Artists

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The creative act is an essential and integral part of a healthy philosophy.
Painting for me is a lifeline and Belmont Mill provided a wonderful space in which to work.

The studio was bright and airy and the accommodation was also comfortable. These provide the essential requirements but it was the people who made the stay warm and hospitable and conducive to creativity. Each and every one was most helpful, cheerful and companionable. Sandy and Tom, together with their family in particular were most obliging and welcoming. Nothing was too much trouble.


The mill and its surrounds are beautiful and conducive to long walks or bicycle tours. On these occasions it was good to make the acquaintance of the local community; again a very pleasant experience.


The other artists were supportive. It is always good to be introduced to the expertise of others using totally different media. To be able to discuss different approaches or problems connected with work is enlightening and encouraging.


All in all a very memorable experience

Since graduating from college, in June ’09, I felt I had asscertained an identity as a ‘knitter’ with no more open boxes. I felt tangled up in yarn and caught up in a ‘woolen identity’ I wished to break free of. I proposed to exploit this through the medium itself, as a means of expression. The two month Bursary Award at Belmont gave me the perfect opportunity to develop this through a new body of work, with the end goal of exhibiting. Being in this beautiful setting in rural Offaly, surrounded by the canal, the Brosna, the old flour mill, the geese, the dogs, the lovely bog roads for cycling, and my magnificently large studio allowed me the time and space and freedom to explore my practice and develop new concepts.
In my more recent practice, prior to my residency, I had been drawing a lot and decided to further develop this during my stay at Belmont, on a voyage of self-discovery. I worked from photos of myself, literally tangled up in wool and vomitting wool, as it continued to hold me back as an artist and make me feel ill. Through mixed media, stitch and video I wished to further these expressions. My work was also influenced by the summer months, I spent travelling across Canada volunteering on organic farms. This formed a unique source of inspiration for me and acted somewhat as a research project for my artistic practice. Working on wool and fibre crop farms, I learnt much textile techniques such as spinning, carding and felting.
My work from Belmont culminated in a series of handstitched and machine embroidered self-portraits, stretched over canvas frames and hung as wall pieces. Sheeps wool, which I handspun during the residency also, is also used to represent the material itself and my ‘woolen identity’. Three pieces from this series were exhibited in ‘1 FT SQ’, The Higher Bridges Gallery at the Clinton Centre, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh in December 2010. I plan to develop this series further and exhibit in 2011.
A special thank you to Sandy, Tom, Mark and Rosemary for making my stay at Belmont all the more enriching.

Man leaves traces of his existence on earth. These remnants are many times the result of our necessity to find and create shelter within the landscape. Historically understood as a place of living connection and encounter, these works explore the landscape as the place we inhabit, a place that celebrates the spirit of communal life.
My work is concerned with the here and now, paying special attention to the specifics of 'place': mans connection to the land, belonging, being from somewhere, and ultimately one of the basic human needs - shelter.
Shelter understood at an intimate level rather than a panoramic one. Shelter as a sanctuary from society, a place from where to honour the wider world, a place that represents and reflects the infinitesimal value of human life within the immensity of natural history.

Statement

Understanding memory and perception is central to my work. Visual perception i.e. understanding and interpreting what we see, is thought to consist of 80% memory and 20% input through the eyes. I explore this concept in my work by offering the viewer depictions or suggestions of imagery, which lead the viewer into his or her own interpretation of what is represented.
The aim of the work is to create pictorial spaces which toy with the viewer’s impulse to believe in them. The imagery I use is removed from its original environment yet remains part of a collective consciousness. The work exploits the physical qualities of paint whilst being simultaneously indebted to photography. The fictional compositions aim to hold a tension between reality and fantasy. Anonymity prevails; distancing the viewer from reality, yet the work is strangely evocative of people or places they sense they might know.
This current body of work is populated more figuratively than other previous works. Although people appear alongside one another, there is little or no interaction between them, heightening the tension felt in the work. A darker palette has forced the atmosphere to shift accordingly.


Aoife O’ Brien

Belmont Mill residency proposal

The idea is the most important aspect in my work and before I start I know how the artwork will turn out.

The main theme in my artworks is showing the contrast between two extremes. I am a complex woman who has moved from Iran (a conservative Muslim country) to another conservative and mainly Catholic country, Ireland.

