Robert Roane Beard

New York Artist, Robert Roane Beard, will be working in Ireland, at the astounding Cill Rialaig Artist Project Over looking the Atlantic in Co Kerry.

See below some of the history and the location.

This will be Mr. Beard's second stint at the colony.

CILL RIALAIG - Bolus Head, Co. Kerry, Ireland Cill-Rialaig

Cill Rialig encompases a pre-famine village which is situated on the side of the mountain overlooking Ballinskelligs. Some of the houses have been renovated and are used to house travelling artisans from all four corners of the globe.

Cill Rialaig is a fascinating as well as a beautiful place and it’s well worth telling you something about the project. Cill Rialaig Artists Project was set up by publisher Noelle Campbell-Sharpe, as an artist’s retreat on the remote Bolus Head peninsula in County Kerry. It is an old settlement, that suffered large population losses during the famine and gradually became completely abandoned during the 1960s and 70s. It has now been beautifully brought back to life with great sensitivity, using traditional materials and maintaining the dimensions of the vernacular architecture. Unlike so many others, this is the kind of development that enhances the very reason people visit; the landscape. Now all kinds of artists, poets, writers and craftspeople come from all over the world to gain inspiration from the surroundings and solitude. Artists are encouraged to donate artwork to the Project to help with the upkeep.

Each cottage is clad in local stone, each with either a thatch or slate roof. The interiors are well designed, with comfortable sleeping quarters in a half-loft, a separate kitchen and an open plan dining/sitting room. At one end of each cottage there is a ‘lean-to’; this is the roomy studio space, a glass roof maximizing the available light.

This Gaeltacht area is rich in history and archaeological sites litter the landscape. There are ancient standing stones on the hill above the settlement and also early Christian remains such as monastic cells and slab crosses. The great seanchai, Sean O Connaill who spoke only Irish, lived in Cill Rialaig all his life, eking out a living as a smallholder farmer and fisherman. Although he never went to school and could not write, he had a prodigious memory and a great store of heroic tales, proverbs and riddles. His folklore was eventually collected by the Folklore Commission and published in 1964.

For painters, the light in this area is superb. Looking out from the houses, the panorama of the bay is an ever-changing tableau, where the clouds cast fleeting shadows onto the ocean’s surface. The artist has to work quickly to capture the ever-changing complexion of the scenery; the familiar aphorism about Ireland’s climate having “four seasons in one day” is amplified down here and should be counted in minutes. The aspect of the village is seaward, with a view of a menagerie of islands (The Bull, The Cow and The Calf) and these provide excellent material for sketching, but be prepared -the wind can work against the unprepared may find themselves chasing their work down the road! Working as freelancers we can often be isolated, so it was interesting to see others doing their stuff; all with very different approaches. Here is an opportunity to take a turn off the familiar path and work on projects that are mostly kept dormant due to the pressure of business. It’s an opportunity to explore different avenues or even to improve existing techniques.

The Origin Gallery

83 Harcourt Street

Dublin 2

And ask for application details.

Robert Roane Beard

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