, graphikos) are the production of visual statements on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, pottery, computer screen, paper, stone or landscape.
But the actual history of visual arts in Ireland begins with the Neolithic stone carvings discovered at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Bru na Boinne complex in County Meath.
This superb example of Irish Stone Age art was built between c.3300-2900 BCE: five centuries before the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, as well as the Stonehenge stone circle in England.
The present moniker, dating from 1844, reflects the town’s proximity to the Maquoketa River, and taps into the rich, mixed-culture heritage of the area.
Situated on the principal highway between Dubuque and Davenport, the community once claimed as many as 14 hotels to serve travelers sojourning between the two cities.
But when her subsequent albums worked the same hushed, late-night vein, sales began to drop and she was rather cruelly dubbed Snorah Jones. If I listen to Willie Nelson or Hank Williams I feel at home all of a sudden.
So it comes as a surprise to learn that she’s collaborated with Foo Fighters (on their album 'In Your Honour’) and Keith Richards (at a tribute concert for the country singer Gram Parsons), and that Angelo Petraglia, who worked on the last Kings of Leon album, has produced 'The Fall’. I’d love to make a full-on country record, but on this record I really wanted to focus more on the grooves.’ 'The Fall’ was made after her acting debut, in the 2007 art-house film My Blueberry Nights.
However, little is known about the precise function of these prehistoric structures or the identity of their builders, except that their construction suggests a relatively integrated and cohesive social environment.
A second contemporary type of Neolithic necropolis - the long barrow - is also found in Stone Age Ireland, but its design is more primitive and required far less organization.
'Sometimes I would love to not be the band leader or the boss,’ she sighs.
But, when you’ve sold 30 million albums and won eight Grammys by the age of 26, you know how to work, and what it takes to turn on the magic.