Natalie Dwyer Creative Studio

13/08/2026

This interactive piece, Ceantar/Alltar, was created especially for West Cork Creates 2026 exhibition “Listen to the Land Speak”, coming from Manchán Magan’s acclaimed book and RTÉ documentary of the same name. 47 Cork-based artists & makers were selected to create new work in response to Manchán’s work in this realm.

“𝘽𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚 - 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙨 - 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝘼𝙣 𝙎𝙖𝙤𝙡 𝙀𝙞𝙡𝙚 (“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙’).” - from the book, Listen to the Land Speak

Ceantar/Alltar means Locality/The Otherworld. It was inspired by Manchán’s idea around this concept with Ceantar being this place, or this region, and Alltar being the opposite, the netherworld, the dimensions beyond and imagining that there is only a thin veil between this world and the Otherworld. Designed to hang on a wall or sit on a shelf like a book, this little cabinet invites the viewer to travel through this place to what lies beyond: the Otherworld. The night sky alluding to the Northern Lights represents the veil between worlds. The miniature dreamscapes inside are painted in encaustic wax on sealed paper, which naturally creates an ethereal, other-worldly quality ✨

You can discover six new pieces of art work by me in this incredible showcase is on view at Cnoc Bui until 16th August. It’s free to come in and browse! Open daily 11-5 with a special music & presentation event this Saturday 15th at 7pm- not to be missed!

11/08/2026

A wonderful event happening this Saturday at 7pm West Cork Creates at Cnoc Buí Arts Centre - evening viewing with a presentation and music. Come and see these beautiful instruments by Caitlin McGinn and learn about her process!

08/08/2026

In Irish, 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙝𝙡𝙖 means 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙛 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧, 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙝𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙫𝙚.
𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙝𝙡𝙖 𝙗𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘 refers to an 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚.

Created especially for West Cork Creates 2026 exhibition in response to the theme, “Listen to the Land Speak”, this piece explores the idea of Manchán Magan’s work acting as a conduit or portal from this world to 𝘼𝙣 𝙎𝙖𝙤𝙡 𝙀𝙞𝙡𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙.

Manchán’s writings and teachings are connecting us back to what lies beyond, through the natural landscape and through our language.

The West Cork Creates exhibition is currently showing in Cnoc Bui Community Arts Centre in Union Hall until 16th August. It is open daily 11-5 and I highly recommend viewing this exhibition if you are in West Cork this coming week. There are so many beautiful and thought-provoking pieces by 47 artists who were selected to participate.

Handcrafted wooden miniature bookcase with encaustic wax paintings on sealed paper. Presented in a glass dome.

06/08/2026

SLí - The Members’ Summer Exhibition is now on in West Cork Collective | Gift Shop | Art Gallery | Creative Hub gallery until 30th August. Celebrating the ethos of John Moriarty, the theme is Slí which translates from the Irish to the way, the road, the path, the journey….

My exhibition pieces are inspired by imagined journeys to magical places from Irish mythology. My encaustic dreamscapes are created with pigmented beeswax and damar resin on sealed paper. I paint with the melted wax using a small iron and I use glimmers of gold and silver metallic wax to give my paintings an other-worldly quality.

Journey Under the Wave
Encaustic (beeswax) on sealed paper

Along The Golden Way
Encaustic (beeswax) on sealed paper

📍West Cork Collective, Ballinspittle, Kinsale, Co. Cork, P17 FF62
⏰Open every day from 10am (Sundays from 11am)

Entry to view the exhibition is free! Do come in for a look- this wonderful gift shop and gallery features the work of over 60 local artists and makers.

06/08/2026

𝙏𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙄 (𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙): 𝘽𝙞𝙡𝙚, 𝙎𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙚
Painted with melted beeswax, pigments and damar resin onto a tiny wooden panel

Created as part of a mini series for “Listen to the Land Speak” curated by West Cork Creates, a tribute to the work and ideas of the late Manchán Magan.

“By now it should be clear chat one can’t explore the tangible elements of the Irish landscape - its rocks and rivers, trees and towns - in any depth without taking account of what lies beyond. This world and the Otherworld are so intermingled in our consciousness that we cannot consider one without the other. They are conjoined aspects of the same reality.” - Manchán Magan, Listen to the Land Speak.

03/08/2026

Go and see some art this weekend! Market Gallery is open.

We are open this August bank holiday Monday from 10-7.

Call in to see our featured exhibition from The Irish Palette "In Dialogue."

We also have a beautiful selection from our regular gallery artists.

Artwork in window from Marie McInerney Arts
And Ruth Riordan Art with miniature works from Natalie Dwyer | Encaustic Artist, Designer & Miniaturist O'Donovan Creates and Michelle Dalton

01/08/2026

I am delighted to have two new encaustic dreamscape paintings in the Slí exhibition in the gallery space at West Cork Collective
The exhibition started today and the official opening is on Monday 3rd August at 6pm