As
you head out of Broughshane along the Knockan Road ,
in the direction of Clough, you’ll soon realise you’ve passed through the
Gateway to the Glens. The scene is picturesque, rolling rural with extensive
views to the hills of Antrim. Idyllic
landscape indeed: providing abundance of inspirational sight, sound and silence
for the artist. It’s no surprise then
that professional artists would take advantage of this environment to make this
home and work base.
In
2009 Hernan Farias developed a reputation in his native Santiago
as a master photographer. Growing up in a working-class Chilean household,
Hernan had a notion of photography but couldn’t afford a camera.
One
day he found a camera lying beside his car in a shopping mall car park. It looked like an expensive piece of
equipment, so honest Hernan handed it over to the mall security. No one claimed ownership of the camera so the
honest mall security people passed the camera back to Hernan and told him to
keep it. So he had a camera but didn’t
know how to use it. Not to worry, he
sought out Polish photographer Wieslaw Olejinczak, recognised as one of the top
fashion photographers in Chile . Hernan took lessons once a week for a year
and then Olejinczak took him on as one of his assistants: for one year, before
employing Hernan as his number one assistant in 2008.
Hernan
started to make a name for himself as a skilled artisan which resulted in him
doing a major photo shoot for the international fashion magazine, Vogue. He had arrived; attaining a level of
recognition in Chile ,
that when he had acquired his first camera, he could only have dreamt of
aspiring to. He then set off to move to
the far side of Broughshane.
Judith
explained that this was partially to do with a bad case of ‘home is where the
heart is’ and also the fact that the education system in Chile
was considerably inferior to that of her homeland. They have three children.
They
moved here in 2009. Judith had spent a
year teaching English in Spain before
moving to Chile ,
where she met Hernan and lived there for nine years. To the rear of their beautiful home they have
converted a farm outbuilding into a shared studio and a gallery.
Judith’s
art is captivating as you walk through the door. It is folk art and has been described as
naïve figurative with influence from the Renaissance period. Much of it is rural, in sync with nature, in
sync with the Maker’s art beyond the gallery windows. It is feminine dominated: it is the end
result of an artist who has found a oneness with her art form, expressing her
inner character with confidence.
The
ground floor is a gallery filled with the captivating imagery of Judith’s
paintings with Hernan’s photo studio adjoining.
Upstairs is the art studio. The
building itself has been converted with art-felt tastefulness. The old is retained with the brightness of
modern: the wood burning stove securing the ambience of warmth.
For
Judith she is fulfilling her dream life, re-bonding with her family circle in
the land where she grew up. For Hernan
of course it is not quite as simple. His
story is typical of the challenge that faces any new immigrant to this
country. Ulster
folk are renowned for being a warm friendly bunch but generally we’re not that
great at understanding and fully accepting people from foreign lands. This stems from the fact that we have lived
among our ain folk for generations and have developed unique subtle forms of
communication through distinct local forms of speech and body language. Much
often gets lost in translation and we don’t easily comprehend the challenges that
face those from beyond the hills, never mind beyond the sea.
Having
said that, Hernan is gradually getting the message across that he is a master
of his trade. He did get off to a
fortunate start. Just after he had moved
to his somewhat secluded rural home he started to promote his work on Facebook
and was noticed by international fashion model, and former Miss Northern Ireland ,
Lucy Evangelista. Lucy was impressed by
his work and was discussing, on Facebook, the possibility of engaging the Chilean
photographer for a photo shoot.
Lucy
enquired whereabouts he had moved to in Northern
Ireland , Hernan told her he lived near
Broughshane. Lucy replied, “I live near
Broughshane as well, where are you exactly?”
“On the Knockan Road ”
he replied. When Hernan gave Lucy more
details of the exact location and description of his house she was silent for a
moment before informing him that she was looking out her window across the road
at his house.
Social
media was designed to be global and not meant to facilitate business meetings
with your closest neighbours. In this
case the rules were broken. The now
London-based, globetrotting former Miss Northern Ireland
was his first professional photo-shoot outside of Santiago :
he has been much sought after since.
Judith’s
paintings, prints and cards are also on display in Belfast
at Charles Gilmore Gallery, in Holywood at The Yard Gallery and in Bushmills at
the new Gallery 1608.
The
Black Sheep Gallery is at 125 Knockan Road ,
Broughshane. Tel: 028 2586 2889
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