There was more meat on a butcher's pencil than on Patrick Collins back when he was a teenager. So said developer Harry Crosbie.
Collins, in a bright yellow shirt and beige trousers, stood forth. He is now a fine figure of a man in his 40s.
"He was a long string of misery then," said Crosbie. Today "he's a Renaissance man", Crosbie continued, as he introduced the gathering in the Wellesley Room of the Merrion Hotel to the paintings of Collins, a musician who has recently turned to painting.
The one-night showing by the newly-arrived painter attracted many friends and admirers, including the actress Mary McEvoy, who will soon be presenting RT╔'s afternoon magazine programme, Open House, with Tom ╙ Brannagβin. Collins's wife, Clonakilty-born Maria, and their three daughters Aifric (17), Camille (14) and Sorcha (11) were all there.
Collins, more famous as violinist with the group CafΘ Orchestra, is also a nephew of Patrick Collins, the famous painter. "I was always taken with his perception of the world," he said of his uncle. As for painting: "I love it. There's no conflict between playing music and art."