Inspiration Central

The past few days I have been thinking more about 'how and why' with regard to creating the finished series of drawings which are to acknowledge and reference both the dance project (Cathy O Kennedy) and my own work.. My art practice has always been quite muted in terms of color, one of the reasons being my engagement with the central issue of memory. Time spent at the school is making me realize what colorful worlds these children inhabit and it is subconsciously and physically creeping into my work and thoughts over the past few weeks.

I have been carrying around a notebook,  taking it to the school, the journey to my base in the Arthouse, Stradbally and my travels to and from from Kerry. Everyday in the school I am coming across, shapes, grids, maths tables, timetables and have been thinking of introducing these elements into the work.
Today I tried something new with the junior & senior infants in making memory drawings of their homes whilst mapping it onto their neighbors drawing. I am interested how these 320 children are each in their own right an individual but yet are intrinsically connected. Even my view from the school studio window echoes this idea.

Making the installations Ctd...

 The studio is becoming quite full with round towers of various shapes and sizes from the different class groupings. The round tower is located near the old school building which was vacated in 2010.

The monastery began life as Dísert Diarmada, a hermitage founded in 812 by St. Diarmaid. The Vikings plundered it twice in the 9th century and it was burned in 1106. Parts of the medieval church have been incorporated into the present church and a Romanesque doorway (round arched with stone carvings) has been reconstructed near the entrance to the site.

The Round Tower - which as the monastery's bell-tower as well as a secure place for valuables - is unusual, firstly in having its entrance only slightly raised above ground level and secondly in being to the north of the church (Round Towers are normally in the west of churches). It was built with granite blocks and smaller pieces of limestone and is capped by battlements of unknown date. There are two stone arched vaults inside the tower, one over the second story and one at top.

Installation Making with the Junior & Senior Infants

An integral part of the history and culture of Castledermot  is it's round tower. On last Friday three classes of junior and senior infants began making paper towers - each tower was made by a different student from paper and tape.


I am playing with the towers in the studio - darkening the windows and lighting the towers from the inside in order to make a large scale installation piece.


I am starting to get ideas for the drawing pieces. Making these pieces both in terms of scale and multiplicity is becoming important in how I will approach my own drawings.

Memory Drawing Workshops

I had been thinking about ways in which I could gather research which would inform the series of drawings which are to be completed and installed by the end of the summer in the school. I also wanted to change the method I have previously gathered research in other projects. Still looking at memory, we began a series of workshops two days ago where each class came to the school art room to do some drawing work as a starting point. I brought each class to the studio first in order to show them some examples of my work and explain my drawing practice which involves making drawings from memory.

I am hoping that through showing each student the techniques I use in my work, a better understanding of how the pieces are constructed and the time it takes to make a piece will be felt.


 Part of this project is a collaboration with dance artist, Cathy O' Kennedy. Cathy is a carrying out a dance in education project with the students and I have been looking at aspects of her work in order to reference the dance movements and shapes in my drawing works. Cathy together with the school, came up with with themes relating to Castledermot, ie the round tower, arches, the school and row of trees. In terms of the idea of place I asked the children to complete memory drawings of the round tower and also of there homes. The exercise began with the children taking a sheet of paper and picturing there front door at home. I asked them to draw every detail they could remember from letterboxes, doorknobs, mats, patterns etc. The drawing gradually grew out from the door to the window, wall, garden, upstairs etc. I explained to the children that they are like sat navs, navigating within their own memory.