CAN every artist remember the very moment they decided they wanted to dedicate themselves to being an artist? Lorna Corrigan, currently exhibiting 'Dreamland' at the Cultúrlann, certainly can.

In the book accompanying the show, she tells the story of when, five years old and wearing her Sunday best, she spied a tin of red paint on the family farm in County Kildare. Later that day, she was found in the barn, where she and a grey tractor were covered in that red paint. Understanding art would be her future.

Corrigan is a member of that wonderful organisation KCAT (the Kilkenny Collective for Artistic Talent).  Their mission statement: "We believe that everyone, regardless of background, gender or ability, should have access to a creative world as student, participants, artists or audience."

For some this might be lip service, but for KCAT it means much more, including assisted studios, where Lorna Corrigan is one of the members.

Lorna's skills of observation and imagination take much from the approach of aboriginal artists. She was inspired by this art form while encountering it on an exchange trip to Australia in 2006. Her beautiful, colourful and abstract works are described by Dominic Thorpe, who worked at the centre for many years, as "an inherent intolerance for seeing the world in mundane ways."

The work not only touches on what she sees but what things feel like to her – which is another skill entirely. Lorna talks of dreaming her pictures in the night and painting them in the morning, something many a person with artist's block would love to happen to them. She mostly works on canvas with paint, but is also highly proficient working with  ink and pastel on paper.

The exhibition includes painted crocks and some admirable results from her time spent painting hubcaps. Descriptive titles include 'Striptease Me in Carrick', 'Cows in Donegal', and a personal favourite of mine, 'Dublin Horse Show'. Her landscape-inspired pieces work well with the portraits and smaller pieces. The exhibition is a selection from a larger body of work with a coherent style developed since 2006 and it is joyful to experience. 

'Dreamland' by Lorna Corrigan is open at An Chulturlann until October 24. Open every day.

Meanwhile, the upstairs gallery focuses on visualising proverbs in the show 'as the saying goes'. The works by Emily McGardle, developed over three years, comment on the peculiar connection between people, nature and the Irish language, be it mice dancing or plants being entangled with humans; and if you have ever wondered about the old line about grasping a nettle firmly and not getting stung, you will see that depicted in silicone.

'as the saying goes' is open at Culturlann until October 24. Open every day.

The Belfast International Festival gets under way on October 16, continuing to November 28. As usual it is an eclectic global offering with local talent sprinkled liberally throughout.