'between', house, ghost

Tyrone Guthrie, 1900-1971

 Last night I went for dinner at ‘the big house’ which is where Tyrone Guthrie resided when he wasn’t abroad.

The opening of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre is today seen as a turning point in the cultural life of Ireland. At his death Tyrone Guthrie, with the encouragement of his family, left the house in his will to the Irish State for use as a residential workplace for artists. Guthrie’s dream was pursued by visionary and dedicated people through the two arts councils in Ireland at a time of deep political division. The old house was skilfully converted and Annaghmakerrig opened its doors to its first residents on 10 October 1981.

 Seeping with history and stories (literally as there is an extensive library), this ancient icon is massive. Luckily for me one of the artists gave a personal tour of the many rooms, including Miss Worby’s, the resident ghost. What fun to open door after door-I don’t know how many times we gasped with awe. What resonated was the realization that we were enveloped in the same space that so many well-known artists, composers and writers have stayed in order to make some of their most important work!

I  finally feel settled in here at Annamaghkerrig and after such an inspiring night I headed into the studio today where I  worked into the evening. 

I really like to create large-scale but again because of travelling I couldn’t take stretched canvas so I brought a few rolls of mylar. It is a beautiful surface to draw on and I also like to incorporate cold wax and powdered  pigment, as well as oil-which is what I did with the image below. And mylar  is light and easy to roll up-when dry.

I lár báire

 ( between), cold wax, mixed media on mylar  20x48in 2012

Below is a lively tale about the Ghost at Annamaghkerrig-watch it if you dare!