Watch a short video about My Art Residency experience HERE!
Earlier this year, I was awarded a whole week’s residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annamakerrig through the mid-career bursary offered by Children’s Books Ireland.
The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is a residential facility in Co. Monaghan for artists from all over the world. This peaceful, tranquil and inspiring place was once the family home of theatre director Tyrone Guthrie, who then bequeathed it to the State as long as it benefited and catered for artists, and in 1981 the Centre opened its doors.
Honestly, I did not know what to expect or the possibilities of this experience because I had never been to an artist’s residency before or spent a whole week exclusively immersed in my creativity and art practice.
I also debated a lot about attending it because I had caught a debilitating sinus infection just the week before the residency started, and symptoms lingered during my stay.
The Tyrone Guthrie Centre provides artists the perfect combo: accommodation and time to create. Whatever form or shape it takes. The centre receives many creatives, including writers, playwrights, poets, illustrators, fine artists, ceramicists, dancers, choreographers, and printmakers. The more information I found out about it, the luckier I felt to be there.
I stayed at the Big House in the Attic room and had everything I needed, including delicious meals and support from incredibly kind and welcoming staff. I had my bathroom, a comfy bed, an excellent and large desk expertly placed under a skylight and a charming armchair next to a filled-to-the-brim bookcase.
Artists can also stay in self-catering cottages too. Still, I must say that the food in the Big House was delicious and having a set time for meals (with snacks in between) allowed for the opportunity to interact and share experiences with the other residents.
The residency is unique and special because it removes all distractions and creates a protected pocket with dedicated spaces and time to nourish creativity.
The chance to sit with my thoughts and be surrounded by nature brought me stillness and somehow, it also created a very compelling energy to work.
And I may have made a non-human friend too.
Everything there buzzes with creative energy—the atmosphere around the grounds, the dedicated studios, the house itself, and so much more.
This experience connected me with others, but especially with myself. It helped me heal quite literally, and supported my creativity, allowing me to grow as a person and an artist.
I know it was only a week, but spending that time there, even through sickness, gave me the precise support I needed to further my work. While there, I developed an idea for a picturebook that had been sitting in my head for a while. The few words I had written on my Apple notes nested on that desk while soaking in the winter light. They cocooned in the tranquillity and received all nourishment needed to become a fully developed dummy picturebook.
It has been a few months since I was there, and I know I will always carry that experience with me. A publisher has picked up the dummy I created, and it will become an actual picture book. One that will always remind me that nurturing is essential for creativity.
So thank you, Children’s Books Ireland and the Tyrone Guthrie Center.
