September 2013 Volume 19

Bray Arts Journal Issue 1 September 2013 Volume 19 FFREE 1 he Bray Arts welcomes you back to a fantastic line-up REVIEW of Artists and Musicians from Wicklow and further Tafield. This season we have artists from many different Bray Arts Night, June 2013 disciplines. Meeting once a month at the Martello Hotel, on the By Shane Harrison 1st Monday of the month at 8.30, from September to June. So, the Bray Arts came to its sultry seasonal conclusion, palm The Bray Arts offers a platform to artists and performers to trees swaying in the tropical June breezes showcase new and unusual work in all mediums. We provide a of the seafront. Sultrier than most, but not “youth” slot to give a voice to the young. swaying in the breeze so much (not yet, If you would like to show your work or have a literary piece anyhow), Carmen Cullen kicked off printed in the Bray Arts Monthly Journal, please let the proceedings with a rousing and varied committee know and we will try to accommodate you. Our interpretation of her novel, Two Sisters performers and artists range from 10 to 90 years. It is a relaxed Singing. and social evening of arts open to all. The story is set in the 1940s, inspired by We now have Calendar cards available, listing dates of events the life and art of ballad singer Delia Mur- throughout the year and including contact details. phy, one of Carmen’s own kin. It follows Carmen Cullen Our first meeting will take place on 9th September, when we the two sisters, Lily and Moyra, from rural Ireland to student life have local Wicklow singer/songwriter Sonny Condell and in Dublin with the war, conservative Catholicism and the music Robbie Overson performing, Jane Stanford will be reading from of the era forming a vivid backdrop. her new book “The Irishman”, Rejuv Designs will also be Carmen brought all this to life in her inimitable way, switching present, displaying her quirky handbags and accessories made from song to text and back again. The audience were beguiled from upcycled fabrics. by the Three Lovely Lassies from Bannion, all the while Eileen We would like to thank the outgoing committee members for was spinning, and ramblers, gamblers and other ne’er do wells their trojan work. Dermot McCabe, Cearbhall O’Meadhra and downed the moonshine - that’s Bray Arts for ye. Something of Michael Monaghan and would like to welcome our present a one woman show then, but to be fair, I should mention the committee Karen Quinn, Editor. Cam Lyttle, Sound and Julie- musical accompaniment of Gerry Anderson on acoustic guitar, Rose McCormick, Chair. his subtle picking holding the performance together. Looking forward to seeing everybody on the 9th at the Martello. Regards, David Jokhadze has darkened our door before, huffing and puffing and bringing the house down. He surely is the ace of Julie-Rose McCormick, Chairperson, Bray Arts. bass with a voice then compasses the whole body and shakes the audience to their very boots. Hailing from Georgia he brought a touch of the exotic to proceedings, with his green tee- shirt and curly, Red- dish locks - well, the Georgian bit sounds exotic. Indeed, the ab- sence of formal attire breaks a lot David Jokhadze of barriers, bringing a keen focus to the singing itself, further enhanced by David’s lively performance. He snatches a wine glass from a clubber as a prop for Committee Members Mario Lanza’s Be My Love; returning it unspilt, incidentally. I seem to remember him performing a similar trick with an um- brella back in the day, thankfully it wasn’t raining tonight. Da- L to R, Ger Thomas (Secretary), Carmen Cullen (Treasurer), vid’s repertoire ranges from such popular favourites as Cole Julie Rose McCormick (Incoming Chairperson), Zan O’ Porter’s Every Time I Say Goodbye, through operatic favourites, Loughlin (A Former Chairperson), Aoife Hester (Graphic concluding with more depth in a slice of Russian opera and Designer), more balalaikas than you can shake a stick at. It’s over but he’s not finished. As a fully fledged Irish citizen, thirteen years here Cearbhall O’Meadhra ( Outgoing Chairperson) and Michael and looking younger on it, he returns to round off the evening Monaghan ( Sound Engineer). with the National Anthem. Standing room only, and rightly so. Insets, L to R, Anne FitzGerald (Creative Writing Editor), Harriet Ledwidge, Niall Cloak, Eithne Griffin and Darren Nesbitt. In the second half we found ourselves back amongst the Wicklow Hills with An Tochar Drama Group, and you can’t Front Cover get hillier than that. With a cast of eight actors, this was a welcome release from the all too ubiquitous one or two hander “Little one not alone” that has become the staple of the one act form. Self penned by by Martina McAteer the troupe, Upcoming exhibition at The Wake is a darkly humorous farce exploring the greedier Signal Arts see page 7 recesses of bereavement. As a despised farmer dies, his less than 