In my new project I am depicting the beautiful symbols in Catholic and Moslem culture in the same artwork. The clumsiness and incorrect proportions can be seen in both traditional religious Iranian paintings and Celtic Catholic paintings. I am fascinated by the innocence and naïve way of looking at religion.

During my staying in Belmont I had the opportunity to work in a large quiet studio and concentrate on my project. The studio is perfect for working on installation works and making models which I did. The village of Belmont itself is inspiring and the local people are very friendly. Thus, everything is ideal for a creative artist to be productive. In this regard, I am planning to work on a project about local people in Belmont. I intend to draw portraits of about 12 people I met in Belmont during my stay here. I chose these people because of their interesting character or work. The portraits will incorporate a Persian touch and I plan to exhibit these works in the nice gallery space in Belmont Mill in 2011.

"Painting is an escape for me."
Roesy is a singer song writer and painter. He came to Belmont for April and May 2010 to do landscape painting. He will exhibit "Landscapes of Offaly" at Birr Vintage Week August 13th - August 20th. Rosey returned from New York where he had been playing live shows. Before that he was painting, recording and writing in Amsterdam. On his return to Ireland he released his new album "FABLE".
"Traveling a lot over the last few years has made me appreciate my own home even more and it is my intention to paint the beauty of my county. Painting landscape is a totally new venture for me. This exhibition is a full leap of passion and faith". www.roseyart.net

Kennedy's work is invested in the potential of a socially engaged practice which addresses specific environmental, social, aesthetic and economic concerns within located contexts. These iniatives can provide viewpoints that are both people and place-specific, contrary to more centralised sytems of mediation, power and control.

Kennedy has received numerous awards and bursaries for his practice including awards from the Irish Arts Council, a 2008 LAMA Award, Culture Ireland awards and awards from several Local Authorities.

His ongoing work investigates landscape, local resources, craft and social values vis-a-vis the recnt arrival of the IKEA phenomenon in Ireland.
Part of the work will involve a "pilgrimage" to the home town of IKEA in remote Sweden.

The actual work processes and materials explored to date regarding this work involve the milling and seasoning of the invasive shrub Rhododendron. He is currently seasoning a batch of milled rhododendron, some of which he will begin to work into "IKEAesque" articles.

The work done here at Belmont will be exhibited in early 2011. www.gkennedy.info

Satellite - Pylons- Bog- Time- Space- Comfort- Help

During my stay at Belmont Mills I spent a lot of time walking on the vast expanse of the Boora boglands. It is possible to walk for hours in this immense black landscape without seeing another person or much sign of human intervention except the rusty tracks of the bog rail that stretch off into the distance.

What struck me most about the Belmont Mills residency was the abundance of space available; my beautiful studio and apartment, and the open countryside which greeted me each morning as I stepped out onto the balcony.

Out on the flatlands, in the absence of any other manmade obstructions, utilitarian structures such as pylons, telegraph poles and aerial masts become prominent features.
It was to the physicality of these features that I became interested, to a certain aesthetic quality of their construction and their rhythmic intrusion on the flat horizon.

Without the daily influence of the Internet and other media, it was interesting to reflect on the magnanimous effects of new technology on our lives. I would like to thank both Heera and Ramini for all I learnt from them about Satellite technology and the secret lives of pylons.

I wanted to capture the effervescent colours that shimmer on the present moment, the layers of knowledge, experience and energy that go into making our reality. The bogland is a good place from which to view satellites as they past over in the night sky. Below this I was drawn to the deep strangeness and dense blackness of the bog. This strange matter made up of so much time. In parallel to the sawing, sanding and building that went into the wooden structures I began trying to reproduce the feeling of the bog through paintings with bitumen and chrome on paper.

www.ruth.ie
www.thegoodhatchery.wordpress.com

Hi, my name is Sharon Morgan and I am an artist from Belfast. I was awarded a bursary at Belmont Mill in March 2009. The Mill and the surrounding area offered a completely different backdrop for my work. Growing up in the city, my work always had an urban feel to it . The residency in Belmont Mill offered complete peace and tranquility to work in. Whilst exploring the Midlands of Ireland, I found myself drawn to hidden trails within the forest which lead me to develop a theme for my work ‘Into the Forest’ I was interested in the aesthetic values of the thin trails with trees curling over, the silouhette of branches on a moonlit sky, the linear qualities found in the very thick of the forest and most importantly that sense of being enchanted and lost in the forest. This actually happened, I did get enchanted by the visuals of the forest at twilight and as a result, terribly lost in the forest ! I liked the idea of wandering off the main track qnd exploring the hidden places in the forest where few humans tread and a whole other world exists.

