Fiona Cassidy

“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!

John Donaghy, Manager of An Creagán Centre, said ‘We are delighted that Fiona participated in our creative writing class and has now gone on to publish her debut novel ‘Anyone for Seconds?’ We congratulate Fiona on her achievement and wish her every success with her writing.’

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.

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.

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.

Another exciting round of arts workshops are launching at An Creagán Visitor 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

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 Visitor 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

Output from our recent Sculpture workshops, more to come!

'Circle of Friends'

'Circle of Friends' Sculpture

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

A selection of photographs from the photographic exhibition ‘A Sense of Place,’ which is the output from our recent photography workshops facilitated by Belfast/Dublin based photographer Liam Campbell. Please give the photographs time to load.

Siobhan Ward

Siobhan Ward

Laurie Campbell

Katrina Taggart

Katrina Taggart

Harry Dale

Harry Dale (Las Vegas)

Deirdre

Francis Haughey

Laurie Campbell

Laurie Campbell

Jonathan Rutledge

Jude Browne

John Dennison

John Dennison

Deirdre Daly

Siobhan Ward

Cathy Dempster

Cathy Dempster

High quality prints of all photographs are available from the artists. For more info please email info@an-creagan.com

An Creagán Arts Programme invites you to a showcase of artworks from our spring workshops. The showcase will bring together the work of our recent salsa, creative writing and drama workshops.

In addition, the photography class (and newly formed photography club!) will present their exhibition: ‘A Sense of Place’

Date: Saturday 28th March 2009
Time: 6.00pm-8.30pm
Location: An Creagán Visitor Centre

'The Old Pumphouse on Lough Mallon' by John Dennison

The outdoor art piece on display at An Creagán Visitor Centre was created by participants of our Ceramics workshops. The workshops were facilitated by respected local artist Deirdre Eastwood and the piece is inspired by nature in the surrounding area. Participants also created a wide range of ceramic pieces to take home with them!

Outdoor ceramic piece on display at An Creagán Visitor Centre.

To promote local Crafts in the area An Creagán Visitor Centre are holding a Craft Exhibition on Sunday 15th March from 1.00pm – 5.00pm. Exhibitors will be on hand on the day to discuss how their product is created and people visiting the Exhibition will have the opportunity to buy these unique crafts.

Dermot Cavanagh

Complimentary Tea/Coffee & Scones will be available in An Creagán Craft Shop to thank people for their support.

For further information, or if you would like to take part in the Exhibition please contact the Centre on 028 8076 1112. Anyone who would like to enroll on Dermot Cavanagh’s upcoming watercolour class should also contact the centre.