Safe Harbour ~ Gatherings from Ireland #305

Festival of Colour, Creativity and Connection

Dummore East, here in Co. Waterford, is a place that has huge significance in my life ~ so significant, in fact, that I chose to have my wedding reception there.

So, I was thrilled when Sinead Boyle submitted a photograph of  Dunmore East Harbour for my Festival of Colour, Creativity and Connection. Sinead is a photographer from Tramore and it means the world to me that her decision to enter the world of photography was inspired by seeing exhibitions which my late father held when she was a youngster.

Dunmore East, Co. Waterford
Photo: Sinead Boyle

As a result, this particular photograph is all about connections as well as colour to me. For Sinead, though, the image conjures up thoughts about creativity which I find very interesting:

Dunmore’s  reflections lend colour to this image.  The water transforms into a natural canvas  to create its own landscape. Nature is by far the best creator; here it is definitely a case of:  to create a picture,  just add water. 

To see more of Sinead’s work, be sure to follow her via Tramore Art Craft and Design http://tramoreartcraftdesign.wordpress.com/sinead-boyle-images/

As we move into the second half of November, may I invite you to join the Festival of Colour, Creativity and Connection by sharing prose, poetry, photographs, songs, artwork ….. anything that even whispers Colour, Creativity or Connection to you. Just email me at: jeantubridy@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sense of Place ~ Gatherings from Ireland # 221

Were you ever so full of inspiration that you felt you could barely write? Well, that’s how I am today. It’s all because I’ve been soaking myself  in what I consider to be my Tramore ~ and I haven’t even been for my daily swim yet!

Tramore has lots of different faces and many of these have been beautifully captured at two exhibitions that are running in town.  My first port of call was the Church of Ireland Hall where I viewed the annual exhibition of a group of extremely talented artists.

It’s well over 30 years since the Art Group started exhibiting and the paintings seem to get better and better every year. The stand-out painting for me at this year’s exhibition was called One Misty Morning by  Jimmy O’Brien-Moran that captured the historic and atmospheric Promenade here in Tramore.

I went straight from the Art Exhibition to a solo Photographic Exhibition by Sinead Boyle. It is being held at Tramore Coastguard Cultural Centre ~ which has a long history of its own, having once been the local Garda Station among other things.

The Coastguard Cultural Centre, Tramore, Co. Waterford

I first met Sinead Boyle back in the ‘big snow’ of 2010 at sunset on the Victorian Doneraile Walk which overlooks Tramore Bay. We were later to be co-students on a Postgraduate Certificate course on Heritage/Tourism: Sense of Place run by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (2012-2013).

I was completely captivated by Sinead’s exhibition which is called A Photographic Journey through the Lens: Sense of Place. She had told me soon after meeting that she had taken up photography as a teenager and was totally inspired by seeing a number of exhibitions that my father held in the 1980s.

The Metal Man, Tramore, Co. Waterford.
Photo: Frank Tubridy c.1986

I had quite a sense of deja vu looking at the moodiness of Sinead’s photographs today. I just love the way she has included images of Tramore Bay in every conceivable light, at different times of the year and also both in its nakedness and fully clothed to host the thousands of visitors we receive each year.

I had lots of favourites, including Winter Solstice that portrays an elderly man walking on the beach as the sun was setting on December 21st. In so many ways, the image reminded me of Cicero’s book On a Life Well Spent that sustained me greatly through the last sixteen months of Father’s long life.  Another was one called Indian Summer which portrays the Life Guards’ Hut when it was painted a striking  and most vibrant orange.

Interestingly, though, I think my very favourite is a black and white photograph of the Promenade at night in Winter.  To me, it epitomised Tramore in very much the same way that Jimmy O’Brien Moran’s painting had just an hour or so before.

Sinead Boyle’s exhibition runs for another week until August 17th. Don’t miss it!

Here’s Lookin’ at You ~ Gatherings from Ireland # 194

When I arrived for my morning swim yesterday at Garrarus beach, I spotted a photographer friend of mine hunkered down taking photographs of  some stones.

So, this is her image of me in my natural habitat ~ or should I call it my paradise?

Garrarus Beach, Co. Waterford.
Photo by: Sinead Boyle