VEC centre Gorey, The Avenue

Today was the official opening of the new VEC facility in Gorey, its a beautiful building state of the art. Many programmes are offered in adult education which I am a true advocate and I can not praise the teachers enough on the VTOS course. It was a perfect grounding for furthering my education into third level .It was great to meet up with past pupils and meet the new ones, and it tipped me back to realise and put into perspective how far I've come and how much I have learned over the last six years. The building was opened by Paul Kehoe Chief Whip.

Echo and the Bunnymen

A number of weeks ago I went to see Echo and the Bunnymen in the Olympia Theatre they were great a trip down memory lane!

The Day Time Stood Still

Performance artist Grafton Street

Occupy Dame Street

Was in Dublin the weekend and was talking to an American man who is sleeping out at Dame Street. Saturday evening was very mild but he said the previous week was dreadful. They are delighted with the support they are receiving from the public and they want to continue to highlight the disastrous effect that the banks have had on ordinary people. In Ireland we are worst hit because anyone defaulting on a mortgage will have a destroyed credit rating. They are delighted when the general public talk to them unfortunately, I was rushing elsewhere and had to go. He explained that many students are supporting them by sleeping out and  going to college the next day!

http://www.facebook.com/OccupyDameStreet

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1008/damestreet.html

Picture's from Wales

Funny Pillar at Ferryside

Sculptures in Ferryside

Oriel Myrddin, Carmarthen

Oriel Mission, Swansea

Seamus Friendly Irish Giant

Welsh Exchange/ Coracle Project

Over the summer break I had the opportunity to go to Wales on a work placement/ student exchange as part of the Coracle Project building links between Wales and SE Ireland. I had a great time and got a brilliant overview of the running of the Oriel Myrddin gallery. A new collection was being installed a very exciting and unusual collection of furniture design from Holland.

I stayed out in Ferryside a fishing village not too far from Carmarthen, where the local fish called Sewan is caught and sold, its like salmon very nice indeed!! I would compare Ferryside to Kilmore Quay in many ways.

I met lots of people and the curator of the Oriel Myrddin, Meg Anthony and all the team at the gallery made me feel so welcome, it was hard to come back home! I must say I enjoyed going to work each day, as the work was so varied. I also met some people involved in Participatory Arts an area in which I am becoming more and more interested in.

The Voluntary Arts, had a day of participatory arts in Carmarthen all age groups were catered for from singing, printing, creating masks. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay the day but I bet a great day was had by all. Seamus from Bui Bolg was dressed as a large puppet really funny.

In Carmarthen there seems to be a great artists community I was meeting artists everywhere I went, with King Street Gallery exhibiting and eclectic  mix of art, painting, sculptures and videos. Here are some interesting links to check them out.

http://www.orielmyrddingallery.co.uk/


http://www.ghdavies.f2s.com/index.html

http://www.kingstreetgallery.co.uk/


http://www.missiongallery.co.uk/events/sws/


Had the chance to visit Swansea and go to the Oriel Mission Gallery, the Alex Duncan exhibition is on at the moment I really liked his work.

http://bird-in-the-house.blogspot.com/

http://www.threerivershotel.co.uk/

Heritage Week 2011 Traditional Boat Building

Well it's been a while since I blogged due to a few minor details one I couldn't remember my password so after rattling my brains for a few hours I managed to remember!!!!

This being heritage week there were lots of free days out for the family at many heritage sites, great in these recessionary times. Down at the shed a free event was organised by the Resource Centre to have a traditional boat building workshop for Heritage Week.

As part of this event I made a short video using the photographs I had taken when the boat was being made. There was a great turnout, the lads that built the boat where on hand to answer any questions visitors to the shed had, another experienced boat builder from the community also gave a demonstration. The children also had an opportunity to try out some of the boat building skills.

Then the group were brought to the safe were the boats are kept and the sails were put back on the cot sure it looked terrific and the lads have been making great use of the cot, racing it over the summer months. So a good day was had by all and it was nice to see the lads get plenty of recognition for their hard work it was also great for the community to share their knowledge with so many.

Looking at wood in old shed

Heading out to Sea

Sailing Demonstration

The Launch of Boat to-day

The long awaited launch happened to-day, the weather was beautiful and I arrived in Wexford Town at 9.30 a.m. The lads pushed the boat down the road from the shed to the safe it looked great, the boat that is.

