her with us for a day or two, but even though we comprise a Covid 19 free bubble, we felt it would be wrong to take her away from her safe environment in Achill to come here. She was interested in the music sessions between Carole and Helen and also in our conversation topics. She spoke about death as matter-of-factly as always, saying that she was curious about the experience, since she has spent a long time thinking about it.
It was really appropriate to talk about loss in North Mayo, a place that so resonates with lazy beds and residues of emigration. Barbara offered an opportunity to think about personal and universal experience through her film Requiem and Patricia showed the collaborative film she made with Therry, ‘Once Upon a Time…’ which in its perfect brevity, re-opened fleeting memories for everyone.
There is a natural rhythm to residencies and collaborations like this. We have been alternately skittish with excitement, moved to serious thought, and entertained by the comedians among us but today, busy though it was, was the day when tiredness caught up with us. We had planned to talk about energy, losing it and sustaining it, but we decided to wait for another day.
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We have passed the half way mark of our time here in Ballinglen now, and it’s timely to invite some of the other Cailleachs to talk about their experiences too. Today I asked Carole and Helen to write about their experience of the collective of playing/drawing together for the past two weeks. Carole kicked off; “As the youngster in the group I feel privileged to be among such extraordinary women. Remaining passionate and committed to making art, they show us all that, although age may bring its challenges, it also brings depth of practice and hard-won experience. And perhaps a sense of needing to ‘get it all out’ while we can.
Carole described how her note-playing leaves her in a state of complete openness. Helen’s response clearly indicates how she, too, is cleansed by the concentrated focus on the musical notes;-
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