Betty Newman-Maguire

2016.
Bronze. 
Edition of 10.

Guiding Star is a series of sea stars cast into a large star upon a base. It is 7 and a half feet high, cast in bronze with bleached wood base. It was included as part of Clifden Arts Festival in 2015, exhibited in Reingard Gahan's Gallery, Clifden.

2015.
Bronze, Unique.

This sculpture is a public commission, commissioned by Sticky Fingers and Down and Mourne District Council. It is sited in Hill Street, Newry, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. The artist worked with local schoolchildren from St. Peter's Primary School, Cloughreagh, Newry.

The sculpture is based on the idea that every chair has a story and a memory. Here, the chair is seen to grow back into a tree and contains elements from its past life as an oak tree. The children worked alongside the artist creating their own drawings and small sculptures. The names of all 44 children and the artist herself are cast into the back of the leaves. It is a playful, interactive and functional sculpture that evokes a smile.

2012.
Bronze, Unique.

This sculpture was sponsored by Kells Town Council and commissioned by the Maureen O'Hara Organising Committee. It is sited on the site where her father, Charles Stewart Parnell Fitzsimons, was born. The sculpture depicts a bust of Maureen O'Hara in the 1940's, where she wore her hair up with a plunging neck line with lace and frills. The height of the sculpture and its base is 5ft7in, the same as Maureen herself. It is unusual to have a celebrity unveil their own figure, which is a unique challenge for the artist.

This is a unique bronze. Here we see a female figure image within a large tidal wave. A recession or any trauma can come in many forms; sometimes going with the flow is the only way to survive. 

30cm x 23cm x 15cm

2014.
Bronze, Unique.

Rose of Tralee Submission. Designed for the Public Sculpture Commission for Tralee Bypass. Runner-up. 

17inches x 9 inches x 5 inches.   
2013.
Bronze.
Available for sale. Contact for further information.

Commissioned by Navan Town Council in 2010. It is sited in Civic Space, Kennedy Road, Navan. It is a fountain where the figure is set on a circular base of Kilkenny limestone. The water flows over the stone and back. It is a unique fountain in that there is no pool of water. The figure is 7 and a half feet tall.

2010.
Bronze.

Báite is sited on Essex Quay / Wood Quay, Dublin. It was commissioned for the Dublin millenium by Dublin City Council, AIB, Sculpture Society and FÁS Finglas. It is 35ft long, 11 and a half feet wide and 9 feet tall. It is fabricated in Corten Steel and the terminals are cast in bronze. The seats are made from native oak.

The sculpture Báite (sunken or drowned) is inspired by the site Wood Quay. The remains of this Viking settlement was excavated prior to the construction of Dublin City Council head office. The long narrow site and its Viking past is what inspired the sculpture. It is a functional sculpture, in that it connects with its past history and also offers seating for the tired and weary. The seating steps out the shape of the ship and the steel ribs give it a skeletal appearance.

The people of Dublin lovingly call it "The Boat That Don't Float".

1988.
Bronze, Steel, Oak.

Over the years I realised how quick our lives can change. Our environment is fragile, as we too are fragile.

On September 11th 2001 the world watched as we saw thousands die in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, New York, USA. This terrible loss of life, shook me to the core and drove me to create the images for this exhibition Worlds Apart, which was to be held in New York in AIB Park Avenue, New York, in 2002. 

In this exhibition I explore the worlds we now live in, how we perceive it, and how it can change for us. 

Part of the exhibition was also exhibited in Louise Bourgeois Studio, where it became part of documentation on her life.

University Of Ulster, York Street, Belfast. MA Show 1998. 

Brick, Glass, Slate, Wax, Bronze, Hair.

Installation. Here the artist uses a combination of techniques: cast glass, cast bronze, moulded wax, text blasted from bricks (the bricks came from the artists childhood home), stacked glass and glass fused in a kiln with text etched into its surface.

The artist used the Maya Angelou poem "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings":

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.

Exhibition in Westchester Arts Centre, New York, in 2001. The actual beds are taken to outdoor situation in New York, with a series of photographs shown in the exhibition. In collaboration with photographer Robert Varcoe.

This was an interesting project where I took small scale sculptures and placed them in suitable environments, which enhanced the concepts. For example, Bed Of Truth placed at the ocean seemed a fitting environment.  

Botanic Gardens, 2010. 
Sculpture In Context Exhibition.
Bronze, Unique.
7 and a half feet tall.

The exhibition originated in the Pantheon Gallery, Dublin, in 1992. It toured Ireland to include: Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick. MARC, Mullingar. Down Arts Centre. Longford Library. Trim Library. Portlaoise County Hall. Wexford Arts Centre.

The exhibition had a series of drawings, wall-mounted and free-standing sculptures. This is the first solo show by the artist. The work was inspired by a period of imposed rest following a potentially career-ending accident. We have within each of us the power to become what it is we want to be or do in life. Sometimes it takes a leap of trust in ourselves to achieve what it is we want to achieve.

Bronze, Sandstone. 

This series began in 2001 and was exhibited in 2001 (Westchester Arts, New York), 2006 (Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath) and 2007 (County Museum, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan).

The bed is used as a metaphor for life, for places or states we find ourselves in. The materials are bronze and glass. The colour of the patination is chosen to suit the mood of each bed.

Some titles include: Bed of Truth, Frustration, Lies, Roses, Hopes, Yesterday, Fragility, Indecision, Tomorrow, Promises and Dreams.

1999. Irish Arts Centre, New York.

Part of this work was undertaken during my Masters at University of Ulster in 1996-1998. The exhibition is based on the Search within Ireland for peace between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and the artists search for inner peace. 