The town of Belmont was rich with characters and offered lively music, craic and an enthusiasm for the arts. A big Thank you to Mark, the fiddle maker who was very kind in helping me to settle in, Ray, Alan, Stephen and John, the local musicians for the music and craic. A special thank you to Tom, Sandy and family for the fantastic opportunity and continued support for the arts.

Time and space are the most important resources an artist can have.

The artist residency at Belmont Mill provides these two resources which are vital to the sustainability of an artist's practice. In conjunction with this the location of the Mill provides artists with an environment that is rich in subject matter and inspiration. The surrounding landscape, events in the locality such as Birr vintage week and places like Boora Sculpture Park, ensure the artist is immersed in a creative environment.

Tom, Sandy, their family and the people who have workshops and studios within the mill complex were not only welcoming and helpful but engaged with the artists and their work, asking questions and providing stimulating conversation which is of paramount importance when producing a new body of work.

As an artist who graduated from college a year ago the opportunity to do the residency in Belmont was an invaluable one. Having time and space to engage in a new body of work in an atmosphere which cultivates creativity and an artistic method of thinking has developed my artists practice, driving it forward in a manner which is simply not achievable without residencies such as this. Mt time spent in Belmont has been both challenging and stimulating. It has restored faith in the choice to be a visual artist and the importance of such a vocation.

I would like to thank Sandy, Tom, Heera and Ramani for the opportunity to come here and all their help and also everyone else at the mill and in Belmont for making it such a fantastic experience. 30 th August 2009

The 3 month residency provided me with a generous amount of time to explore the locality, experiment with new subjects, contexts, which have led to a new body of work that I hope to exhibit for a future solo show.

Looking back at the work made at the beginning I can see the progression and decisions I made throughout the 13 weeks. 30th August 2009

The locality has played a huge part influencing my work. I have spent time walking, collecting found objects along the roads, photographing uninhabited dwellings. All of which maintain traces of people passing through who once occupied the area.

The creative process has become much more experimental and conceptual in comparison with previous work made prior to the residency. For this development alone I feel I have fulfilled some of the expectations I had hoped for before I began.

The locality of Belmont has many historical sites, derelict buildings, canal, river Brosna etc, providing plenty of inspiration and places to visit.

Given the rural setting of the mill itself as a quiet, remote place, this leaves little distractions for artists. I found this as a positive feature as I could direct full focus on creating work.

I feel I have gained alot from the residency It's been a great opportunity to spend a whole 3 months just creating art, with the convenience of a studio on site, living beside my workspace. The large size of the studio meant that I could work on a selection of pieces at the same time and see the connections, associations when experimenting and displaying finished pieces.

I would encourage any artist to apply for a residencey at Belmont Mill. The opportunity would provide the time and space and focus to create a strong body of work and the experience would enrich your artist career.

The artists' Residency Program at Belmont Mill has been of incalculable value to me. The impact it has had on my work as an artist -- as well as on my spirit -- has been exquisite and profound. As a native New Yorker, living and creating in the vast countryside of Ireland has been a truly dramatic change; the value of this experience cannot be overestimated for a city slicker like myself. In the initial weeks of rain I felt under attack from the forces of nature, as I slowly adjusted to the blank onslaught of silence, slugs, spiders, goats, trees, bog, horses, cows and roosters that don't crow at the right hour. As the bustle of New York faded into memory, the creak of the subway made way for the bark of the grouchy rooks in their trees. I was forced to rethink my usual artistic plans and methods and adjust to this new, beautifully primordial environment, and I began incorporating elements of nature into my usual visual repertoire. Drawings of vines, slugs and snails took their place with the figures I usually render. It was a welcomed change, and the stunning Irish countryside is now an permanent part of my visual vocabulary. These muddy elements have taken precedence over the concrete culture I am used to. The residency program also fostered an interaction with Irish history and tradition, the local community of Belmont, and the surrounding towns of Ferbane, Birr, and Cloghan. The Mill itself, with its impressively haunting structures now reconfigured into a new context, along with the craftspeople who also work there, have been an equally valuable asset. Long walks and bike trips along the Grand Canal, where not a soul is in sight for miles (with the exception of cattle), fostered penetrating contemplation of the artistic work I would return to back at the Mill. Ancient monasteries in the region, such as Clonmacnoise, added to the sense of contemplative history and cloistered focus. None of this experience would be possible, of course, without the generosity and vision of Tom Dolan and Sandy Lloyd. Without their transformation of the Mill into a hub of artistic activity and artisinal work, (as well as a beacon for a sleepy community) and their deep interest in the arts, this program and life-changing experience would not be possible. Their hospitality, humor and dialogue was an added benefit to the entire experience. Tom and Sandy's respect for the creative process, establishment of a comfortable living situation and large studios free of outside interference and structure, encouraged our own artistic discipline to emerge from within while embracing the world of Belmont itself.