2 loving family gather by the bedside with an eye to divvying up Sony Condell & Robbie Overson the cash they’re sure he’s skied away. Alone, they can excoriate the poor deceased from a height, but a procession of An integral part of the Irish music scene since the early `70s, a interruptions from the parish priest to the undertaker and a musical career spanning 35 years, from the heady days with “Tír scheming neighbour require them to put on a show of grief. Na nÓg” which landed him on All the hypocrisy, false hope and, ultimately, wasted wealth is the biggest stages in the world, to laid bare, punctuated by much hilarity. the truly fantastic “Scullion”, numerous solo albums, perhaps Great performances all round, especially from the sons, Tom one of Irelands greatest and Billy, who create a songwriters, Sonny Condell is the comic duo within the real McCoy. Sonny Condell's play, and Paddy the songs are melodic and thoughtful, neighbour, who may be often with a breeze of jazz or a mad, but not stupid. rhythmic hint of traditional music. All told, a malediction on the underbelly of “Down In The City”, “Teeside”, the Poptastic “Carol”, Irish life. But really, stunning lyrics, distinctive driving rhythm guitar. A prolific song- where in Ireland would writer with 15 albums to his credit. you find people so An Tochar Group "Three decades equals a remarkable repertoire in grasping, callous and Scullion's world, most of it drawn from the creative genius duplicitous? Surely there can be no place for people like that, of Condell, whose subtle lyricism and matchless melody outside of Dail Eireann. lines bear scant kinship to anyone else on the planet" Siobhan Long - Irish Times June 2008 PREVIEW Bray Arts Night Sonny Condell's new studio album Monday Sept 9th 2013 "Swallows and Farms" released on April 26th 2013 on CD and Martello Hotel, Bray Digital. Everyone Welcome: Adm. €5 / €4 conc. Nicole Keating Nicole set up Rejuv designs in 2011 to create handmade handbags, hats and soft furnishings using old garments and vintage cloths. Nicole sells at local markets and online. Her ethos is rejuvenate, to de- Congratulations to Rosy for another sign, draft a pattern and cre- splendid publication. ate her handmade individual pieces. Nicole’s fabrics are sourced from family, friends and charity stores. Carraigoona Burns (Lapwing) is a collection of poetry that draws together a commemoration for family, friends and strangers. Her Working from her studio, poems have an emotional quality without a sense of melancholy the rejuvenating process - just courage and honesty. To obtain a copy of Carraigoona Burns, begins with the cleaning contact Lapwing publishers or Rosy direct on Facebook. treatments and the deconstruction of garments. Where possible all zips, buttons and buckles are revitalized. Her individual designs take time to create and Nicole is passionate about her work. Jane Stanford Jane Stanford is an independent historian and author. That Irishman, her biography of John O'Connor Power, the nineteenth century Nationalist leader, tells the story of the Irish Republi- can Brotherhood and the role of the Irish in England in the struggle for independence. She is working on a companion volume and maintains a blog thatirishman.com. She has three daughters and lives in Monkstown, County Dublin. 3 In Memory of Davin Harrison His body was recovered on Monday in the swollen river around 40 feet from the bank. The area where the accident occurred is knows as Knight’s Eddy near Lumberland in Sullivan County. t’s understood that Davin got into difficulty while swimming in the area of the Kittatinny “staircase” rapids. He was not wearing a life jacket at the time. Davin was on a student work visa from Ireland, and was visiting the Sullivan County area from Brooklyn. He grew up in Bray and was a student at Presentation College there. His parents Shane and Marian were on holiday in Alaska when they received the news of the tragedy, and Davin’s older brother Oran was also travelling. Bright Star By Conor Feehan Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art- Irish Independent Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night And watching, with eternal lids apart, Crossing the Bar Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite, The moving waters at their priestlike task Sunset and evening star, Of pure ablution round earth's human shores, And one clear call for me! Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask And may there be no moaning of the bar, Of snow upon the mountains and the moors- When I put out to sea, No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable, Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, To feel for ever its soft fall and swell, Too full for sound and foam, Awake for ever in a sweet unrest, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, Turns again home.

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