Letter to Connemara

Dear A, Your 2022 Exhibition included a tiny sculpture carved from Connemara marble. The colours made me sing and although I didn’t know it at the time, it marked the beginning of a quest. On the way I encountered many stories; of kindness from strangers, of strife and family feuds, of grief and loss, of joy and healing, and of wisdom. Thankyou

Dear R, Thank you for taking me on a marble hunt, an adventure. For jumping over fences into quarries, (tho we only found fools gold), for laughing until we fell down, for conversations into the night, and for showing me the mystical beauty of a place you know and love.

Dear M, We had been in touch by email and I arrived with high hopes. But it turned out that you had no time nor marble to spare me. I felt sorry that you seemed so weary, the weight of grief on your shoulders maybe. I saw the worrystones though, those little indented pebbles that are soothing to the touch and bring comfort. The idea of them stayed with me, so thankyou.

Dear AJ, Thankyou for such sweet kindness. Swallows Rest welcomed us, looking out toward Croagh Patrick. Thankyou for gifting us the extra day, it turned out to be a special one.

Dear JC, Thankyou for the stories told as you stood proudly on the mountain, waving your wooden staff as you named the places and islands. We told J we’d seen you.

Dear G, Thankyou for welcoming us in despite being so very busy. And for the Guinness and mushroom soup.

Dear D, Thankyou for the hot hot sauna in the cabin by the cold cold sea, in which we swam tentatively.

Dear J, Thankyou thankyou for your wisdom and advice. On that last day, when I had given up hope of finding any marble, you told R to go to a particular placeand to ask for L. And to say you sent us. We followed your advice and something magical happened. I hope you got the photo.

Dear R (again), thank you for stopping on the way to the airport, for going to the door of a stranger, a lion of a man, and for asking and listening. I was in the car so don’t quite know what you said, only that you both appeared after a while, bearing a rock. It’s green and yellow colours were hiding behind the milky surface. I will never forget the day.

Dear L, thank you for opening the door and listening. I hope forgiveness and resolution are soon found. Thank you for gifting me, who you do not know and had never met, this beautiful piece of marble. Thank you for your guidance. I did indeed put it near my bed and looked at it for weeks until I began to carve. I found my way into it just as you said I would.

Dear AL, thank you for waving through my bag without a word or any charge despite it being nine kilos overweight.

Dear Connemara, thank you for folding me into your mountains and peat bogs, your rivers and lochs, your seas, and beaches. I walked in your landscape and swam in your waters and felt your mystery and melancholy along with your beauty. There is something faerie tale like about this story, which may seem familiar to you.

Dear A, thankyou (again), this time for gifting me more pieces of Connemara marble, for sharing your own stories of the quarries I had just returned from, and for your guidance and advice. I had not foreseen that I would return to the very place where I first encountered your tiny sculpture which set me on this journey (singing).

Dear R (again again), thank you for walking alongside me on this quest, for your energy and intention, without you this could never have happened. I think we both felt some healing, didn’t we? Wherever our lives take each of us , the story of our odyssey will remain, held safely in the sculptures carved from this precious morsel of Connemara.

Dear Rock, you lean this way and that, both heavy and light, with strength and fragility, yours and mine both. Your touch is soothing and your colours make me sing. You took me on a journey, you hold a little piece of hope. Thank you.

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