Two artists have been selected for the 2024 Thoor Ballylee artists in residence programme.
Kara Griffin, a children’s book author from Prince Edward Island, Canada, will be the July resident artist. She will be followed in September by Susan Mannion, a printmaker and copper enamelist based in Boyle, County Roscommon.
Griffin’s writing celebrates the beauty and wonder of the natural world.
Her debut picture book, The Sea That Sings To Me, and her second picture book, Flitt’s Call, were published by Acorn Press in 2023. She is currently working on several nature-themed stories for young readers.
Kara intends to spend the residency immersed in Yeats’s great literature, “spending precious time in a place that celebrates the power of words to shape and heal the world, and bring the spiritual and mystical alive.”
Mannion is influenced by landscape and patterns in nature. She has exhibited nationally and internationally with her works held in several public and private collections worldwide.
Before becoming a full-time artist, Susan trained as an archaeologist, specialising in medieval architecture.
In her printmaking, Mannion connects with the legacies of Elizabeth and Susan Yeats through the Dun Emer Guild and Cuala Press.
Residencies will include public events, activities and creative workshops with further information available on the Thoor Ballylee website and social media.
Chair of the Yeats Thoor Ballylee Society Anna O’Donnell said: “With the focus on writing, nature, visual arts and printing, these two residencies highlight the various talents of the Yeats family.
@We are delighted to bring contemporary artists and writers to this very special place to be creatively inspired, as Yeats once was.”
