The Sacred Threshold | The Goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann

I made my way into Kildare Town in search of the deep well which is a powerful example of the pagan to Christian continuum.

Before this was the shrine of the medieval saint it belonged to the ancient triple goddess Brigid who was a deity of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

She was the patroness of smithcraft poetry and healing which I believe is perfectly echoed in the landscape where fire meets inspiration meets the cool water of the earth.

This town was originally Cill Dara meaning the Church of the Oak which points directly back to a sacred druidic grove existing long before any church walls.

The holy well is located a short distance outside the town center and it is a place of undeniable presence.

It is not grand in architecture but immense in spiritual weight.

To walk to it is to descend into the damp shaded earth where the water flows into a quiet basin.

Above it the trees are draped in clooties which are rags of fabric tied there by countless individuals seeking a cure or a blessing.

These bits of color fluttering in the breeze are the visible manifestation of thousands of whispered intentions.

I spent hours observing the interplay of texture around the well.

The rough hand cut stone of the basin feels like the bones of the land holding the fluid constant energy of the water.

My drawings are focusing on this duality.

The water itself acts as a perfect silent reflection of the sky and the overhanging branches creating a visual threshold where the upper world and the lower world meet in a single cool surface.

There is a profound cyclical time here that defies linear history.

Visual and Textural Impressions
The palette is dominated by deep mossy greens and the cool slate gray of the wet stone basin.

I am inclined to work with heavy rough paper and layers of charcoal to capture the shadows beneath the sacred trees.

Using raw gesso and natural copper pigments directly on the page will allow me to build up the oxidized textures of metal which connects back to Brigid as the goddess of the forge.

I am inspired to add texture by pressing rough linen cloth directly into the damp paint to mimic the ancient custom of the clootie tree wrapping the intentions into the fabric of the artwork.