A West of Ireland artist, Seamus McGuinness, has been causing quite an impact since he opened his exhibition at the Irish Arts Centre in New York last year. Entitled "Silent Spaces", the exhibition consists of 22 new pieces by the artist, who works with hand-dyed, distressed fabrics and free-machine stitching.
He chose the title for his work after the deaths of his parents last year, within five months of each other. This exhibition, he says, is by way of a tribute to them.
Born and raised in Derry, Seamus now lives with his family in the heart of the Burren, close to Ballyvaughan in north Clare, where he says he has found sanctuary and great inspiration for his work. This is his first show in the US, and he has discovered it to be an exhilarating experience.
"Certainly one of the most exciting ventures in my career to date," he says, describing how he had the opportunity to meet many New York-based artists at the opening, including several of international repute such as Nancy Kronnenberg, Betty Vera and Archie Brennan.
Now in his 70s, Brennan is planning a visit to Ireland early this year with his wife, Susan Maffai, and Mr McGuinness hopes to persuade him to hold a workshop in Galway.
The Irish Centre, where the exhibition is, has been in existence for over a quarter of a century and is an important venue for emerging Irish and Irish-American artists. It is also a showcase for Irish music, dance, theatre and literature.
Adult education classes are held regularly, along with sessions about once a month. Newry-born Pauline Turley is the executive director, and the theatrical director is Tracey Ferguson from Gort, Co Galway.
McGuinness has already shown his work in Helsinki, Berlin, Milan and London, and his craft has attracted a large following here. As a member of Fibre 2000, a group of artists from North and South, his work was also on show at Dublin Airport in 1998.
He has also been lecturing in the textile department at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology for the past four years.
And what of the future? He plans an exhibition this year in New Mexico. "There are a number of excellent fibre galleries to be found there," he says, "and anyway it is a place I have always dreamed of visiting."