Belmont Residency 2008

When one embarks upon the journey of being a visual artist, opportunities like this residency provide an insight into the type of occupation you have chosen. Personally one of the greatest assets one can have as an artist is freedom and space to make work. This aspiration for freedom can be financial, psychological and related to time. As a young artist, one may receive opportunities to create shows, take part in exhibitions and various projects etc; however without time and financial freedom these opportunities can become burdens as you struggle to make work whilst supporting yourself. This residency at Belmont came at a fortunate time for my work as with shows approaching in September I knew the necessity of having a block of time to concentrate, develop and produce strong work. Through being here at Belmont for the last three months I had time to think about the kind of show I wished to create for September and take stock of where my work was currently positioned. I found it invaluable to have the opportunity to speak with the artists within Belmont about art practices, ideas and future plans. Without this kind of dialogue, one can become very insular within your chosen art practice and with the best of intentions; a broadening and development of work can become largely forgotten. I am happy that through speaking with these artists and also engaging with natural and found materials around the mill, new thoughts and forms within my work have begun to develop.

The kindness and understanding of Tom and Sandy has been an enormous help in giving me encouragement and hope to continue working as a visual artist. Their generosity in providing a centre like Belmont is vitally important to all types of art practices. I have enjoyed the experience of living and working at Belmont mills immensely and I hope in years to come it continues to help and further the careers of artists who come and work in this environ.


Laura Fitzgerald 2008

www.laurafitzgerald.net

Eoin O'Conaill - Artist's statement
As a documentary photographer looking at the Irish landscape. I have gained an insight and appreciation for the landscape and lifestyle in the midlands. I think just having the time to focus on my work uninterrupted has allowed me to progress this project and myself as an artist and I have produced some of my strongest work to date.
The friendly atmosphere, the studios and living space have been fantastic. The area of Belmont is a beautiful setting and I am humbled by how friendly and accommodating all who I have met and photographed have been.
Big thanks to Tom, Sandy and family for the welcome, opportunity and for working to provide such a great facility for artists and the local community.
July 2008

Both these artists wanted to take their work out into the wider community and they exhibited in the local library and found two empty shop fronts in which they displayed their work. The work was changed after two weeks. Here are some of those finished pieces.


11-1 Weave Study by Sharon Murphy
11-2 Kenny Dread by Claudia Bose
11-3 Lime Ball by Sharon Murphy
11-4 Colour Studies by Claudia Bose
11-5 The Children of England by Claudia Bose

Sharon is from Dublin. She studied in L.I.T. Limerick and completed her BA in Fine Art from N.C.A.D. Dublin.

"Sharon Murphy - Personal Statement (23.10.2007)

As a painter and mixed media artist the grid strongly features in my work. Since beginning work at Belmont Mill, the work has slowly become influenced by the beautiful hinterland that surrounds Belmont.

I arrived here in September of this year with the task of putting together a solo show that would take place shortly after this residency ended. I was very aware of the need to fully experience the immediate area I found myself in, and was reluctant to stick strictly to the plans that I had drawn up. The local bog area, spanning Offaly and Westmeath has had a profound effect on paintings and wire pieces that I am producing. I have found myself reinterpreting my relationship with the grid, layering and stratification, the use of positive and negative space and it has induced much colour experimentation.

The studio space given to me by Tom and Sandy is the best I have ever experienced, with excellent wall space, light sources and cleaning facilities. The Mill building and land has been restored to its former appearance and the owners’ specific alterations have adapted the place into a small, self-contained artistic community.

