An Urban Sketcher’s Galway is a collection of art pieces and memories of life in the west coast city of Galway. It is more than an artistic picture book – it is a personal account of what life is like as a Galwegian. There are stories behind the sketches that give a deeper personality to the pictures and insights to places around them.
Each chapter is named after a unique staple in Galway, either a place, the people, or structure, and is accompanied by a sketch to capture a “snapshot in time”. The introduction encourages people to enhance their creative side. Róisín Curé promotes the advantages of Urban Sketching, mindfulness, and being present in the moment and space. She reinforces this with her own recounts of interactions she watched or experienced and how they left an impression in her memory. From the simple story of people-watching a man in a hand-knit hat with rainbow stripes reading the paper to a warship ironically named after a famous poet, it is able to balance the personal and educational aspects in the storytelling. There is a new definition to what a guidebook can be and that is sketching the people and town and drawing out their stories. What Curé hope to accomplish with these sketches is “bring you a feeling of ‘being there’, just as I was”.
Through pencil and watercolour Curé is able to make a unique guide book for locals and tourists alike. You’ll find something familiar, like your favourite pub, or something unique, like a goofy busker with no shoes, that captures the essence of Galway. Curé closes the the book with a quote about Galway: “It’s as close to an unspoilt natural environment as anywhere I’ve lived, it’s a source of uplifting and joyful music, it has the most wonderful people and, for me as an artist, constant inspiration”. This is the perfect book to explore the city and find adventure in Galway.
To order a copy of An Urban Sketcher’s Galway click here.