Jenny Munro talks to
Margaret O'Hare - Gallerist
Margaret
O'Hare, 37, is the director of Fine Art Imaging which is
fronted by the Art For Walls gallery on Seymour Street in
Lisburn.
The Dunmurry woman initially trained as a
formal fine artist in Belfast and London and then spent time
managing the photography departments or cruise liners. After
twelve years travelling the world, she hung up her sailor's
shoes and drew on her extensive portfolio to create Fine Art
Imaging.
My morning always begins with a run then
I'm primed to get stuck into the day. I moved to Dunmurry to
be close to the gallery, and I love living there. It has jus
the right mix of city and country. I like to hear the trains
trundle by, yet five minutes along any number of routes out
of the village I can be running along rural roads with
beautiful scenery - it's perfect. Unless I have a meeting I
head straight to the gallery. It's a wonderful space on the
edge of Lisburn's historic quarter, and perfect for
displaying art. Huge sash windows flood the place with light
and there's an original 19th century stable yard out the
back. I'm proud to be a small part of the cultural and
historic redevelopment of this part of the city. You never
know when a colourful parade might come thumping past, a
circus is in town, or an art fair has blossomed against the
railings just up the street.
My day largely consists of matching
limited edition prints to clients. I am passionate about
encouraging public appreciation of photography as fine art,
and equally dedicated to providing affordable solutions for
walls.
The website alone boasts over 2,500
images, broken down into categories, and I spend a lot of
time with customers discovering what themes and colours they
like, or what sort of space the work is to go into to help
them through the selection process. It's very important to
me that my private clients walk away with an image that they
have simply fallen in love with. It should give them
pleasure to live with on their walls.
I always enjoy getting to know the
visitors to the gallery, and I never cease to be surprised
at the sort of images people respond to. Art is very much
about personal choice. I often hear the phrase 'oh I don't
know anything about art!'. to which I just laugh and tell
them that is my job -their job is simply to decide what they
like.
I produce all the work here in the
gallery to order, so a large part of my day involves the
actual printing onto canvas or photo paper. I've teamed up
with a local framer, and he might be in and out, dropping
completed work off.
I also produce a lot of images for
corporate spaces, and this will involve a consultation out
of the gallery. It's a long day, but I'm doing something I
love.
Sometimes I might be out in the evening
to look at a new restaurant or attending a briefing with an
interior designer on the selection of pieces for a larger
project such as a hotel or office building. I have to say
that designers and developers do appreciate the service I
provide. I manage to complement their design process without
compromising their budgets. When I studied sculpture, my
brothers used to say I was a 'hobby-horse mechanic' - a
local phrase for not really having a useful function in
society. However when I discovered my passion for
photography. I realised I did in fact provide a very useful
service that people valued and enjoyed.
" The gallery website can be found at
www.fineartimaging.co.uk, and Lisburn's Art On The Rails
program is held around Castle Gardens on the second and last
Saturday of every month.
Ulster Star
30/05/2008
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