Winter Arts Showcase

Band Recording

Local bands have been recording at An Creagán in recent weeks with engineers from The Nerve Centre. Check back soon to hear the final songs!

Oscar

Nolan, Thomas, Oscar & Eamonn

Beth

Martin

Fiona Cassidy Book Reading and Signing

Fiona Cassidy

Fiona Cassidy, a debut author from Galbally in Co. Tyrone, presents her first novel ‘Anyone for Seconds?’ at An Creagán Centre on Thursday 17th December. Fiona Cassidy (better known as Fionnuala McGoldrick) had been writing for about five years before she was offered a three book publishing deal by Poolbeg Press Ltd in Dublin. Fiona attributes a portion of her success to the fact that she attended creative writing classes in An Creagán Centre, outside Omagh, which gave her the encouragement and motivation she needed to strive to find a publisher.

“I have always enjoyed writing and when I heard about the classes which were being mentored by John Bradbury, a writer from Belfast, I decided to enroll in the hope that it might give me the push I needed to start submitting my work to publishers.” Fiona said. “It was a wonderful experience as not only was John a great teacher but the others whom I attended the classes with were good listeners and always full of useful suggestions and encouragement. I would advise anyone who is interested in writing or honing the skills they have to attend creative writing classes as not only do you meet people with similar aspirations to yourself but you can also pick up a lot of useful hints and tips from their experiences.”

Anyone for Seconds?

Fiona will be doing a reading and book signing in An Creagán Centre on Thursday 17th December at 7.30pm. Come along and get a book signed by a local author and give your loved one the perfect Christmas present!

Although a work of fiction, Fiona’s first novel, deals with issues that have presented themselves in her life, predominantly her experience of being a single mother, embarking on a relationship where her partner has children and starting a second family. “As a single parent for a number of years and being involved in complex family circumstances – where our household can fluctuate from five to seven to accommodate my partner Philip’s children – I know how challenging and difficult both situations can be.” Fiona explains. Fiona’s home is a very noisy, busy abode but a happy and fun-filled one nonetheless.

“I often wondered what way things would have worked out had the children been older when we first began going out together and thought it would be fun to explore that situation as I could see the scope for lots of humour and entertainment whilst tackling an issue which seems prevalent in our society with the disappearance of the ‘nuclear’ ‘2.4 kids’ family.”

Fiona is currently working on her second novel which is to be published next year. You can find out more about Fiona and her writings on her website.

Upcoming arts courses running in An Creagán Centre for the new year include Digital Photography, Salsa Dancing and Jewellery Making. Anyone who would like further information on the arts programme at An Creagán can contact the Arts officer on 028 8076 1112.

Public Art Piece

The art piece below is a combined outcome of our sculpture workshops in which participants were challenged to create a piece of public art. The piece is inspired by the natural plant forms found in the surrounding bogland area at An Creagán and is on permanent display at the centre. Students also created their own unique sculptures to take home with them.

Arts & Crafts

The Rainbow Club are currently taking our 10 week arts & crafts workshop, trying everything from painting on glass to working with wire, wax and collage.

We will post images of final outcomes on completion of the workshops. Thanks to the volunteers for helping out each week!

An Creagán Forest Photographs by Harry Dale

Local photographer Harry Dale sent us these photographs he took at An Creagan Centre during one of our photography workshops last season. Please click the images to enlarge.

We will be running more photography workshops soon so watch this space, or email arts@ancreagan.com to join our arts mailing list. You can see more of past participant Harry’s photographs on his website.

Youth Theatre, Mosaic Art and Band Recording

Another exciting round of arts workshops are launching at An Creagán Centre this October as part of the centres busy arts programme. An Creagán Arts Programme, which is funded by National Lottery Funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Lloyds TSB Foundation for Northern Ireland, has gained a strong reputation and continues to attract the best of local and national talent. This term is no exception with high quality workshops in youth theatre, mosaics and unique band recording sessions.

Band Recording Sessions

An Creagán Arts Programme and The Nerve Centre are calling for bands to take part in music recording sessions taking place at An Creagán this November. The Nerve Centre is a cultural factory dedicated to the creation of new music based in Derry and their engineers are taking up residence at An Creagán to offer local bands the facility to record and produce their own tracks. This is a unique opportunity for bands to record their own material with professional engineers. Places are limited so contact the centre to submit your band for these unique band recording sessions.

A fun and fast paced theatre programme for young people is taking off at the centre this October. These drama workshops, which will be taking place on Thursday evenings, are facilitated by popular local artist Peter McLaughlin who has over 25 years experience working in theatre and television. The participants will gain knowledge of working with many of the aspects in theatre from improvisation work, character construction, script development and stage craft combining in end of series performance for friends, family and the public at An Creagán Centre this Christmas!

Youth Theatre

Finally, award winning ceramicist Deirdre Lagan Eastwood makes a welcome return with a brand new workshop in Mosaic Art for Beginners. In these workshops Deirdre will explain the process of creating mosaics. Create beautiful indoor and outdoor unique mosaic pieces for your home and garden including mirror frames, plant pots and stepping stones. No previous artistic experience is necessary for these relaxed, fun and creative workshops and all materials are provided.

The arts programme at An Creagán Visitor Centre has an ongoing schedule of arts workshops and events. For more information on the programme or to enroll on any of these workshops please contact the centre on 028 8076 1112 or email arts@ancreagan.com

An Cregan Arts Brochure

‘Circle of Friends’ Sculpture

Output from our recent Sculpture workshops, more to come!

A few photographs from this week…

Illustration Workshops

Explore, experiment and have fun with various illustration techniques using a variety of mediums including pen & ink, watercolour, acrylic, pastel, pencil and collage. The final outcome of this 8 week workshop will be your very own bound book and all materials are provided!

Tutor Nuala Hagan is a freelance illustrator and a current member of The Association of Illustrators. After graduating with a Masters in Design and Illustration she has spent the past five years working in editorial, publishing, print and advertising and is currently working on an illustrated book for children.

'A Little Closer' by Nuala Hagan

To enroll on the illustration workshops, or for more information, please contact the arts officer on 028 8076 1112 or email arts.officer@googlemail.com