Fridayfest - Weekly Drawing Drop-In
Artist Elida Maiques brings a weekly drawing gathering to Mermaid Arts Centre, based on the ethos of Plutón Festival, the drawing practice she co-founded with her brother.
This is a fun, relaxed session, where everybody is welcome. It is not a class, but an opportunity to draw, chat or even write in a friendly environment.
There will be some art materials available, but feel free to bring your favourite pens and pencils. This session is ideal for those looking for a bit of relaxed art-making, those who have a drawing project and would welcome progressing in company, and those who say they cannot draw are the most welcome of all!
"My brother Alex and I first started the festival (under the name of our neighbourhood, Patraix) in 1999,” Elida explains. “We wanted to draw comics, but couldn't. So we gave ourselves a weekly deadline to produce anything, once a week. By the end of the year we had hundreds of comics by tens of people. We made them into a little book."
NB: Please note that artists younger that 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
*Fridayfest is currently based in the café area in Mermaid.

‘The drawing group at Bray’s Mermaid Arts Centre is something special. It mixes all sorts of people in Elida’s magic circle. You just let your hand wander over the paper and you are in for a relaxed, friendly and really astonishing one and a half hour.. Ending too soon each time. So therapeutic and a great place for sharing ideas and life experiences. Many thanks again to the Mermaid and to Elida for creating this unique space where beauty reigns.’
Isabella (Italian, from Paris, living now in Bray)

Elida Maiques is a Wicklow-based artist with roots in Ixmulew/Guatemala and Spain. Her work, often collaborative, has been exhibited internationally. The triangle where people, art-making and wildlife meet are her focus.
Her long term project I Am a Forest, on interdependence, includes a 9-min film has featured in multiple film festivals and was exhibited in 2024 in Canem Galeria (Spain).
Between 2022 and 2024 she was Bray Library’s Seed Librarian (Ireland) and Mermaid Arts Centre (Ireland) Transform Associate Artist. In 2022 she brought her project The Sally Garden to IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) (Ireland).
For her, drawing in company is one life's pleasures.