Dublin-based artist Kate Mac Donagh (b. Sligo), winner of The Model Cara Award 2018, is currently Artist-in-Residence at The Model. Kate studied painting at Limerick School of Art and Design and continued her studies in the Belles Arts in Madrid.

Following a workshop in Japanese print-making in 2014 Kate fell in love with the simple process of Mokuhanga (Japanese waterbased woodcut). She has been on several residencies to Japan since and is a member of an International group of  Mokuhanga print-makers who have adapted this technique to their own individual practices.

Kate held a  weekend masterclass in September at The Model with a small group of participants. This was an incredible opportunity to learn the technique and to get to know the different tools  -the Baren a hand held tool made from bamboo which is used to print (no press required) and brushes made from horse hair etc. The whole process is environmentally-friendly, where the artist carves her own block in Japanese shina ply. Participants got to realise that the simpler the design the better as when it comes to the printing process the water-colour pigments that are used bring out the painterly qualities of the print on the beautiful hand made papers.

Last week, Gallery Press launched four new titles at Poetry Ireland on Thursday evening. Peter Sirr, one of the author’s invited Kate to have her work on the front cover of his new poetry edition.

At the moment Kate is making new work, some of which can be viewed in an exhibition at SO FINE ART in Dublin opening on the 10th October. The title of the exhibition ‘Somewhere in Between’ is a collaboration between two Irish artists Kate MacDonagh and Alison Kay with two German artists Stefanie Brüning and Thomas Heyl.