There seems to be a theme coalescing around this blog. Most of my posts have been about some form of art: music, poetry, or weaving. To continue with this theme, then, I’ll be writing about painting today.
I have always loved looking at art in museums and galleries, as well as making art myself. This past week was therefore a real treat for me. A temporary art gallery opened on the main street of Gleann Cholm Cille! A local artist is showcasing his work, and much of it depicts various nature scenes from the area. I stopped by the gallery for awhile earlier in the week, and I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with the artist in Irish. He told me that he grew up right in Gleann Cholm Cille, and that he teaches yearly art lessons at Oideas Gael. In fact, he was the art instructor in residence this past week, so I was fortunate to be able to see his students’ work at an end-of-the-week showcase. It was inspiring to see how much the students created in a single week!
Examining the artists’ detailed paintings of local flora and fauna reminded me of something that another Irish-language student told me during my first week here. He said that he was partly interested in learning Irish because, similar to many Native American languages, it has a rich nature vocabulary. Sure enough, I learned plenty of words related to nature in that first week. My teacher handed out a worksheet with various vocabulary words and accompanying pictures of plants and animals.
My two favorite nature words are “nóinín” and “lus an chromchinn.” “Nóinín” means “daisy,” and it includes the word “nóin,” meaning “noon,” because daisies open up around noon. “Lus an chromchinn” is the word for “daffodil,” but “chromchinn” more literally means something like “stooped head” or “bent head” because of the way in which a daffodil droops from its stem. Words like these really call attention to the richness of the Irish language, and I have been so thrilled to combine my love of art with my interest in language throughout this trip!
