by Juanita Dudhnath (Loyola)
THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!, was the exclaimed looks on students faces as they left the Armagh Centre. It was finally the end of the first week on the Armagh Project. Final Cut Express, Photoshop, and Storytelling had finally come to a screeching halt.
A night out in town was to celebrate out first week’s experience. Long desired naps had finally been quenched before hitting the Irish pubs. The next morning would tell the afterglow tale of mysterious coloured Tequila Sunrises, Pinot Noir, and Guinness of course!
Our next adventure was a minibus tour of the city of Tyrone. The quaint town, artistic in taste, was lively in comparison to Armagh. The buildings were more brick-like, there were more businesses, and vintage/antique stores. As we walked to Tyrone’s Crystals we passed what looked like a pin-up girl vintage furniture store. The store had pearls, princess-like furniture, and decorated storage boxes.
As we finally entered our destination it was luxe-like bejewelled with crystals sprinkled in every corner of the store. A grand Chandelier penetrated the centre of the ceiling. It was reminiscent of a giante luminescent glass octopus peering down on an audience of upturned heads. Tyrone’s is famous for handcrafting extraordinary crystals. As I gazed at the chandelier I wondering the amount of time, people, and skill that was essential in making it so beautiful and as my gaze drifted toward the top—that’s when I saw it.
Gleaming in the background, was a midnight blue satin ceiling. It was embellished with miniature lights that looked like white stones. The impact of deep sea of midnight blue against the tiny lights was stark-- a great use of contrasting colours. Funny, how I walked into a store of one of the world’s greatest crystal manufacturers, yet the crystals weren’t the main aspect of captivation. It was the lighting, the look, the ambiance, the sound of the whole place that drew me in. Maybe it’s just a characteristic of mine, the ceiling looked as if diamonds were encrusted in the moon’s light. And all the while as I continued to gaze I thought to myself a moonlight’s diamonds. In all it was the fantasy-like ceiling that captured my attention, and on that note I’ll end.
A Moonlight's Diamonds
