Highways and Byways

Exhibition Notes

Stef was born in Malaysia. One of five children, she now has five children. She has travelled extensively, worked as a teacher, a flower farmer, a librarian. She currently runs a studio and Art Gallery, a monthly concert venue, a café and wine bar at each concert, and she will tell you that music, art, farming, cooking, travel, coffee and daughters dominate her life.
Her paintings are idyllic, and while they reflect a joy in everyday life, and explore the interactions between people as they go about their daily pursuits, there is no attempt at reality in her work. Her clear cartoon colours and resolved compositions complement the pure fantasy of her well-drawn subjects. Voluptuous Ladies are depicted at work and play in bright perky landscapes to suggest a perfect sisterhood. They delight the eye. They make you smile.

George was born in Belfast in 1941. He left school at fourteen, studied painting and lithography at Belfast College of Art, and was educated in the real world.
He is a Renaissance Man, and worked as a design consultant, not only developing advertising concepts, but also designing packaging and even composing and singing the jingles. He has a reputation as a jeweller, a sculptor, a cartoonist, a harpist, a singer, a maker of harps, a busker, a maker of batiks, a lithographer, and of course, a painter. He has long since left the world of advertising to pursue a career as an artist.
He focuses on making people aware of what is around them. His painting has been described variously as naïve, full of nostalgia and childhood memories, cryptic visuals, fun pieces. He has held countless exhibitions since 1962, and his work has been shown and collected all over the world. He is one of Ireland's leading visual artists.
We think of George and Stef Callaghan as a unit. To meet them is to meet two happy contented people. They are both multi-talented, in love with life, modest, full of fun. This joi de vivre is reflected in their paintings. This is their first major exhibition in Galway, and the first time they have exhibited together.