Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat

Tigh Josie Cottage with the green door, Cill Rialaig

Arrived at Cill Rialaig in Ballinskelligs last Thursday afternoon to start my residency - a short two weeks but hopefully a productive one. Cill Rialaig is situated in the restored ruins of a pre-famine village, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. It perches high above the ocean on a rugged clifftop and the only sounds are the birds, the waves, the wind  and the sheep in the paddocks. The nearest town of Ballinskelligs is 7 km away and it has a population of around 600. The other town of Cahersiveen is 20km away and there are several supermarkets and other shops there for necessities.

View from the mezzanine bedroom window

There are 8 restored cottages in total, one of which is the communal meeting house, Tigh an Comhra (Gaelic for House of Conversation).  I've been inside but we have yet to have any communal gatherings or meals there. There is also a laundry, presided over by Michael who keeps everything ticking over at the retreat. Each cottage has a mezzanine bedroom which is accessed by split wooden stairs - actually much easier to traverse than single steps because the gradient is so steep! The cottages are spartan but contain everything you need - sofa, chairs, tables and basic kitchen and bathroom. The studio end of the cottage has a glass roof with views to the sky and rocky hill right behind the cottage. It is amazing to stand in the space and feel that you are outside in, if you know what I mean.

Since I have been here I have been exploring the nearby beach and surrounding towns, the magnificent coastline and the ruined abbeys and castles that seem to spring up around every bend in the road. Because of my recent injury (fractured wrist...!) I am taking advantage of being driving around, and unfortunately any adventurous hiking is also out because my hand is still in a splint and I don't want to risk undoing the healing that has been happening over the last 7 weeks.

Sunrise this morning at 5am

Sunrises can be spectacular because the warmth of the rays starts burning off the mist that has settled over everything, obscuring the nearby islands and the other promontories. Slowly the landscape is revealed as the sun climbs higher. In contrast, I have been trying to capture the moment the sun sinks at around 10-11pm, but it is so elusive.  It is not the spectacular sunset we are used to in Australia, well not while I'm here anyway, it is more a gradual sigh of release at the end of the day....you are not even sure if it is setting or if it is just a figment of your imagination. I go to bed in the light and sometimes I wake up at around 3am and it is dark, but not for long.

Sunset over the Atlantic

On Sunday there was an art opening at Siopa Cill Rialaig, the Cill Rialaig Gallery, cafe and shop in nearby Dun Geagan.  Two of the artists staying in the retreat, Jane Seymour and Bina Shah were exhibiting together. Jane is a ceramic artist whose works are evocative of landscape, mists and layering of texture and colour in monochromatic tones.  Bina uses mixed media, cold wax, printing making and painting to evoke natural and urban environments.  The opening provided the opportunity to meet Noelle Campbell Sharp, the founder of Cill Rialiag whose vision for an artist retreat has seen over 3,500 artists stay here.

Noelle Campbell Sharp introducing Jane Seymour and Bina Shah

And in an amazing coincidence, I caught up with Irish textile artist, Nicola Henley, at the opening! I first met Nicola years ago when I had an exhibition at Timeless Textiles in Newcastle and she had arrived in Australia to also exhibit and conduct workshops.  Since then she has returned to Australia many times and we had planned to catch up when I was in County Clare, but fortunately she is a good friend of Jane's and attended the opening and is staying for a few days at Cill Rialiag...small world!

Catching up with Nicola Henley

I will post again with some of the amazing coastlines I have seen on my day trips around Ballinskelligs, beach fossicking, seaweed collecting and drinking in the inspiring landscape.

Leaving London

My last day in London was a whirlwind of activity, trying to fit in the last "must-do" things on my bucket list.  As my plane didn't leave until the evening I had the opportunity to visit a couple more places before I left. First stop was "Alfies" off the Edgeware Road.  Many of you know I am a big fan of mid-century design - textiles, furniture and ceramics mostly, and this mecca of antiques has been in existence for over 30 years. Alfies is housed in the former Jordan's department store in Church Street, so encompasses four floors with over 100 dealers selling antiques.

Alfies Antique Market, Church Street, Marylebone

One of the treasures I found was up on the third floor, humorously called "Naphthalene Textiles" and run by Carole Collier.

Carole Collier from Naphthalene Textiles

Carole and partner June sell a lot of vintage textiles, laces, haberdashery, jewellery and clothing and as soon as I walked into their shop my eyes spied a lovely 50's dress which just had to come home with me. However, to get to Carole's store on the top floor I had to bypass the most fantastic collections of mid-century furniture and lighting I have ever seen in one place, so it was just unbearable for me not to be able to look seriously with intention to buy. If you have ever been to my studio you know I am a sucker for retro furniture and design.

As I was just about to walk out the front door (although the place is such a rabbit-warren you could get lost in there for hours) I happened to glance to my left and did a quick double-take then a sidestep....I had walked into heaven.....well, if heaven is a shop crammed packed with the most wonderful African textiles, that is. 

Duncan's shop, Adire African Textiles on the first floor has some lovely examples of Ewe kente cloth from Ghana, Asafo flags, indigo stitch resist and dyed cloths, adire and adinkra and much, much more. Again, hard to resist buying anything but I had neither the time to look seriously with intention to add to my collection of African textiles, nor did I have the money to invest after having spent 2 weeks in London on a shoestring! Besides, I haven't yet unpacked or displayed the wonderful Ndop cloth I received from Cameroon recently, but Duncan's shop and website is now on my radar for the future!

Conscious of the time, I tore myself away from Alfies to get to my next destination - the October Gallery in Bloomsbury where a magnificent exhibition of work by El Anatsui had opened the week before. Amazingly I was allowed to take photos of the show, so here are a few to whet your appetite. And I thought I was a bit obsessive about my work....haha!

Now I am finally back in Canberra after the long flight home, and getting back into the swing of things.  Great news that Craft ACT POD has moved to The Hamlet in vibrant Braddon and I'm looking forward to seeing their latest exhibitions that opened last week in my absence.

A final thanks once again to artsACT and the ACT Government for their support of my trip to speak at the Cultural Threads symposium and book launch.