Nearly There
Nearly There, is the tale of two horses, Budley & Bishop, who go on a journey, meet strangers, have adventures and find themselves on the road to Nearly There.
Song by Fergus O’Farrel & Maurice Seezer
Narrated by Colin Vearncombe & Maurice Seezer.
Nearly There - a work in progress
The Skibbereen Arts Centre 2007
DODGING DANGER
by Brian Lalor - 2007
Nearly There represents an excursion into a significant area in contemporary art practice, that of artist’s collaborations. In the work of Ilya and Emelia Kabakov or Gilbert and George, the artists participate in an intense symbiotic relationship, the contribution of either partner remaining unidentified. In Nearly There, the individual styles of the participants have not been subsumed by a common language but allowed to assert their identity. This distinguishes the work from the mainstream of contemporary collaborations.
Johanna and Gabrielle have created a tale of two horses, Budley and Bishop, who go on a journey, meet strangers have adventure and it all ends happily. Thus far, this is the territory of traditional children’s stories, offering identity with the animals, coping with the unknown. Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are deals similarly with the enormity of childhood apprehensions. But who are Budley and Bishop, a pair of lolloping, trotting, equine escapees?
They are, presumably, the artists in animal mode, engaged in a perilous task of moving on. This is where their symbiosis occurs, the artists as both creators and participants, the horses their alter egos.
This is a true work-in-progress, an example of the manner in which creative intelligence evolves through the process of interrogating a topic. The vehicle is the local and the familiar, observed in acute detail. West cork is the context, a region of spear-like promontories and hills that hide the horizon. Through this confusing matrix, Budley and Bishop ( or Johanna & Gabrielle) go journeying.
Subtle draughtsmanship and muted colouring carry the tale across pages overflowing with incident. Gabrielle’s rotund creatures get the speech bubbles, Johanna’s free-flowing form carry the story line. Beyond style and story there is a moral – the vulnerable will triumph in the end.
And if you get lost there are maps to bring you home.
NEARLY THERE July 11th 2012
Launched July 11th 2012
Grove House Schull
PRESS RELEASE 2012
Creatures of Serendipity’ launch their first ever Book app ‘Nearly There’ in Schull, West Cork.
With its exquisite drawings, catchy tunes, exciting, and innovative narration, ‘Nearly There’ takes you on an unforgettable journey. This is a story for the child in all of us, in traditional print form with CD and as an amazing interactive book app. ‘Nearly There’ will be launched at 4pm on Wednesday 11th July at Grove House, Schull. The two main characters, The central characters Budley and Bishop will be there along with the authors, Johanna Connor and Gabrielle Byrne. Brian Lalor, Author, Artist and Editor of The Encyclopedia of Ireland will Open the event with special guests Colin Vearncombe, Maurice Seezer and Fergus O’Farrell.
Budley and Bishop, two neglected horses escape one stormy night and go in search of a better life. On their meanderings, music and song guide them towards their goal. On the road to ‘Nearly There’ they forge friendships, overcome obstacles and thrive in the face of adversity. On the roadside a naked chicken appears saying, “Can you help me find my feathers?” Bishop answers, “Of course, come with us!”
And so the journey begins…
The story is narrated by Colin Vearncombe, aka Black and composer and performer Maurice Seezer. It is accompanied by the perfect song ‘On the road to Nearly There’ written and performed by both Fergus O’Farrell of Interference and Maurice. Children can navigate their way through the story both in App and book form, colouring in pages along the way and finding out interesting facts about Budley Bishop and their new found friends as they go. And don’t worry for If you get lost, there are maps to guide you home.
“Budley is big horse, a kind dopey lazy horse and Bishop is a lady horse, a fine horse and smart of course.” These two beautiful horses, owned by the authors Johanna and Gabrielle, live and breath here in West Cork and it is their friendships have been the inspiration for this book and App, Nearly There.
Subtle draughtsmanship and muted colouring carry the tale across pages overflowing with incident. Gabrielle’s rotund creatures get the speech bubbles and Johanna’s free-flowing forms carry the story line. Beyond style and story there is a moral - The vulnerable triumph in the end. The Book app provides an enriching interactive platform for children to discover and explore exceptional digital media content that is both educational and entertaining.
“Today's kids are so digitally savvy, the iPad is a perfect device for the medium of storytelling." says Johanna while Gabrielle confesses “Actually, little kids are so much more comfortable with technology than we will ever be and it’s a dream come true after 10 years in the making to see this happen.”
Sadly in 2016 & 2017 we lost Colin Vearncombe, Fergus O’Farrell, Bishop, Budley and Dippy.
Johanna was working successfully as a Set & Costume designer in Dublin when in 2000, with little warning, she almost died.
Often dark times such as these become our door into our brighter future although at the time of being it’s hard to see any distance on the road ahead.
Her road to recovery coupled with her serendipitous meeting of Gabby, Budley and Bishop prompted her to revisit forgotten childhood dreams, hence her major collaboration with Gabby, Gabrielle Byrne
Gabby grew up on the Wirral in Merseyside, UK. She studied Art and Design and went on to study printed textiles at Liverpool Poly.
After college she travelled around Europe developing her own artistic style and in 1991 she came to Ireland to help her parents move over. Twenty-one years later she is still here, producing Names, Maps and other artwork for private commissions
One fine day back in 2001, Simon - Gabby’s friend and brother of Jo, asked Gabby if she would bring Jo over to the horses… the rest is history
It was on those adventures that memories of her long forgotten childhood passion for horses, came flooding back.
And so it was that Budley & Bishop took there first steps to Nearly There….