am that I did!

My partners in crime were Adrienne Finnerty, Myra O’Reilly, Michelle Panda-Kelly and Des MacMahon. We were accommodated in the attic of Stradbally Hall itself! Very Downtown Abbey I have to say.

We were set up in the barn, a very large indoor show jumping arena. The boards were already made up for us by the crew and coated with a basic white primer. And we painted all day, every day sometimes until 9.30 at night when we would break for the chats and a few glasses of wine. We were regularly visited by the crew and often joined by '“Squiggly” the resident sign maker for the festival, who provided us with incredible soundtracks for the week.

And there you have it. We had a ball and all finished our pieces on time. It was an incredible experience and such a pleasure to share it with such wonderful individuals. And bonus ….we all got free Electric Picnic Tickets for the weekend!

CURATED BY CLARE HARTIGAN

“The Place of the Picnic Art (PoPA) returns this year with another five artists invited to take residency on-site at Stradbally Estate during the festival build. The Artist spend their days painting large scale paintings for display on the POPA wall in the main stage arena over the weekend of Electric Picnic itself.

The project has once again been curated by artist Clare Hartigan, who has been at the heart of Electric Picnic’s art scene for many years. Clare has invited five artists to join her on POPA this year, following the theme of “Speak to Me” with an emphasis on positive body image and mental health. Each artists has been given the opportunity to work on a very large scale piece and the freedom to speak to the 55,000 strong audience through their art. Each artist is selected simply on their record of working within the visual arts. “There are no proposals or application processes , as this has a tendency to turn artist of a certain type from getting involved. These are the artists that we are looking for. “ Hartigan believes talent , personality, ability and a positive attitude are the main attributes needed to take on the scale and pressure of creating a painting onsite in a working festival build. “As an artist it is a brilliant and challenging experience. The comraderie that develops between the artists is just lovely to witness. There is always something new to learn and sometimes as an established artist you just need to be willing to be taken out of your comfort zone and to see where that can bring you. Having started the project in 2015 , of the experience Hartigan says “Its like the opposite of going on a quiet retreat.…. It is a fast pace environment , often stressful , challenging, but still refreshing , invigorating and extremely fulfilling when you get it right”.

The artists selected are Debbie Chapman. Based in West Dublin, Chapman creates beautifully moody figurative works that ooze emotion. Myra O’Reilly . Limerick based artist O’Reillys uses colour, form and body language to engage the viewer and build stories within her work. Des MacMahon, of Limerick printmakers and LSAD print tutor. With a focus on drawing McMahons work is full of witty conversations that often cuts very close to the bone. Abstract artist Adrienne M Finnerty, who has a background in hypno-psychotherapy, sound movement and colour therapy. Finnerty’s work screams joy ,colour and music . It will make you want to dance . Irish - Peruvian artist Michelle Pando-Kelly whose soothing landscape work is heavily influenced by the great impressionists.

There is something for everyone to enjoy and hopefully you will enjoy them all.”