expotition monumental: becoming BFF's w the BFG of Connemara

Jun 6

Jun 6 expotition monumental: becoming BFF's w the BFG of Connemara

i have been on the scent of all things mystic and magic since coming to these shores. and as most intuitive wanderings go, i’ve been stumbling and tripping upon one secret after another in rather haphazard fashion. now that it’s time to hunker down and sort these adventures into actual musings, or better yet, story starters for grander ideas — in my mind, all of it has become a rather gargantuan task. it is therefore fitting in this last month of living here, that i’ve come face to face with an actual giant who’s encouraging me to see things from his point of view — providing perspective that things are not as big as they seem — as long as one is paying attention and putting in actual effort every day.

not that i was looking for a giant to be my muse, he just appeared to me while hunting for mythical legends of ireland on the magical search engine of the internet. upon discovery, i made haste to meet him in person the very next day. “Conn, Son of the Sea,” a treasured 20th century relic, can be found in the village of recess in the heart of connemara marble country aka “joyce country.” legend goes that one need only touch his hand in order to be blessed with the knowledge of his ancient tribe. thing is, one hand of the giant is holding a book. the other? his bum. so which is more magical? since he was fashioned “for no apparent reason at all,” i knew with which hand i needed to connect. (of course, asking permission before doing so) (not that i need much assistance with sitting on my bubblegum and knowing what flavor it is)

nonchalant about the overly friendly gesture, con, the giant of connemara had more to whisper to me. he actually has two jobs. facing his creator’s establishment, con flags down traffic to stop and visit him as a precursor to meandering across the street to mr. joyce’s craftshop. (which is a great place to find true irish gifts btw). he also stands guard for a fairy hill across the river. “how do yee know there is a fairy hill there?” one might ask. i totally trust my “best friends forever big friendly giant” to tell me true.

mostly because it turns out that the connemara giant is just one of many clever imaginings of mark joyce, sculptor, painter, writer, photographer, researcher and entrepreneur. since he harks from five generations of ancestors who have been mining the land for its mystical marble — i figure he must have connections. also, this guy has done his research. his latest publication, “the mythical beasts of ireland” is a treasure trove. his depiction of creatures is a fusion of eric carle meets maurice sendak meets mark joyce — you can look at the pictures all day and be totally entertained. the accompanying text is lean yet loaded - with references and sources which further the credibility of his summaries. enchanting would be an apt descriptor for this very original irish collection of tales. also, JACKPOT for the girl trying to chase down legends, myths, heroines and creatures from the other realm.

actually i think connemara is the true gateway to all that — i mentioned that the landscape looked like sleeping giants only to have that confirmed for me — mark elaborated upon one of the local legends of an epic battle between the pagan beast Crom Dubh and good ole St. Patrick. spoiler alert - christianity wins and the monster is flung into the nearby lake that takes the shape of a heart. (ahhh) also the water still runs red from his blood. (ewww) upon producing an accompanying map to go explore the trail for myself, i thought, yeah — this is definitely the person i’ve been looking for. this guy knows his stuff. and he really knows THIS sort of stuff — and quite possibly the actual mythical people. after feasting eyes on another of his books, “a portrait of connemara,” the face of the gentleman that graces the cover of this gorgeous collection of photographs looks like a being straight out of brian froud’s sketch books. you can’t be mining connemara marble that has been around for eons without running into or getting permission from the wee folk. ESPECIALLY when the magic marble is “reputed to have great powers of restoration, healing, and always been regarded as being lucky.”

all i know is that it was indeed my lucky day — r and i had pondered about which day to go visit mr. joyce’s craft shop in hopes to find him there (on a holiday weekend in ireland when everyone is away) — wha lah! we picked the right day as he was heading out for the rest of the weekend. also i’ve picked the right person to emulate — he is both a renaissance man and a nice guy — his shop being the evidence of the wide range of his skill sets and interests as well as an ambiance of peaceful tranquility (another attribute of the marble of connemara that magically exudes from the man.) he seems to confidently direct his focus and energy into the project de jour till it is complete. i didn’t really get a chance to get into the finer details of his process — though did manage to blather a bit about my BIG ideas that i haven’t yet gotten into doing more than talking about. mark was appropriately clear in the same message i’ve been hearing from everyone else — JUST START WRITING ALREADY — and do it everyday. i know that i’ve heard this all before — somehow coming from someone who writes — and paints — and takes pictures — and is published — and and and —— i dunno — he is evidence that you don’t have to just do one thing — you just have to do “it” one thing at a time— whatever the “it” is.

the basic take away is that i don’t need to touch the giant’s butt — i just need to get off of mine!