The following is a message from Robin Baldwin, who will be one of our featured artists at the Ferriter Art Exhibition during our 2012 Gathering in Dingle, Ireland.
Hello Family! My Ferriter roots begin with my beloved maternal grandmother, Maxine Ferriter. She always proudly told us stories about her travels to Ireland and instilled a love of Irish culture to all of her children and grandchildren. I cannot wait to experience the setting of all of her tales this coming April at the Ferriter Family Gathering!
I am also very excited to have the opportunity to showcase some of my artwork at the reunion art show! Creativity has always been an outlet for me and so I have been painting and drawing my entire life. Though I am an educator and community developer by profession, I have always been an artist in private. Just last year I decided to take my artwork from private to public, as I started my company Creative Equality. Creative Equality was born on the idea that we should ALL nurture and share our creative talents. Doing this leads to increased creative approaches to social problems and also utilizes our artistic voices to impact and influence growing masses of people through our creations. My artwork is strongly influenced by my passion for people, community development and travel. The subjects reflect the people and places that have impacted me during my travels and on an everyday basis.
As the reunion draws closer, I am focusing my paintings more on my heritage and am excited to do a couple of pieces specifically for our upcoming gathering. You can find examples of my work at www.CreativeEquality.com. I cannot wait to meet all of you and be inspired by your stories. We are so blessed to be able to learn our shared history and connect with one another. I am really thankful!
Robin Baldwin
Padraig Feiritear was born 8 March 1856 to Maurice Ferriter and his wife, Nell Mhichil Mhainnnin at An Baile Uachtarach near Bally Ferriter. He was the fourth of nine children. His father, Maurice was a successful carter and farmer, a tenant of the Ventry family. Educated by the Nation School System of the era, he also studied Latin and Irish. Mostly self-educated in Irish, he displayed an Academic knowledge of the Language. He devised his own system of writing Irish. As a young man, Padraig began replicating (copying by hand) Irish manuscripts made available to him by local families. He also interviewed local families and... Read More