Write a commentWriter Bronagh McAtasney begins a weekly series for Newry.ie telling the story of Newry connected people and their life during Covid-19.
This week it is Anna Marie Savage
Sitting in Anna Marie’s beautiful cottage on the edge of Carlingford Lough, it’s hard to believe that the pandemic crisis is going on at all. And Anna Marie’s warmth and love of life is so relaxing to be around that I’m reluctant to get back out there. The house is full of Anna Marie’s artwork. Large abstract pieces that reflect her love of the Irish landscape. And the work of other artists too. It’s a reminder of the amazing talent we have here.
How has the Coronavirus situation affected her?
“As an artist what I have loved is the space and the time. Your mind does become muddled and stressed with day-to-day life no matter what it is, and I have found as a painter is that it's probably been the most productive time of my career. Unfortunately the galleries are closed, but it just means that I was able to make work with no pressure and no deadlines so for me, it's been wonderful and great.”
Some artists have found it hard to be creative during this time – that the pressure to do something with all this spare time has actually made it more difficult to produce art. Anna Marie has not had that experience
“I suppose it just does depend on the individual. For me it was great to get up in the morning and visit my studio. A lot of people had to revert back to working from home and then they made different work that was really linked to Covid and their circumstances but I had my studio. And because my studio is in a community centre, there was nobody there, so there was no Irish dancing going on all day. There was no ‘Treble 123, treble 123, back two three, back two three’. There was no gymnastics, there's no bangs outside the door. There was nobody. So I was able to open my studio door and I could walk out, lay my stuff on the floor and it was quiet and peaceful and amazing.”
And her lockdown soundtrack? “Deacon Blue was my go-to the whole time. That whole Celtic-Scottish thing.”
But there is no escaping the pandemic and Anna Marie found travelling to her work across the border in Newry Museum was stressful.
“We had restrictions down here in one country, and the restrictions weren't getting followed in another country. I found that very, very difficult. The border just became so prevalent again for a different issue. It’s not Brexit, it’s not partition, it was about lockdown now and two different countries making different decisions but if you live on the border trying to follow that was hard.”
Beyond the restrictions, Covid is a reality and it hit her family. Anna Marie’s brother lives in Liverpool and he and his wife contracted the disease.
“That was within the first couple of weeks. I became very upset because you just heard people were dying. It was very scary. Ireland was doing so well, and England was so far behind and it felt like they weren't taking it as seriously.” Thankfully, both have recovered now.
Like many, Anna Marie was not furloughed but re-deployed and went from working as a Museum Assistant to a Park Ranger at the local forest park. “It was different! It was lovely to be based in the forest and surrounded by nature. Every day, as I was walking around, I visually documented my surroundings and I intend to do a body of work based on every day that I was redeployed. I find myself feeling constantly in awe of the size of the trees and the walls that surrounded a family home and I always think about the feet that walked here before my feet.”
Anna Marie has found relief and support within the national and international arts community. “I really thought that the arts world came to the fore. They really made it work for them. The Matthew Burrows artist pledge is an online project that allowed artists to sell work with the agreement that once they sold so much, they had to buy something from another artist. So you're generating money for artists in this bad time and, importantly, supporting each other.”
“Also what I loved was virtual online exhibitions. It’s amazing what it's done to make people think differently and think outside the box because I can never get to exhibitions in Dublin and Donegal and now you can actually have a virtual online exhibition and you can go and see your work or your friends’ work online.”
“I always think there's a positive to every negative and I think about slowing down and thinking about nature a lot more and being part of nature. There have been dolphins and whales in Carlingford Lough and I just hope that people appreciate the lockdown time we’ve had in a good way to reconnect with things.”
And what about life after Covid-19? Will we change? “Yes, hopefully, hopefully. It’s about chilling out. Your life and the people that you love are the most important things and being happy is the most important thing in the world. And this has been about connecting with the land, and the landscape and where you live.”
That connection with nature and the world around her has inspired Anna Marie during this time. I’m really looking forward to seeing what she creates. A reminder that Coronavirus has made us all stand still for a bit and maybe we don’t have to rush back to how it was before.
View Anna Marie’s work: WWW.ANNAMARIESAVAGE.COM and www.drawnfromborders.com
To support the arts: ARTISTSUPPORTPLEDGE.COM #ArtistSupportPledge
