Clonmel woman Carmel Kiely was in her mid-70s when she realised that she had a talent for painting, one that had lain dormant for most of her adult life.
Then, when she turned 77, she had her first art exhibition in her home town, when 29 of the 37 works she had on display were snapped up by art lovers keen to have her work hanging on their walls.
“And what that told me is that it’s never too late to start anything. It took courage for me to put myself out there in front of people”, she said from her Anne Street home where she does all her painting.
It’s not surprising that Carmel succeeded in her new-found passion, as talent runs deep in the Kiely family. She is grand-daughter of Tom ‘The Champion’ Kiely from Ballyneale, one of this country’s greatest ever athletes, who won gold at the St Louis Olympics in 1904 in the all-round event, the forerunner of today’s modern decathlon.
As this country had not achieved independence at the time, Tom could not officially represent Ireland. He rejected approaches from both Britain and the United States to wear their colours in the games, and when asked who he was representing, he replied – “Ireland and Tipperary”.
Carmel, whose brother Tom was also a champion cyclist, inherited much of her grandfather’s resolve. “Don’t be afraid to use your talents, and if you have a passion for something then go and do it”, she says.
She was an accomplished athlete herself in her younger days, winning schools events and excelling at long distance races, but her talents were more in the creative and artistic fields – painting, dancing, music and craftwork.
It was only during the Covid lockdown, and the months that followed when restrictions were lifted, that Carmel resurrected the gift of painting that she had from childhood. To avoid boredom during the months she was confined to her home without visitors, she took up making one-thousand piece jigsaws, but then when the lockdown ended her new passion began.
“My daughter Gráinne showed me an advert on Facebook from art teacher Jacqueline Gartlan looking for people to join her art classes at Hillview Sports Club. I said I’d join even though I had only water colours while Jacqueline was teaching in oils”, Carmel recalls.
“I said I would give it a go and we started on still life. But then I decided not to go back as I thought it wasn’t for me at that stage in my life. However, Jacquline rang and encouraged me to return. She gave me oils to try and I said I would give it a go. After that there was no turning back as I loved it.
“Jacqueline has a lovely and gentle way of teaching and is very encouraging, and without that encouragement I wouldn’t have gone back. Encouragement is so important in everyone’s life. She saw enthusiasm and excitement in me rather than talent”.
That was in 2022 – and the next step for the adventurous Carmel was to host her own exhibition, and that came about in April this year with her own show in Clonmel Library. She had to apply for the exhibition space one year in advance but said to herself that she could opt out during that time if she got cold feet.
But she persevered, and the exhibition went ahead to great acclaim, with a large attendance at the official launch and regular visitors over the following weeks.
“I had 37 paintings in the exhibition and when I saw them on the wall, I said to myself, gosh, I painted all these. I didn’t intend to sell them but wanted to let other people see them and realise that you can paint and that it’s never too late to start. Encouraging other people was my real aim. I would have taken all the painting home if I had to”.
But the visitors to the exhibition had other ideas. Carmel had to bring just eight paintings home as the other 29 were sold.
“I was delighted. I was even asked to do commissions but I didn’t as it would put me under pressure. I’m not painting to make money or as a business. At this age I’ll just paint for pleasure”, she says.
And she continues – “The exhibition was a great thrill. I loved meeting the people who came in and when people bought the paintings, I loved why they bought them. They bought them as birthday presents or because it evoked memories for them. They then sent me photographs of the paintings hanging on their walls at home. I never thought it would come to this. The paintings spoke to people and they had their different reasons for buying them”.
Her work has also been recognised at local shows, including a first prize at Powerstown Show two years ago and more recently a rosette at Clonmel Show.
Carmel can trace her love for painting back to her schooldays in the Sisters of Charity NS in the 1950s, and the influence of legendary art teacher Molly Bracken. “Molly was so much ahead of her time as an art teacher, bringing us to places around town, such as the weir at Old Bridge, and Gladstone Street to paint streetscapes”, Carmel recalls. And she was a good student as she came 4th in the All Ireland Children’s Caltex art competition in her teens.
Carmel’s talents with her hands didn’t just extend to painting, as she loved all types of arts, crafts and knitting, making several rugs, baby clothes as gifts, Aran jumpers and knitted toys that she sold in Carri’s shop in O’Connell Street, thread and nail pictures, basket weaving and tapestry.
She also loved dancing and was taught ballet by the famed Joan Denise Moriarty in the Collins Hall in 1957. “I loved it with a passion and had the leading role of Helen of Troy in Faust in the Regal Theatre in 1964”, she recalls. And she looks back fondly at the time that she and her daughter, Gráinne, then seven at the time, danced together as ballerina mother and daughter in the Denis Lacey Hall, again under the direction of Joan Denise Moriarty.
In later years, her dancing involvements extended to Geraldine Molumby’s ‘Dancerama’, tap dancing with Alison Cronin, and of course many productions in the White Memorial Theatre with St. Mary’s Choral Society.
A full life of creativity and participation culminated in Carmel’s brave decision to stage her first exhibition and put her work on show to the wider public. It took courage and hard work but proved both exhilarating and rewarding, not letting fear or judgement get in her way.
It sums up her life philosophy – “It was a huge success, to my amazement and delight, and shows it’s never too late to begin anything. All we need to do is start because we never know what we can achieve until we try.
“I only painted to enjoy the experience and it led to me life-changing enjoyment. We are all resilient beings and can overcome adversity, and joining a group of like-minded people with similar passions can transform boring to exciting”.
She attributes a huge amount of the success she achieved to the support and encouragement of Jacqueline Gartlan, who herself spoke glowingly of Carmel’s achievements at the exhibition launch. “I’m still learning, and picking up a lot from Jacqueline, who was a great help, and so were many others in staging the exhibition at the library, a beautiful location for it”.
And will she stage another exhibition? “Never say never. I don’t know but I’m not saying no. I would have less paintings but I’m still painting away and might not need as many the second time around”, she replies.
