Waterways Ireland |  Monday 14 October 11am to 1pm | £15 / Con £10 (Participants supply their own drawing and painting materials)

Join Rosie Mc Gurran RUA  for a Masterclass providing insights into her practice and  to her sources of inspiration, techniques and use of media, materials and processes.

“The island and village are a far flung familiar from the redbrick city I was born in. In hindsight I believe I sought out a backdrop of beauty in Connemara. The village itself was founded by the engineer Alexander Nimmo in the 1840s who was charged to build harbours, roads and bridges throughout the west of Ireland. The sea had been the main form of transport before then, Nimmo linked communities and made safe haven for sailors. The construct of the place also acts like a theatrical set in daily life and in the visual interpretations made by hundreds of artists since its inception. It possibly is the most painted village in Ireland. 

 I steer naturally from the obvious depiction of Roundstone and Inishlacken, instead my curiosity leads me to seek out something less palpable. Holy wells, the intersection of ancient worship and gods colliding and merging with Christianity, the footprint of the past lives with the present are all themes in the work. I pursue the divine feminine in the midst of the fog of patriarchy, the beauty of the place has an edgy undercurrent. Life in a small village is exposed and raw but also warm and convivial, familiarity can breed all sorts of things but can also nurture friendships and trust.”