At the safe the lovely smell of sea air and the sun was shining bright. So really lovely, the boat was brought out to the water on the trailer and was then pushed off.  Well done to the lads the boat is amazing and the hard work paid off.

The boat was then sailed this evening and thanks to John he took this brilliant image .....The Goose that was built last year got a face lift and looks great too.

4th Year, BA Hons Degree Exhibition, Wexford Arts Centre

I was at the Fiction or Framed,  BA Hons Fine Arts show last night from I.T Carlow, (Wexford Campus) Art and Design, which was truly amazing, the pieces, really depicted the amount of hard work and effort made to put on such a show. The show has a mixture of photography, paintings, videos, prints, artist publications and live performances which really shows the versatility of the students work.

The artists exhibiting were Ger Davin, Emma Doyle, Leigha Dugdale, Tracey Elphinstone, Paula Halligan, Tracy Hooligan, Noelle Hyland, Barbara Kelly, IIva Krama, Ethna Monks, Stephen O'Neill, Collette Ward and Kate Whitty.

The atmosphere was high spirited and with a large turnout. Belgian Artist Els Dietrvorst opened the exhibition. As with many opening nights it's difficult to really get a good look at the work, so I will revisit early next week for another look. I wish all the fully fledged Artists the Best of Luck for the future.

If you get a chance to visit well worth it. The exhibition is open until Saturday 28th May

Falling out of one routine into another!

With college finishing up soon the transition from one routine to another is really strange. With college deadlines and family commitments to co-ordinate can be very difficult and over the college year I wondered could I get through it all. So with another year behind me I'm delighted. But changing the routine again seems to come around so quickly.

Whilst I have lots of things I want to do, when there are no deadlines you really have to push yourself to stay motivated. The other thing I find when I worked and had holidays you made the most of the time off, but when college ends it feels like there is an ending of some sort, maybe because I am passing through and it's not going to be a permanent feature in my life. Over the next few months I will keep making postings of what is happening.

The sails arrived for the boat and I'm looking forward to the call of when the boat is going into the water.

The 4th year Degree Show is on this evening at 6p.m. in the Wexford Arts Centre and I'm really looking forward to that. All are welcome to attend to see all the work produced.

Identity

I went to change phone provider last week I was asked what was my occupation so I said I was a student to be then told, 'if I put in student, you will be turned down'. Then I said well I'm an artist to be then told 'there is no artist category'. So I was then told ah sure I'll put you in as 'HOUSEWIFE'.

Now there is nothing wrong with being a housewife, but after three years study so far I was disappointed to say the least!

Short Visit to the Shed

It seem such a long time since I was down at the shed it was playing on my mind to-day and the lads will be visiting on Friday but I will miss them, due to having no child minder. The lads were in great form and the weather was great too! The boat look's fantasic with the washboard in place and the name attached. The boat is in the garden as the young people are now using the shed as they designing a garden for the open space beside the playground.

The sails will be arriving this week and the guys will be getting the boat into the water as soon as the weather permits. When its not too windy, afterall they haven't made a speedboat ha ha.

All these things I'd never think of ....I'm looking forward to seeing it in the water and really don't want to miss that. So I will make a posting as soon as it happens...One of the lads posed in the boat for me to-day! good fun.

Shed Opening 30th April 2011

It has been a number of weeks since I last blogged, I went to Dublin for the Easter break to catch up with family and friends and I stayed away from the computer!

The Shed in which the boat was built was opened by Brendan Howlin, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on Saturday morning, unfortunately it clashed with a previous arrangement I had and did not make it and I am a tad bit disspointed I didn't, but I heard a good time was had by all and it was a great occasion for the local community and for the college of which both were recognised by the Minister. A lot of hard work and determination in the background from my college lecturer Brian Hand and the resource centre managers made this happen.

The shed will be a multi-purpose shed for all groups in the area to hold activites fostering a real spirit of a meeting place and the main focus will be on men's groups, I think the men in the area see this as a great space to have and hopefully it will encourage others to come to the shed to see what's happening and get involved. Whilst it is a simple space I think it add's great value to a community and is less formal than the Family Resource Centre, but the door is always open in both places for people to drop in.

