{"id":249780,"date":"2026-01-17T15:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/249780\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T15:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:52:13","slug":"sligo-artist-showcasing-latest-work-at-the-custom-house-in-westport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/249780\/","title":{"rendered":"Sligo artist showcasing latest work at the Custom House in Westport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Visual artist, Daniel Chester, originally from Enniscrone and now living in Dromahair, at work.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6c993383-10b9-4160-a22c-883d67e0c628.jpg\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_caption1 indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_secondary indo-66f0fec7_regular indo-1d70522a_marginbottom0 indo-1d70522a_marginleft0 indo-1d70522a_marginright0 indo-1d70522a_margintop3 indo-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Visual artist, Daniel Chester, originally from Enniscrone and now living in Dromahair, at work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom0 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Originally from Enniscrone, Co Sligo now living in Dromahair in Leitrim, artist Daniel Chester will be showcasing his first solo show in over six years at the Custom House Gallery, Westport, Co Mayo. The exhibition will be officially opened on Friday, January 23 at 6pm by Gallery Manager, Katriona Gillespie. The current body of work will consist of 17 paintings all newly produced over the past 12 months for this show. The title of the show \u201cThread Softly\u201d looks at the ecology of the landscapes of Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo and Fermanagh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Thread Softly is a solo exhibition of paintings by Daniel Chester, focusing on the ecology of the rural Irish landscape. In this body of work, Chester delicately captures the subtle interplay between land, water, and sky, revealing the hidden networks and quiet vitality of Ireland\u2019s countryside. His brushwork and palette evoke both the resilience and fragility of native flora, shifting weather, and the ever-present traces of human touch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Through his attentive observation, Chester invites viewers to consider the interconnectedness of all living things within these landscapes. \u201cThread Softly\u201d becomes both a gentle admonition and an invitation: to look more closely, to tread with care, and to reflect on our relationship with the land that sustains us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">This exhibition offers a contemplative journey through fields, bogs, hedgerows, and meadows\u2014spaces where art, ecology, and memory intertwine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Daniel Chester is a visual artist living in County Leitrim. He obtained a Masters in Visual Arts Practices from IADT in 2009, previous to that he obtained a Degree in Fine Art from Sligo IT in 2001. Chester has exhibited throughout Ireland and abroad, with a number of recent solo and group shows such as \u201cBeneath the Canopy\u201d and \u201dBeyond the Stile\u201d SolartGallery Dublin. \u201cThe Land is Ours\u201d Luan Gallery, Athlone. Beyond the Plains Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon, \u201cThe Ethereal Space\u201d Hamilton Gallery, Sligo. \u201cIdentity\u201d Westival Westport Co Mayo, Seeing is believing, Solartgallery Dublin. Daniel\u2019s work has been selected for the RUA awards ever year for the last four years. Daniel has been awarded a number of artist bursary awards from Leitrim Co Co, and artist bursary awards for the arts council. Daniel is currently the art teacher at Loughan House prison in Co Cavan. <\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Daniel\u2019s work has been purchased by the OPW, Leitrim Co Co, Google Ireland, NHS, HSE, Sligo Co Co, ATU Sligo, Danske Bank and in numerous private collections throughout the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visual artist, Daniel Chester, originally from Enniscrone and now living in Dromahair, at work. Originally from Enniscrone, Co&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,4636,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-249780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-emma-gallagher","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}