The British Irish Agreement was signed in Belfast in 1998, and it was a great time to be in University in Northern Ireland as this happening greatly influenced the work that I was making.

Healing is in the collection of the Irish Consulate in New York.
Time to Decide is in the collection of the Irish Art Centre, New York. 

This installation consists of a number of elements relating to the house or home. The title of the exhibition, Under The Stairs, refers to items that may be broken or needing attention tend to get placed under the stairs.

In the exhibition the artist uses a variety of materials from old wooden crates to precious porcelain hearts. One heart is placed inside a glass house, while another bronze eroded heart was placed in a bowl of water.

Stone, Steel, Wood, Candlelight, Glass, Ceramics and Bronze.

A series of handmade bricks with text important to family life and home blasted out of the bricks, which formed a fireplace in the Claremorris Open Exhibition in 1998. 

The photographs were taken from the outside, forming the images for the Outside Looking In exhibition which was hosted in the Irish Arts Centre, New York, and the Drogheda Arts Centre, Co. Louth, 2000. 

Kells is a monastic settlement. Over 200 monks resided in the monastery, which was a centre of learning where the Book Of Kells was completed. The town became a seat of learning during that time. This became the inspiration for the Seat Of Learning, now sited outside SuperValu on the Kells/Cavan Road.

Commissioned by Larry O'Brien in collaboration with Kells Town Council as part of the Percentage For Arts Scheme for new buildings in 2008.

Cast Bronze. 8ft x 10ft x 5ft
 

This piece is inspired by St.Colmcille's love of oak. While in Kells, St. Colmcille sat under a giant oak as he wrote his manuscripts. When he was exiled to Iona he would worry about his oaks in Ireland and feared that they may be cut down. Here the artist has married myth and history. The seat and the tree are one. This is a functional sculpture in that it connects to past history and functions as a seat.

Commissioned by David Butler in collaboration with Kells Town Council.

23ft x 15ft.
Cast Bronze.

Quintin Castle, Portaferry, Co. Down. 2008.

17ft x 3ft.
Bronze.

A series of three bowls with fern motif cast in bronze. Water feature, work in progress.

Overall width: 5ft diamater.
Overall height: 7ft.

Available for sale.

Bronze.

Commissioned by Moynalty Tidy Towns Committee, 2008.

9 and a half feet high. A series of birds and bullrushes among a centre pool. Maigh nEalta, meaning flock of the birds, is the Irish for Moynalty.

Bronze.

Five geese in formation flight. The sculpture is sited in Victoria Park, Belfast. Commissioned by Belfast City Council in 2003.

23ft high. 

Steel, Plate Bronze.

Quintin Castle, Portaferry, Co. Down. 2008.

A fountain of hands and cast oak leaves where the water flows from small hands to larger hands into a large bowl. It is placed on the side of the castle wall overlooking the sea.

Bronze.

Commissioned by the Simon Community in 1999 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the organisations founding for Trinity College Dublin.

30cm x 23cm

Bronze.

A private commission. Male and female hand with golden leaf.

Castlewellan Forest Park, Co. Down.

5 and a half feet tall, 18 inches wide.

Bronze and Oak.

Commissioned by Meath County Council as part of the % For Art Scheme in 2004. It is sited in Ratoath Village, Co. Meath.

It is a functional sculpture in that it provides seating and connects into the history of horse racing at Fairyhouse Racecourse and the tradition of blacksmith forges in the area. 

17ft x 15ft x 2ft.

Plate Bronze, Limestone Base.

Located in Rowalen Gardens, Co. Down. Work created during residency for the National Trust, working with young children.

5ft x 2 and a half feet.

Oak.
1996.

Edition of 9. 

Created in 2009 and exhibited in Figur/Natur - mit allen Sinnen. KunstgieBerei Strassacker zu Gast auf Burg schabeck Germany.

7 and a half feet high.

Bronze.

Located in Belfast Castle, Northern Ireland. Commissioned by Forests of Belfast, Belfast City Council in 2002. The Peregrine is often sighted in the ground of Belfast Castle. Here, the peregrine is holding on for dear life, which mirrors its status as an endangered species. 

30ft high.

Steel and Recycled Telegraph Pole.

This piece was created as part of a residency for the National Trust at Crom Estate, Co. Fermanagh, in 1998. It is now in the museum in Crom Estate.

It is a sphere, 3ft in diameter, woven from Sally Willow. This was created as part of a workshop with local children. The piece is photographed beside the willow trees from which it is made. The trees are pollarded every three years. The materials were sourced from the cuttings "graveyard" within the estate. 

Sally Willow.

This piece was a private commission wedding gift. It comprises a male and female hand with a series of feathers. It appears as if the two hands are in flight until they found each other. 

3ft wide, 1ft high.

2005

Bronze, Unique.

Fibre installation based on Motherhood. The artist used raw sisal, horse hair, human hair, lead, feathers, cotton and paper. Three large graphite drawings on the walls. The sculptures feed from eachother and create an overall viewpoint on what it is to be a mother within an art college setting, where other students don't seem to have the same demands that you might have as a parent and student. 

Cherish celebrates the role of motherhood. Her great love of baking and flowers are reflected in the piece. The smell of roses alludes from her despite the pain and loss she has experienced. 

Private Commission.
23 inches tall, 12 inches wide (approx).
Bronze.

This Famine Bowl was commissioned by James J Houlihan to celebrate his family and their Irish connections to the Great Hunger in Ireland (1845-1852). It is sited in his home in White Plains, New York. The bowl sits on a 3ft high pieces of Irish Oak. The bowl itself is 3ft in diameter.

The design is based on my proposal for the commissions for Macy Park in Westchester County, New York. This was the runner-up.

2000.
Bronze.