Headford News and Community Spotlight-The Birth of Love Headford

Have you been wanting to go to college (or back to college) but you feel you don’t have the conventional educational requirements? If you are 22 years of age or older, you might get a chance to go to college for free through the Access Course for mature students. It’s a one-year course offered at NUIG and St. Angela’s College, Sligo. The course runs September 2014 through May 2015 and is offered in several different locations. After this course, participants will be eligible for direct admission to an undergraduate programme.

If you’d like more information, attend one of the sessions on May 7, 8 or 13. For further information, or to download an application form, visit: http://www.nuigalway.ie/access/register.html  You can also ring 091.493553.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

When Leonardo da Vinci was a boy, he made sketches of creatures in nature. As a youngster, Monet drew charcoal caricatures. Even before Picasso could form full sentences, he was painting pictures of pigeons that flocked in the square near his home.

And when Sadie Cramer was a toddler, she used to draw fairies and mermaids on the underside of the dining table. 

Local artist, Sadie Cramer

In case you don’t already know, Sadie Cramer is the local artist who designed our ‘Love Headford’ mural. Sadie says, when she was growing up, ‘We didn’t have a lot of paper,’ so she drew wherever she could. ‘I’d pull back the carpet and draw under it.’ Or she might draw on walls, newspapers, or in books. And because she was ‘crafty’ (pun intended) about where she drew her pictures, she didn’t usually get in trouble. Her artwork wasn’t found until years later, when the table was moved or the carpet changed.

Eventually, Sadie went to art school at the University of Ulster at Belfast, where she had access to a lot more art supplies. There, she fell in love with an artistic Irishman and they travelled around Europe and Africa together.

All that diversity informs Sadie’s artwork. From whimsical illustrations for kid’s books to her colourful contribution to the Galway Hooker Exhibition at the Galway Museum, Sadie’s work is vibrant, joyous . . . rather like Sadie herself.

In her giant studio at home, her own children come and go, using art supplies as they please. She encourages them to create whatever they like (and clean up afterwards!). In spite of the lack of artistic resources when she was a child, or maybe because of it, Sadie has become an accomplished professional artist, inspiring children by offering workshops in primary schools so they can draw, paint and create. ‘I help promote creativity in schools to compliment the curriculum,’ because she feels strongly that ‘art should be a part of learning.'

Last year, Sadie was contacted because the Men’s Shed wanted to make a mural. Another artist had declined the job but Sadie was delighted to participate. There were about a half dozen meetings with Men’s Shed members and Sadie brainstorming ideas for the mural.

‘Some of the men weren’t actually from Headford,’ Sadie says, ‘and the real challenge was overcoming that whole “Headford/Deadford” negative image.’ She asked the group, ‘If you've chosen to stay here—and you have if you haven’t moved away—what do you like about the area?’ Then, she says, she and the group began to choose images that were unique to the townland. Ultimately, the nine images they created are quite fitting:

The Mayfly represents the transitory nature of youth and the local schools.
The fisherman on the lake and the single leaping fish are for Lough Corrib. 

The Book and Candle are a reference to religious study and also to writers, as there are many in the area. An elderly woman told Sadie this was the one image she really liked and could remember from the mural because it reminded her of Christmas. ‘So, really,’ Sadie says, ‘the images mean different things to different people. And that’s perfect.’
The panel with the sporting shirt originally represented all sports, but during the restoration it was necessary to keep the image simple, focusing on the Headford Soccer Club.

The Theatre Masques are for the two dramatist societies and the musical society. Though not particularly active now, they used to play a large part in Headford lives.

The next panel depicts Ross Errilly, cows and a tractor to symbolise the history, as well as the rural aspects of the area.
The contained fire is for the celebratory fires at the side of the road, a practise unique to our area.
The musical notes on the centre panel are for the many musicians in the Headford area.

Bright colours were chosen because they were fun to work with and would enliven people’s spirits. And, the background for the mural--maroon--is the Galway colour.

Originally, Sadie painted a giant bird on the same wall, with the words Watch This Space because ‘we wanted it to be a surprise,’ she says. So she began painting that bird at two in the morning. While she was painting, a woman parked there and turned on her car’s headlamps to help. Later on, workers from the Rural Social Scheme painted the maroon background. The final mural began with computer graphic images created by Sadie. She then drew those images on boards which the Men's Shed members had primed, and the men painted in those images. Finally, the fininshed boards were hung at midnight before the opening of Headfest and unveiled the following day.

The whole project took three months from start to finish, and, as Sadie puts it, ‘I couldn’t have come up with any of this on my own. None of us could. It was a real community effort. We all came together.’

Thanks for showing the Love, Headford!