Compiled by Nicoline Greer
SIXTY YEARS A-FLOWERING
Electric-blue delphiniums, dayglo-scarlet poppies and buttery primroses have flowed from the brush of Limerick painter Geraldine O'Brien for the past 60 years. She first exhibited a painting of anemones at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1940. Now aged 82, the artist will be showing more than 40 of her oils at HOK Fine Art, with one-third of the proceeds from sales going to the Friends of St Luke's Hospital in Rathgar. Prices for her lively, light-filled canvases range from €500 to €4,000 - a little higher than the £10.10s.5d attached to her first effort at the RHA. Recently, one of her paintings sold at auction for €3,800, so this may be a chance to pick up a collectable piece, while doing your bit for cancer care. Geraldine O'Brien's paintings are on show from January 23rd-28th at HOK Fine Art, 4 Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin. www.hokfineart.com. Jane Powers
TRACK RECORDS
In 1985, Doctor Eddie O'Donnell had the good fortune to come across 42,000 negatives of Father Francis Browne's photographs buried in the Jesuit Archives. Father Browne's Trains and Railways features engines and stations, passengers and railwaymen from around Ireland, Egypt and Australia during the 1930s. He captured the essence of a transport revolution and took rare photographs of the travelling post office, train crashes and the train that took him and others to the Titanic - his superiors advised him against boarding. Father Browne's Trains and Railways is compiled by EE O'Donnell, published by Currach Press, €19.99, at bookshops or www.currach.ie.
SHOT IN THE WILD
This pensive puffin is Alma Kingston's entry from the Youth section of the ESB Environmental Photography Awards. The winners will be announced next Wednesday, and photographs from the shortlist will be on display at the Helix in DCU from next Thursday, until February 7th. Admission is free. Clare McCarthy
GET ON BOARD
The latest buzzword in fashion is collaboration. Vivienne Westwood and Wolford; Stella McCartney and Adidas; Anya Hindmarch and her clutch bags for Courvoisier are a few get-togethers that come to mind. One of the newest unites the worlds of fashion, sport and art, all for the sake of the Greenpeace Oceans Campaign. Fake London Genius, best known for denim, has sponsored an online sale of 20 customised bodyboards featuring original artworks from top young creative minds including singer/ songwriter Billy Childish, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and beatboxer Killa Kela, as well as big wave surfers Joel Fitzgerald and Gabe Davis. "Board Meeting" visuals are a highly individual mix of stylised images, 3D effects and computerised graphics - strictly for mounting on walls, not waves. Bids from £200 will be accepted on www.fakelondongenius.com/boardmeeting until the end of January. Deirdre McQuillan
ON A BENDER
The yoga craze shows no sign of abating. The newest studio to open is the Yoga Dublin Studios in Ranelagh which offers Ashtanga, Hatha and Iyengar yoga at every level. There are also pre- and post-natal yoga classes, pilates, focused master-classes and workshops with yogi and owner Colm Walsh. Yoga Dublin Studios, Dartmouth Place, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, (01-4982284). To look good when you're doing your yoga, head for Brazil Body in Dublin's Powerscourt Centre. It stocks the Brazil Body sportswear range as well as other clothes such as Shakti organic cotton yoga wear and Masai Barefoot Technology shoes. Brazil Body Sportswear, Powerscourt Centre. (01-6745916)
ON THE HOUSE
For first-time buyers struggling to get to grips with the world of stamp duty and tracker rates, it might be worth picking up the EBS's free booklet, A little book about buying your first home. It has a jargon-buster, a guide to types of mortgages, and tips for house hunting, to make it less of a journey into the unknown. At EBS branches countrywide.