Cian’s People-Kayleigh Regan: Comeragh Calling
Original Article written by Cian Manning for the Waterford News & Star
Originally published on 25th July 2023
Kayleigh Regan is an artist inspired by the magic of nature and folklore. Her ‘Petticoat Art Studio’ is located in the woods on the Comeragh Mountains. Kayleigh’s work is influenced by her career within the early years sector, viewing the world with child-like wonder and capturing the magic in everyday life.
She describes her surroundings as “just so breathtakingly beautiful and the landscape is forever changing colours, it never looks the same”. Regan continues that “I also love how easy it is to be inspired up there, surrounded by nature that seems so rugged and untouched by society”
Growing up in Abbeyside and Dungarvan, Kayleigh was '“surrounded by amazing, illustrated books and films with fantastic art direction such as ‘Labyrinth’, ‘Willow’, ‘Legend’ and other fantasy films”.
She has countless magical memories from her childhood in West Waterford, which was filled with folklore and ghost stories. Her granduncle-in-law the late Paddy Power (whom she considered one of the best storytellers) would gather “myself and my cousins around and tell us ghost stories about ghost ships, the banshee, Crotty the robber and Petticoat Loose” noting that they would “scare the absolute bejaysus out of us all”.
Regan’s favourite tale is that of Petticoat Loose, she remarks that it “was always my favourite, she was local, and I was always terrified yet captivated by her and the thought of running into her”. And that fascination has never left her, with Kayleigh acknowledging “That obsession is still evident to this day, I suppose, with my studio name being a nod to both the woman herself, and an homage to Paddy.”
Concerning the Comeraghs, Regan believes: “It’s very easy to imagine fairies and other magical creatures traipsing through the ferns and mushrooms in the woods up there along with all the other creatures you see on a daily basis.”
From an early age, Regan was never without a pencil or paintbrush, and knew that art college was where she wanted to go. It was the start of an educational journey that is as varied as it is interesting. Kayleigh’s mother passed on a saying from her father (Kayleigh’s grandfather) that “education is never wasted”, which she definitely has carried with her in all her endeavours.
While obtaining her Fine Arts degree at Crawford in Cork, Regan undertook film studies and multimedia as part of her education there.
While studying film in college, Regan explored different mediums before settling on stop-motion animation. Kayleigh says: “All my animations, funnily enough, were all of fairytales and legends, which goes to show that even back in 2006, I had an obsession with folklore and tying them to visuals. I loved doing my own version of stop-motion animation using a mixture of silhouette puppetry and drawing.” She highlights that two of my favourite shorts that I made were of the Greek legend of Persephone and the Pomegrante, and the other being a short of ‘The Princess and The Frog’.” It’s something she hopes to return to again, concerning local folklore, with the tale of the Dearg Due first on her list.
The impact of the economic crash meant that creative jobs were almost non-existent, and harder to attain for someone newly qualified and with no professional connections. After Crawford, Kayleigh worked in bars and restaurants to make ends meet, and found other creative outlets. She would do band/nightclub photography, design work and children’s face painting on the side, the latter of which evolved into her planning children’s events such as activity days. It was while doing this work, Kayleigh notes, “that I realised how much I just love the creative arts as a whole and especially loved working with kids and seeing the different ways they expressed their own creativity and ideas.”
It inspired and reignited her love for art, and led her to pursue a degree in Early Years Education, with the main focus being on teaching through the creative arts. Regan continues to look into folklore stories in Waterford and nearby areas, and felt that many stories were being forgotten, that “it seemed an absolute crime to let them be lost to time, so I started collecting”. Not only does Regan collect these stories but she also researches the history surrounding them. She outlines that. “I find it’s the blending of lines between legend and history that brings a story more relevance and life in my opinion.”
Kayleigh has written folklore stories under the folklore section on her website (www.petticoatartstudio.com), and plans for more indepth stories to be published in the future. She has been working on a local ghost story that might be shared this October to mark Halloween.
Previously, she has been drawn to Waterford’s own vampire story, a female vampire story, The Dearg Due. Regan says, “Well as a Waterford woman myself, I loved the idea of this local woman with a tragic tale using her supernatural powers to claim her vengeance. I felt drawn to it straight away.”
In 2021, Kayleigh was honoured to be asked by Kilrossanty Remembers with creating a piece to mark the centenary of the passing of Patrick Keating. She highlights of Keating that he “is a local hero with a tragic tale that is so closely woven into the history and fabric of the local community”. Regan concludes of the artwork “It was actually a really emotional piece to work on, and I wanted to work in a lot of symbology regarding who Keating was in life, including his love of the Comeraghs and his strong religious faith.”
And Regan shares that same love of the Comeraghs. Kayleigh concludes that “the Comeraghs are just radiating a magical and mystical energy that I haven’t found elsewhere. I’ve often woken up to deer outside my window or a pine marten in the garden. At night time the stargazing is just spectacular, away from any town lights. You can see so much, it’s hard not to be entranced and humbled by the night sky up there.”
In Petticoat Art Studio in the Comeraghs, Kayleigh Regan continues to live, recognising the magic and wonder of the world that surrounds us. Being inspired by nature, her story will inspire others.
