Purists may zealously argue the point that art and commerce cannot co-exist side by side. The fact of the matter is however that both entities, for all their apparent juxtapositions, have been willing cohorts for the vast duration of both of their existences. It is the issue of credibility that provides the real sticking point across the metaphorical dividing line.

Chara Nagle has successfully channelled her creative impulses through both mediums for the past decade with often stunning results. Currently residing in Dublin, the Cork born Nagle has become one of the countries most buzz-worthy artists following a sell-out debut exhibition, entitled Moments, in her adopted home county.

But before any accusations of 'over night sensation' can be levelled at Nagle one needs to consider the previous decade that led up to Moments success, 10 years, during which time, Chara, following her graduation from the National College of Art and Design, moved to London, worked in the fields of marketing, promotions and music videos, before eventually returning to Ireland where she started her own hugely successful design company.

It was these collective experiences, Chara says, that helped shape her vision and led to her becoming the in-demand artists she is today. Her star continues to rise in Dublin, but Cork enthusiasts will be glad to hear they have an opportunity to see Nagle's work at closer inspection when she returns home next week for her second exhibition, Moments II, at the Blue Haven in Kinsale, a town she knows well having spent many summers there sailing and instructing at the Kinsale Yacht Club.

"I've always been into art," she told the Cork Independent over the phone as she prepared for a friends wedding later that day, "but I never really considered it as a career option when I was younger. I started when I was four years old when my mother sent me to classes. As I got older I would go to the Regina Mundy classes and summer camps and it just spiralled from there."

Chara, at the age of 16, next moved to studying Life Drawing at the Crawford College of Art, Cork and in 1992 continued her studies at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin, graduating in 1996 with a joint degree in Fine Art Sculpture and History of Art.