Writer, Textile Artist, Plantswoman

Category: Research

Interview with Seamus Connolly at CIAW

Catherine McEvoy, Seamus Connolly, Mary Bergin The porch of the Weldon House, East Durham, New York, during the 2008 Catskills Irish Arts Week Taken by Roxanne O'Connell (researcher) on July 17, 2008.

Catherine McEvoy, Seamus Connolly, Mary Bergin
The porch of the Weldon House, East Durham, New York, during the 2008 Catskills Irish Arts Week
Taken by Roxanne O’Connell (researcher) on July 17, 2008.

Listen to the 2:58 minute interview with Seamus Connolly

Between 2007 and 2010, I conducted interviews with over 60 participants (informants) regarding the impact of media in their musical lives from their earliest recollections. My own practice was to conduct these interviews with no fewer than two people because I wanted to exploit the associative power of storytelling and narrative to help my participants recall small, rich details. I wanted to get what Clifford Geertz called “thick description”. The combination of participants in any one session depended more on scheduling convenience than any sense of relationship between the participants I might be aware of or assume. Without exception each session uncovered surprising connections and memories, often the most heartwarming and fulfilling aspect of the process.

In this snippet, Seamus Connolly, a native of Killaloe, County Clare, 10 time National Fiddle Champion and “Sullivan Artist in Residence” for Boston College, is talking about his experience of learning music by ear from 78 rpm discs his father procured at various record shops in Limerick and Dublin. When his family was able to get him formal instruction on the fiddle, Seamus discovered that he had learned to play the instrument all wrong! He had to learn it over from the beginning.

 

Putting it out there…

I’ve given a PechaKucha about this… and I created a personal essay for an e-portfolio class about it as well. I had better put it somewhere where I can study it now.

The 12 Photo Quilt project:

The Project:

These are 12 of my own photos. They feature abstractions that focus on color, shape and the division of space. I want to render them or re-present them using fabric and stitchery. It may mean abstracting them further… or, for some, it will be mimesis.

Hopefully, when the twelve quilt blocks are assembled, the quilt will become the centerpiece of an exhibition with the twelve photos individually mounted as well. We’ll see…

 

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