finding my way out of one year into a new one .....is it this way ?

...I really have enjoyed the extreme weather that we have had this christmas in Ireland.
This is me two days ago , we were out with the dogs and trying to climb up a steep bank out of a lot of brambles when our neighbour caught us ....it was very funny....so here I am wishing all my loyal friends a happy and jolly time.
Thanks for everything :)

part two........ the shadow side of life

wallpaper drawing 2007
laura owens
the companion of fear
rene magritte c.1960
a poetic building
scetchbook 2007-9
a poetic building
world of interiors magazine 2008

looking back...

the fantastic laura owens
dolls house by jessie m king
for sassetta (a book I made in 2007)
photo drawing by me probs 2006-7
altered book 2007
...as we are virtually trapped within our house ...roads are totally frozen, I am doing nothing ...as you can imagine , nothing meaning something , the shadow side of life.
I am enjoying being inside , everyone is very occupied and I have had time to meander.
Today I was looking through some old photographs,some images still feel relevent and totally connected to where I think I am now .
I hope you enjoy this little retrospective.
part two to follow !

he is coming ! she is coming !something special is happening !

....dear friends , whatever this season signifies ,let it be one of love ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
thank you to everyone who commented on my work and ideas this year , I feel richer for meeting you through this blog and I wish you all well and look forward to the continuation of our fantastic exchanges !
HAPPY CHRISTMAS
HAPPY HOLIDAYS etc...

walking in a sunny .winter.wonderland solstice day....

me and my darling whippet ..towser..a few minutes ago !
a box of dolls that I sold on saturday, like a box of chocalates !
my dear market neighbour Dirk , who I caught sprinkling gold glitter over his organic wine (bless)
this is from my last post , a little winter scene on the stone wall down the field , I wonder who put it there ?...so sweet :)
...I took the dolls over the fields just now , in the blindingly white crunchy snow ....its my first time out in TWO weeks and it felt wonderful, I have a few pieces to make today and for my last market on wednesday...hope you are all well out there :)
I t was funny , I felt like I was being accompanied by an angel or someone...there is a definate between world feeling today , it is of course the winter solstice

the frosty morning came at last ...for the shoot of my spectaculars

spectaculars.....what are they ?
well, as you may know , I also have to make stuff in the other world too , and like this is the time for it , isn't it !
So , no excuses , I had to tie myself to my sewing machine to make some spectaculars
these are fairly fantastical pieces of clothes that I ingeniously conjure up from a very extensive collection of vintage clothing , trimmings,fabrics....etc....etc...
I have been doing this for nearly 20 years and its part of me.....as long as I can draw aswell I am happy , but now is the time for spectaculars ..to feature on my humble market stall in Galway tommorow and next wednesday the 23rd of December 2009.
I know that some of my customers read this blog so hi to you and to all my dear friends and supporters who hear me and have done for a long long time ....you all rock

vintage christmas decorations

...as I mentioned in my last post , I was in the museum of country life at the weekend ....it is part of the national museum of Ireland and it is a fantastic place to visit being not too far from us.
The museum has three floors of country artefacts ,handmade everything ..and because its christmas , at the front they had a little exhibition about how christmas was years ago.
I love the humbleness of these decorations ....its amazing that they have survived at all.I recently bought some very old enormous paper globe decorations and I am looking forward to putting them into a project that I have in mind for the new year.
It seems that we all like to decorate our homes , even if it is very simply.....(do you remember the discovery I made about how goldfinches decorate their nests/homes ?)

w.a.l.k.i.n.g. i.n. a. w.o.n.d.e.r.l.a.n.d

my studio wall
mirror tree yesterday at the museum of country life ...post to follow on vintage christmas decorations
gauze embroidery
studio wall
a very overcrowded gathering !

....hey everyone :).....how are you all doing ?
Me ...well I am fine (no really , I am !)
I have been very busy making clothes and hats to sell on my stall , had my folks over from england and I have been coughing for the WHOLE of Ireland. I seriously thought I was going to be thrown out of a supermarket when I couldnt stop !
Its lovely and frosty and tommorow morning ,I am taking my spectaculars(rather fancy clothes made in the last few weeks)....down to the woods to photograph, I'll post them up then.
I hope you enjoy these few images of my world right now ...have a good week and have fun too :)

part two (its a funny old time of year.....)

...I have no words at the moment, but I am here

its a funny old time of the year.....

.....been well sick :(
also I am missing drawing a lot but I have to be patient ,because right now I am very busy at home and with my market , with only 3 more chances to make our fortune :)
Its funny how important my blog has become , as a repositrary for so much.
This is my imediate snatched visual surroundings , the forest that is around me ,so to speak....I await the call of the wind ,or the glimpse of a deer to show me my way forward.

the innerworld outside my book

I am here
ink on old floral book
sugar and spice
watercolour and pen on gesso
sappho tree
ink on old wallpaper
she was always a free spirit
ink and paper tatoo on gesso board

selected for this years Mayo Artists Show
The Linenhall Arts Centre
Castlebar
Co.Mayo
friday 4th december 2009-30th January 2010

...back in june as part of my degree show I made my first artists book in a limited edition of 50 ....I am proud to let you know that 33 of them have sold :) and altho I didnt yet make the slide show of all the images ..(I will )
I wanted to show some of the images here.
Also , I am delighted to have been selected by Veronica Bolay RHA for this years mayo artists group show which opens on friday.
If you would like to purchase a copy of the innerworld outside - a book of drawings
2009
please send me an email . It costs 16 euro + p&p
It is small format A5 ..the pages fold out and it is spiral bound with a corrugated cardboard back.
There are 25 drawings within the book .It has 14 fold out pages with a text piece at the back about my process.

midwinter light and treasures found in the cold morning of yesterday...

my peacock feathers projected for just a few seconds in the light ..m.a.g.i.c
amazing clothbound tiny book of persian poetry (naturally to be found in a carboot in the bleak west of Ireland no ?/my new favourite jug ....so sweet
....the shadow held on beautifullly (peter pan)illustrated by Alice B. Woodward 1922
circus fuzzy felt !! memories....
I wish that I had bought this book only for this illustration ..a dream of roses and butterflies (costume design for the ballerina Adeline Genne)
...I had a lovely but busy day yesterday, here are some treasures that I found along the way.

bright light....... bright star

still from Bright Star
The Killarney Cape
golden hands 1972
early this morning taken out my window as we drove down to the market (the poor flooded fields:(.....)
Its gone ! drawing that sold today as a present for an artists friend :)
two little cuties on my stall...appparently these ornaments originally would have had a tiny umbrella/dog on a chain attached to the hole , I put the tiny trees in for them (bless :)

I really really want to see this film by the suberb director (an angel at my table, the Piano) Jane Campion Bright Star about the doomed poet John Keats, you can see a bit of it here tragic,melancholic ,doomed,hauntingly beautiful......... what more do you need ...read a well written review about it here............
unfortunately the cinema nearest us doesnt think we are sophisticated enough for any film that may be remotely challenging/quietly understated etc.....
I may have to travel down past flooded fields for two hours to get to the only cinema in the west of Ireland that is showing it....I MAY just have to....(after all its the least I could do )