At the moment we are finishing off our projects and I will be visiting again shortly to get some photographs of the finished boat and the launch of the boat will be happening when the sail is added. I will continue to be in contact with the community as I felt very welcome there and it feels as though I have known everyone much longer than I have.

 

Family Resource Centre Southend

We had a meeting in the Southend Resource Centre yesterday it was a feedback session as to how we felt the project went, from a personal point of view I really enjoyed the experience, it was different, interesting and fun. The community welcomed us in and the sense of community is very evident at Southend. I think I wrote about this in an early posting that sometimes when your relocate a sense of community is somehow lost unless you really make a huge effort to get involved in someway and this can be difficult.

This project has certainly reignited a sense of wanting to be involved in a community again and being part of something no matter how small. Even though this project is coming to an end, community development is something that continues and grows and I would imagine get better and better. I have a greater understanding of what being an artist is, in the community, something that I didn't quite think of before even though, I know there are great people doing great work all over the country.

Maybe somehow being in college the last three years and being in a developmental process myself, I didn't fully think or appreciate that through the process I was becoming an artist and how in someway I can fit into the greater scheme of a community. The college (I.T. Carlow) Wexford Campus of Art and Design  has facilitated this for us and I really never thought I would dip my toe back into community again, even though I think I'm quite sociable and like to be involved with people from all walks of life, I think my personality plays a part too.

On reflection I don't think community work is for everyone...and some people are drawn to it for many reasons. I would hope that I would have something to contribute to a community even if that is as simple as having a chat with someone.

The people in the community do great work and the co-ordinators/supervisors do great work too. I kind of think of it as the front of house and the back house and it all comes together as a successful project. Not everyone can be at the front of house and not everyone can be at that back either.  Somehow I now think that the artist is somewhere in the middle adding something light to the community. The lads worked very hard on the boat giving 100% commitment and the co-ordinators have a very difficult task, that of getting the money to run the projects..

Like everything money to fund such projects entails a enormous amount of hard work and commitment and breaking through a lot of red tape, rules, regulations, different departments and knocking on doors. But the co-ordinators still keep fighting for the overall good of the community.

The benefits are enormous I think and sometimes are not always quantifiable, as some of the goodness is invisible, but benifical at the same time. Sometimes it's not one thing but a collabortation of things and many of the benefits are not even seen in this generation but something that is fostered for future generations as a sense of pride is fostered about a place.

I think no matter the size of a project it is all worthwhile because if no one cared, what would the future be like really pretty dismal I expect.  So vision is required ....

Naming the Boat

The name of the boat was chosen by the lads who made it An Cruidin means Kingfishers....

This boat is nearly finished and the sails is the next part to be done... and then of course getting it into the water. I have enjoyed seeing this boat being made and only for our involvement with the college and the lads in Wexford I would not have had this opportunity. Even though this project will be over I really like the blogging so I will continue with this and I would also like to stayed in contact with the Community too.
My next posting will be a summary of my experience and some of my thoughts about this project... so watch this space....

Painted Boat

Visited the boat to-day looking great the lads had it painted navy on the bottom and a bright yellow on the top it really brings the boat to life. The boat has been stained on the inside and the seats have also been put in, some amount of work has been done since we last visited I think it's amazing really .....They got a bit of an extension on the deadline and this has been very welcomed indeed... even though the lads have loads done it just doesn't feel they have to get out of the shed as hastily. They have the mast and boom made also... this took a lot of working to get the shape.The navy paint is yacht paint it is suppose to stop sea plants and life sticking to the bottom of the boat. The yellow paint is gloss... I can only imagine how lovely the boat will look like in the water..especially on a sunny day.

Mast

Inside of boat varnished with seats

Boom

Field Trip to Lovely Costa Del Kilmore (Wexford)!

Last week we had a field trip to Costa Del Kilmore Quay (not too far to travel!) which was very enjoyable.... it was a working holiday.... a bit strange. We landed from our normal routines in life to be with our fellow students more or less 24/7...... The goal was to make art from what we gathered experienced in Kilmore ( a work in progress).  Kilmore is less than 20km from Wexford Town, but it felt like a different world we had entered... I had never been to Kilmore but I was well impressed by all the activity going on, it is a working villiage with fishing as the main activity...