This unique opportunity has given me a chance to share ideas, influences and work approaches with both Irish and international artists. This wonderful space gives the needed support, self-sufficiency and personal creative space that allows visual research and art-making a very natural occurrence.
"

Claudia is German but lives in England. She obtained her BA in Fine Art, Painting from St. Martins London then carried out her Post graduate Diploma at Royal Academy School in London. She has had many solo exhibitions in London, Berlin and Ipswich.

"I am here in Ireland to deepen my relationship with painting. Since my arrival in September I have been following three main threads:

I am reflecting on the space of what I see and what I make of it. What is it about a location where I am able to converse with perception and experience?

Secondly I am exploring boundaries of observation, representation and abstraction. What is it in a place that enhances my imagination?

The third focus is on handling materials and how this relationship {with paints, rags, oils, boards, masking tape, stencils etc} generates evidence and expression of being in the world.

This is an amazing place and time with people, and a mode of being where painting can happen.

October 2007"

Fiona will leave us to go to Crawford College in Cork to continue her studies.

Fiona came to us after a residency in Reykjavik, Iceland and has concentrated on wood cuts and printmaking while here at Belmont. She creates relief prints which she cuts and prints by hand.

"My work deals with the fragmentation of thought and identity in society. I take common place objects that I feel I can empathize with, and put them into an individualized context by portraying them as flotsam in their own personal void, revealing their inherent characters."

The pictures below show Fernanda working in the studio on a piece which is part of a larger collection.

"The Belmont Mill residence is a perfect place for artists to keep their mind focused in their work. Very peaceful atmosphere, and loads of subject matter for research.

I'd say it also offers a quite unique experience for international artists to get to know Ireland beyond Dublin. I can easily foresee this place as a main centre of contemporary art in the midlands of Ireland.

My congratulations to Sandy and Tom for taking the initiative of transforming an old dead mill into a place that boosts up creative energy both for the artists and the community."

Kenneth Lambert has been residing in Belmont Mill Artists Studio at Belmont Co Offaly since September of last year. Having being awarded a residency from September until December 06 he decided to stay on indefinitely living and working on the grounds. After completing his studies in Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology he has managed to consistently work in creative fields of one form or another while still practicing and developing his own work. Over the last number of years he has been able to spend the majority of his time on his own practice mainly as a sculptor but also in drawing and animation work. This has been made possible due to several sales of his work, residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Belmont Mills and bursary awards from South Dublin County Council in 2006 and from Offaly County Council in 2007. In May 2007 he received the prestigious Royal Hibernian Academy sculpture award of €10,000 at the annual RHA exhibition. These achievements have enabled him to concentrate fully on his practice and he will be a participating artist at the Sculpture in Context exhibition taking place at the Botanic Gardens in September 2007 and Offaly Open Submission 2007 in July 2007. Ken attributes his recent achievements to his surroundings and time at Belmont Mill.

"I have found my time over the past ten months in Offaly to be the most inspiring and productive period of my life as an artist to date. As soon as I had arrived I developed a strong feel for the place, it really captivated me in the autumn; the colours of the large maple and birch trees, the horses straddling the fields, the layered history of the immediate area of the Mills.



When I look at the original mill house with its doorway intact and inscribed in very definite and elegant French 'Le Strange' above the arch and dated 1673 it fascinates me. I think the delicate style of the writing is juxtaposed to both its age and its seasonally harsh surroundings; essentially it is so stylish and so French. Then there is the house that I am presently living in with its quirky English gentrified post war feel and the writing 'Perry and sons Estab. 1927' across the front window in an art deco type face. This area was not just lived in by the French Huguenots and the Anglo Irish it was also cultivated by them. Hopefully as we grow and mature as a contemporary Irish society we will value these simple doorways and houses as part of our heritage. In Ferbane there are some great crafted windows and doorways. Seamus in the hardware shop 'Bits and Pieces' told me that these particular features were made by a carpenter by the name of Jackson known to the area at the turn of the century.



I feel that these elements of our towns become more precious as the monoculture of Spars and Centra’s spread out from the larger cities. I know that these convenience shops are probably a much welcomed addition to a lot of towns but how they are nestled in towns such as Ferbane is very American. In this respect I hope that in the future we will look more to our European neighbours for architectural and town planning inspiration..



This whole area around Belmont has become so special to me, the bridges, the weir, the walk along the canal. I have never spent a full cycle of all the seasons in the countryside before and it really has been a powerful time especially the spring, watching the birth of so much life simultaneously. I feel that I am experiencing Belmont Mills at a great time of renewal; I have seen the mills get new roofs and the pebbledash taken off to reveal such beautiful brickwork in the glorious month of April as I sit writing this now in the tempestuous month of June! Presently I am working on an installation to be exhibited at the botanic gardens in Dublin during the month of September.

