Our wee country

You see the above on murals such as this one, celebrating N.I.’s football prowess:

“Norn Iron” is amazing in the talent it produces. David and I went to a BBC arts show taping at BBC studios tonight which featured:

A guitar player who reminded me of Rodrigo y Gabriela.
A potter whose work apparently is highly sought after.
A portrait artist who won a national prize last year.
The Darkling Air (description below)
Belfast author Jan Carson.
Jan’s childhood friend, who sets her stories to music.
A poet who read a lovely poem about middle age.

The painter was my favourite, maybe because he’s from Donegal. He’s young, modest, obviously gifted, and articulate.
Here’s a profile.
N.I.’s population puts it between the 38th largest state--West Virginia--and Idaho. Yet it produces extremely high quality artists in every field. Maybe West Virginia and Idaho do too. Maybe the lack of a taxpayer-funded TV channel with a mandate to produce local programming is why I’m unaware of it.

‘the darkling air’ are songwriter and vocalist Rachel McCarthy ( Farriers ) and composer and producer Michael Keeney ( Foy Vance , Duke Special ). Having met while working on a range of recording projects, the pair began to write songs together in the Summer of 2015. Focussing on building songs around piano, guitar and a string quartet, ‘the darkling air’ create ambient soundscapes with haunting vocals.”

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