A great crowd gathered at The Garden Gallery last Saturday to welcome artist Mike Hamblin to Ireland and to mark the opening of his debut European exhibition.

Mike graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle in 1991 and has worked as an illustrator and designer with an impressive range of clients including Coca-Cola Enterprises and Boeing. As an artist, his work has included stunning character portraits, dramatic scenes and still life drawings. His work can be found in private collections all over America and is now certain to grace walls in Ireland and across Europe.

Former inter-county Irish Gaelic footballer, Bernard Flynn, introduced the exhibition which included in pride of place, a portrait of much missed footballer James “Jim” Stynes who passed away last year aged 45. A very special portrait of Jim was presented to his parents Brian and Tessa at an emotional private viewing held on Friday evening.

Mike and his partner Billie Jo flew in from Montana for the occasion and mingled with guests throughout the night, with Mike even joining in with a special rendition of “House of the Rising Sun”. Guests at the opening also enjoyed live Irish music courtesy of local musicians, and a BBQ in the summer sunshine, surrounded by American flags.

Congratulations to Mike and well done to Hazel and Dave at The Garden Gallery on their first international exhibition.