Edith Collier (1885 -1964 ) was an artist from Wanganui in New Zealand who spent time in the beautiful village of Bunmahon, Co. Waterford in 1914 and 1915. This was all I knew about this woman until last night when I had the good fortune to be among the audience at the Irish Premiere of a documentary, Village by the Sea, at the Copper Coast Geopark Centre in Bunmahon. The event was organised by Sean and Miranda Corcoran of the Art Hand, which is a dynamic Art School near Bummahon the art hand . art school . waterford . ireland.
Village by the Sea, which was made in March 2012, tells of Edith Collier’s time in Bunmahon and shows her paintings of people and places in the area. There is wonderful camera work in the documentary which sets the portrayals of this magnificent artist against images of Bunmahon almost 1oo years on.
The intense atmosphere at the showing last night was one of warmly embracing Edith Collier back to the village of Bummahon which she clearly loved. There was a real sense that she was back among us and I, for one, am starving to learn more and more about the life and times of this fascinating woman who serves as a major link between Co. Waterford and New Zealand.
SOCIAL BRIDGE ~ Jean Tubridy connecting with you from Ireland 