Already close to the end of February 2024 and the year has been so busy and fast moving. Nevertheless, there has been a definite theme so far as I connect the dots to all the work that this year has brought.
While the past few years has seen a lot of holistic activity here at Turas House the focus for the past few months are clearly on new creativity, new composition, new projects, new connections. A lot of the efforts of the past few years since 2020 are weaving together and slowly presenting a picture. There seems to be greater emphasis of self-empowerment, bringing the good from the past few years to help inform and guide the current sense of reality.
Chipping away in the background since releasing my debut album in 2020 entitled 'Beneath the Hedgerow' I have been working on new material that has been informed by my sense of place. Our sense of place can relate to where we see ourselves in the world, society, amongst friends as well as our physical place. I am fortunate to live in a special, magical, protected place in East Clare that commands a lot of quietness and stillness. This can be challenging as well as being an amazing gift.
My fiddle teaching takes two forms that I feel are becoming more and more intertwined rather that being separate workshops. From working with people in my kitchen, in the wider Clare community and online with musicians across the globe the community is growing. It is not growing as just a tutor/student scenario. It is a much deeper experience and connection. There are more and more people connecting looking for something more to enhance their life experience. Music is not just dots on a page, or about learning 100 tunes. It is about connecting to a deeper part of yourself that you might not even be familiar with. And the personal journey continues. I am very excited about lots of 'new' this year. In the meantime, I can share one project that I have been working on over the past few months.
I was delighted to research and produce a radio documentary/podcast series looking at the 54 year legacy of Shortts Bar in Feakle, Co. Clare. As an artists I wanted to capture the essence of what happens here and bring it to the wider community. Whilst I thought I knew most of what happens, I learned a lot more about it during the 5 months working on the series. There is a beautiful story of history, connection, a sense of an extended family and a generational connection that I can only remember as a child. The Long and the Shortt of it - A Thursday night in Feakle, by Scariff Bay Community radio can be accessed here. Episode 3 will be available Thursday 22nd February.
If you would like to connect with regard your artistic journey you can email me on cliopatricia@gmail.com