FERMANAGH artist Kevin McHugh has recently swapped the paint brush for the pencil, releasing his self-penned book, just in time for the popular Enniskillen Comic Fest.
On the first day of the Comic Fest, June 3, the Lisnaskea painter will release his book, ‘Timothy The Dead Boy’. The publication has been a long time coming, explained Kevin.
“I’m really pleased with the new book,” he said, “it’s a story I’ve had knocking around for a while. It’s nice to get it into print and see it come to life, or death, with the illustrations.”
The Fermanagh author is a renowned painter in local circles and he earned massive credit for the mural which he designed and painted at Pat’s Bar, at the Diamond, in Enniskillen, last year.
But writing and creating ideas for short stories and books has been a long time passion of Kevin’s.
“I used to think that you needed outside validation to earn titles like artist or writer, but in recent years, I’ve realised if I just do what I want, I am those things,” said the popular painter.
“I’ve written songs for years for bands such as ‘Setting Off Sirens’ and ‘Cadaver Club’, so I’m comfortable with the process and I love twisting words and phrases to give them new meaning.
“I have a lot of dark, humorous poems written, waiting to see the light of day, but putting a book together, especially illustrating it, takes a long time so they’ll all have to wait their turn,” added Kevin.
‘Timothy The Dead Boy’ follows a gothic and ‘dark’ plot. Kevin, who owns the ‘Hollow Hill Apparell’ business with his wife, Jo, was pleased with the twist the book followed.
“Young Timothy, as the title suggests, is deceased, no more, but that doesn’t stop him wanting desperately to make a connection to his fellow humans,” said Kevin, who co-wrote the book with Bob Kerrigan.
“The fact that the connection is quite cold and clammy can be off-putting for most though, so herein lies his dilemma.”
The author of ‘The Twins’ Little Book of Death’, a collection of death poems, is really excited for the Enniskillen Comic Fest, which is set to attract a huge crowd of literary and anime fans to the town.
“It’s an event I look forward to every year and it’s a nice feeling to be one of the creators standing now among the great and magnificent and trying to hold my own,” said a proud Kevin.
“It’s the perfect platform in which to launch the book and there’s a lot of support among the writers and artists appearing at the (Enniskillen Comic) Festival.”
The popular artist is now planning to write more books in the future, with a ‘children’s book’ next on the list, said Kevin.