The work will consist of seven full sized microcrystalline wax toy horses placed in a group amongst the trees. The theme of the horses is based around a sense of cyclical rebirth and a personal homage to 'Der blau reiter' group and artists such as Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky.



I feel that Belmont mills and its immediate area is a precious part of our country and heritage and should be both treasured and nurtured for our future generations. I would like to thank Sinead O Reilly, Tom and Sandy and family, Pine and Sandy, Jeff and Kay Perry and say hello to everybody else I've had the fortune to call a friend in Offaly and like Arnie, I'll be back!



(This article first appeared in Visual Artist and by their kind permission we are able to replicate it here on our website. We are grateful to them for this facility.)"

Jennifer Comber is a Ceramic Artist who makes both decorative/functional and sculptural ceramics. She completed a Masters of Art specialising in ceramics in 2004 in Limerick School of Art and Design; later that year she became the overall winner of Westmeath County Council's Graduate and Emerging Artists commisionary programme. She has worked in studios in Castleknock and Stoneybatter, Dublin before relocating to Belmont in March 2006.


Selected shows.


'Masters of Art Show', The March 2004 Church Gallery, Limerick School of Art and Design.


'Fusion' The Ritz Gallery, Castlestreet, Mullingar December 2005.


Irish Contempoary Ceramics Touring Exhibition January 2006 www.irishcontemporaryceramics.ie

"Belmont Mills Studio is a great place to work. It is in an inspiring setting with very well equipped large studios. With the mix of other artists both National and International there is great potential for some very exciting work in the future."

Mark McGreevy was born in Northern Ireland. He received a first class honours Degree from the University of Ulster in 1999 and a pass with Distinction MFA in 2003. Since graduating he has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally and has been shortlisted for the AIB Artist of Promise Award 2004 and BOC Emerging Artist Award, London. He most recently completed The Artist Residency Programme in the Irish Museum of Modern Art and The Ballinglen Fellowship in Mayo.

"Belmont Mill and Studios are some of the best studios I've had the pleasure to work in. They are large and spacious with great daylight and artificial fluorescents which has given me the opportunity to concentrate on producing some large scale work.
Belmont has a very relaxed friendly atmosphere which has made settling into Offaly much easier.
For anybody considering the Belmont Residency I would encourage them to apply and have the same productiove experience I have had."

Caroline studied printing and textiles at Edinburgh College of Art gaining a 1st Class Honours degree and Post Grad. Diploma. She works as a relief printmaker and is currently engaged on a series of figurative, water-based works, printing many translucent layers of colours from each block.

"Belmont studios have a great atmosphere and are a really inspiring place to work. Being in a big, bright, warm studio has benefited my work enormously. Tom and Sandy are very helpful and accommodating and I feel very lucky to be here."

Salah is well known and highly regarded hot glass artist, lived and worked here for 3 years until his retirement to Egypt last year.

Jørn is from Denmark. He has created many sculptural works, commissions and projects in Denmark, Ireland, England, Norway and Holland. He has been working on and off at Belmont since 2003.


He maintains a small studio here for on going work:

"I am a Danish environmental sculptor and I have been working at Belmont Mill Studios on many occasions since 2002, where I took part in the first Sculpture Symposium in Lough Boora Parklands.


Being one of the first artists to visit Belmont Mill Studios I have felt very privileged, having not only excellent conditions for making large scale sculpture, but also being the first to enjoy the facilities of the new apartments for artists and the quiet atmosphere with the opportunity for meditative walks along the mirroring waters of the Grand Canal or just enjoying the soothing sound of the Brosna River water running through the mill race near by.


Last but certainly not least I will emphasize the friendliness, hospitality, flexibility and generosity of Tom Dolan and his wonderful family. Without their support I would not have been able to create and exhibit my hitherto most ambitious environmental sculpture series "The Scriptorium Project", which had its world premiere in the County Council Hall in Tullamore before starting its Irish and European tour.


I feel that Ireland and Belmont has become my second home and I have now been able to rent - on a more permanent basis - a small workshop space here at Belmont Mill Studios, where I look forward to realize some of the ideas that have sprung from my visits - and from some interesting logs of wood with a history, that I have come across!"