Following a creative conversation with healthcare staff in Schull Community Hospital and Bantry General Hospital, St Joseph’s Unit early in 2025, artist Sarah Ruttle began developing a new project, A Journey of Discovery, which would build on the learning from her 2024 Research and Development project, Blossoming Beyond the Darkness.
Working in collaboration with participants, each group began to make their own sensory aprons inspired by harvesting, mending and kitchen stories. Participants thought about the practicalities of work aprons including their experiences of a carpenter’s apron, a fisherman’s oilskins and kitchen apron.
Three aprons are being made at the moment:
- a gardeners or mending apron, with a pocket with enough space for gathering potatoes or eggs
- an oilskin or working apron, with a tab to hold a folding ruler & an adjustable magnetic neck strap
- a kitchen apron with a detachable recipe book
Participants cut, folded and organised the patterns before choosing each fabric. Some have named and drawn tools they would use to be included on the finished pieces. The aprons have a variety of textures, tabs and pockets but are yet to be finished. When they are complete, they will include more delicate sensory elements for participants to engage with.
This project has also grown to include a collaboration with musician Kate Liddell. Participants in Schull worked in hands-on making. In parallel, Kate worked with participants in St Joseph’s to write a new song called ‘Three lovely lassies in Bantry.’ A re-imagining of the folk tune, the song included stories of the land, kitchen, and community.