I'm back home! Got back early yesterday am (3:00am to be exact!!) after a long day of travel....but home safe & sound and that's what matters! My trip was wonderful. I had a great time in Listowel during Writer's Week. The opening at Olive Stack Gallery went very well. It was opened by Nora Relihan who is a writer and stage actress from North Kerry. She did a great job and is quite an inspiration...a remarkable woman to say the least. Three of the collages I had in the show were based on John B. Keane's plays and Nora played key roles in two of them when they were staged in Listowel. She played the role of "Maggie" in "Big Maggie" and she played the role of "Mena" in the play "Sive" so it seemed quite fitting that she was involved in opening the exhibition.
After Writer's Week I spent a week at Cill Rialaig, an artists retreat on the Iveragh Peninsula in the south of Co. Kerry. The images above are of the stone cottages at Cill Rialaig. Each cottage is a restored ruin which has been converted into an artists studio w/ living space. There's a small kitchen, bathroom and a loft with a bed...otherwise it's predominately studio space. I met artists from Scotland, England, Holland, Ireland and one writer from the US. All very talented and interesting people. I was pleased with the work I was able to accomplish while there for a week. I managed to complete ten collages....some were small (5 x 7) and some were medium in size (12 x 16). I'll have to post photos of them at a later time as my camera is on the blink right now.
I also enjoyed some wonderful traditional music while I was there and had the good privilege of having two private fiddle lessons with a fabulous fiddler from Co. Clare named Maeve Donnolley. She was incredibly generous with her time and her talent.....it was an incredible opportunity for me.
I'm home now full of inspiration and as soon as I'm rested up a bit I'll be back in the studio with a vengance!
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