One thing I noticed and we were in it quite a bit was the Stella Maris Community Centre, a brilliant facility and really blows away what country community centres can be. It is modern with a lovely cafe facility and the staff were so friendly and helpful. So a credit to the community...

The fish and chips are pretty good too in the local chipper! will definitely return I would imagine the Summer months would be lovely, a nice time of the year with bright long evenings to walk the beach...

The unfortunate thing I was unable to visit the lads building the boat last week and this week I have been sick, so don't know how it is progressing the finish date for the lads is to-morrow 20th in order to facilitate another project for some Youths in the area. So unsure of what is happening next or what has been happening. Missed my opportunity to paint..... anyways will update you as soon as I get back on track......

Caulking the Boat

Well I must say I really enjoyed this afternoon we went to the shed the time just flew in. The lads had made the casing for the inside of the boat and they had fitted it at some speed since yesterday afternoon. The boat was turned back over and the excess wood had to be trimmed off. This was done really fast... then it came to putting the hemp into the grooves (which is called caulking) with a handmade tool to push the hemp in. Then the pitch was heated and then poured into the grooves using another homemade item a jug from a tin can. Very resourceful indeed....taking recycling to another level! Then an iron was used to melt the tar. I was surprised how fast the tar set. As I mentioned yesterday this has to be done properly because it can rot over time. The hemp and the wood both expand in the water.

Once again we had a very patient teacher and all the lads explain everything to us. The boat is amazing in the sense it's a great piece of engineering I think it's marvellous how the wood will expand in the water and this will further seal the boat. Usually you only think of keeping wood dry especially in a house. So here I'm seeing the opposite of how it floats and expands when wet, it's really funny.. you never think of these things. The lads are so hard working and take such pride in the work they are doing... It really shows in the boat the care taken to make it and everything is really thought out carefully. This boat will last a long time if maintained properly. A little video documenting to-day!

Second day this week!

Visited the boat again to-day it was turned back up because it was creosoted this can be very runny so the boat was turned up so it wouldn't run on the inside and stain the interior. We had a chat with the lads and I might have got myself a job, painting the inside of the boat. This is a little harder than the outside because you have to be neater. I'm quite neat when painting, as I do all the painting walls at home, cutting in etc. this will be no problem. To-morrow the caulking is taking place this is very important obviously because it seals the bottom of the boat and it has to be done properly otherwise it can rot. Hemp is pushed into the grooves and pitch tar is ironed in. So looking forward to seeing that being done.

Boat Turned Over

With assessments to-day we were running a little late getting to the boat. When we arrived it was turned over so the excess wood was being taken off with a chisel. The lads seem to be under more pressure now to get the boat finished in a few weeks time and there is less time now to even chat. We are still observing and documenting. This Thursday the boat will be sanded and cleaned up. Friday the boat will be caulked at  the bottom.

Chiseling the excess wood from the bottom of boat

Wash Board Larch Plank being shaped

The lads were to visit the college on Friday to see our blogs but unfortunately they couldn't make it, they were working on making the washboard. They made an apparatus in order to bend the larch as they want it round rather than  v shaped as this will allow more room in the boat. So they are very focused in getting the job at hand done, they are modifying the design as they go along in order to make a better boat.

I'm still a little confused about what my role is within this project. We only see one side, the lads making the boat and not how it fits in with the whole of the community, maybe in a few weeks time I will get to see and understand the bigger picture. It's different from what I expected ..... but I would like to understand more ..... fitting all our tasks in is difficult juggling our assignments. Each week we visit the boat and haven't really got to speak to the coordinators about community development within the area.  So onwards and upwards ....

Truly Amazing!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to visit the boat last week but I went this morning and was I surprised the lads are flying  and this was the boat to-day. When you think this boat was only started  the week of  the 21st January I think it is truly amazing of how much can be achieved  in such a short space of time.

Teak pieces attached in order to support a side ledge

Wedge and Ledge added

The boat is going to progress very quickly over the next few days and it will then be turned over. I went to visit a small bay near the shed where some of the boats are out on the water, it was a lovely bright sunny day..

Watch this Space for the Next Update!!!!!!Early Next Week........................................................