fantastical finds

various woodland friends released into my world for their new life :)
crinoline ladies are go !!
1950 tray
1970;s floral plastic cover
1950;s hunting scene fabric ..
had a great treasure hunt at the weekend monthly carboot sale,which due to the fine day was very busy. I then followed on to my lovely friend for the day ........
here are a few random shots of various intriguing (to me) finds all in the cause of furthering my quest to bring it all ....together.

at pats ...like in...in wonderland ,in heaven,in a cozy blanket,happy with a capital H

the above images are just a few to capture the day we had , what a day, my friend is a true artist in all she does and is...we went for a wonderful walk and ate lovely home made food and just had fun xx

web of exuberance is flowing real good ....real good

at miss pats loving her choclate and orange cookies,strawberries and fresh coffee on the porch of her aliceinwonderland studio..
in cool japanese cafe taking tea with my other half xx
............ life has been really full of such wonderful moments these last few weeks , how can I not get some of them down into my little blog...like how they used to place their favourite objects under a glass dome in Victorian times.I am really appreciating moments of time away from work so , so much,its like finding people again , and even having tea with them takes on a high significance.
Happy happy days.....

gathering together the tangled strands of exuberance

my altar to time and space at this time I love it even more
on friday I went to see the show of my tutor ..Denis Farrell (a major show of fantastic work ,shown at the Dock arts centre) ,in the middle of the town of Carrick-on -Shannon ,is this ode to love, it is a chapel commisioned long ago by a man for him and his wife to be buried in at their time of departure from this world to the next ..I believe the coffins have glass tops ,it is absolutely tiny and quite unique , I love to see it ,yet never have been inside.
mooning around as is my want ,I was so gladdened to see that ,there is always...always more.These poppies do this every year , hidden from view ,behind a shed ,they bloom ...I love them and their independence and pride.
I have been so loved these last few weeks ,my arrival into the art world has been heralded by hugs ,flowers and general delight by my friends and encouragers ...all of you matter to me deeply xx flowers from dear dear edith(they sing to me of the happy and loved garden where she cared for them always)...... , then bluest of blue delphiniums from dee and a snow white rose bush from pat ,a cake from mary,a felt flower clip from veronica ,a ring with a real flower in it and some blue nail varnish from karen , flowers from selmas garden ,my soul is full of flowers ,I am truelly,truelly blessed♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Denis's show is called in memorys darkroom (www.thedock.ie) the paintings are both monumental and humble,always beautifully made ,it would not do justice to the power of seeing them for real, if I were to post them here (,its like he pulled the whole sky in and pinned it up on the wall),I noticed this hand written piece he had drawn on to the bare gallery wall......click on it and imagine why he wrote it.....
....feeling a little weak after all the work but strangely calm aswell. I am gathering all around me and tidying and smoothing down all the chaos that enivatably occurs when you reach deep into your very being for that last push needed (exhibition, graduation...blahdey blah...)

somewhere over the rainbow in the land of lemondrops and little red spots thats where I,ll find you......(its a long road that has no turn.....)

well .....today was the last day of my exhibition and was a very busy one again, meeting all the people who came in to see my work specially ! and also to meet others that came in to the whole degree show.
My road has turned a corner for sure and today I could really feel that. I have to believe what people are saying about the work ,it has now left me and its in other peoples lifes,that is a pretty powerful feeling.
I took a few parting images before I had to finally dismantle the installation ,it really comes alive when people are in the work , literally as you can see from the beautiful little boy who was very carefully showing one of my drawings in the box to his sister ,they were at the feet of his mother ,a very glamorous woman,who also was intently looking . I like these intent lookers , thanks guys !
Little Rosa and her mother cassie ,were just a total wonderful distraction to me, I love roses and to have a tiny little smiley baby ,called rosa,smiling around and being mesmerised by my rings was a lovely restful moment , thanks girls !
I think the empty but full shelf is a good image of my show, that shelf was extremely popular and delighted many people ,I felt quite sad taking down the magic tree for thumbelina and the flowers ..................

Lastly ,I have posted the corner that has worked the best ,it has a certain coherence (thanks Lorretto xx ) which I can see in the process that this week has provided me.......ie; to really SEE MY WORK IN A CONTEXT yay for contexts !

continued............

the innerworld outside finally arrived ..........

well...... as I mentioned a few posts back, I would post a few images from my graduation exhibition (which some may think a continuation of the corpus christi parade ,but which I assure you is in a slightly different context !)
I am still on a wave ,with all the favourable attention the work has received and will probably become unbearable,should it continue.
I am so very relieved to have reached this place. It has been fantastic hearing peoples reaction to what has been for so long a mainly hidden and private undertaking.....BUT ,one that always wanted to reach the outside.

a little bit of a procession

In the west of Ireland, where I live, they have a great tradition of the corpus christi procession.The houses that are passed by, make a little altar, normally in their open doorway or the front window. So you get the local town houses, pubs ,dry-cleaners,post office etc.all dusting down their statues,best vases, and fancy tableclothes and getting their garden flowers arranged all in honour of the blessed sacrament.This is held aloft under a canopy, which is always carried by the firemen.The first holy communion children are in charge of scattering petals in front of it. The petals are brought in from the childrens gardens .
I have always loved this tradition, as it is quintessentially of the locality.The local women that still do the altars, really are proud of them.Its participatory and thats good in my book. Hope you enjoy the images of what may not be here in 5 or 10 years time.

thanks for coming everyone xx

well....what can I say , it was fantastic, thank you to all my family and friends for coming to my graduation exhibition (and being super at the times I really needed you).
I was overwhelmed by the support and enthusiasm that my work was shown. It was lovely to quietly watch people leafing through my work and being so excited by it. wow !
To the people that bought my work (thank you) and the artists books that I made , well......I am pleased that I made them and that you now have them ! yipee:)
I will post photos of my exhibition next week. Now I must pack up my little market stall for tommorow is market day .
I have really enjoyed the sometimes very challenging nature of studying within a hectic home and work life , the part-time fine art degree I would recommend to anyone seriously interested in making their work more focused and stronger.
.....Lastly ,thank you to my 11 fellow classmates who too have reached a place they may never have thought possible. The journey was a lot brighter with your friendships....good luck to you all. To my tutors ,thank you for your insight and honesty at all times,I heard it and I will miss you all.......Jane x

random randoms part 2...

monica collins
emma doyle
random scribble on a back stairwell wall
cute girl at the art show today (ok..... well its actually me )
mags o donnell THE cutest little animal heads on tiny little thorn twigs(part of a great installation) ,great show mags ,and well done Vida.

random randoms...(looking into other worlds)

saoirse cullen
kate hudson
eimear twomey
brid egan
brid egan
well what a day ! first off, it was glorious,sun ,sun,sun-ah-ah,sun,sun,sun-ah-ah !, then seconds I actually tore myself away from the frantic preperations of our own degree show (tommorow......) ,to drive down to the main art college and see the full college degree show.It was just the boost I needed and gave me lots of inspiration. I met lots of people I know that have been studying at a higher level and that was really satisfying to see them make it.
For me a big highlight is the library. It is fantastic ! As it is the main library its ...oh...excitement ..(you get the picture) anyways ,in my demented gleeful state didn;t I come across a v. rare (the royal art lodge) catalogue,it is impossible to get hold of as they werent so well known then. So I am looking forward to looking at it when I regain my strength.You are allowed 5 books and to me that is a gift, aren't good librarys the man ?
I have posted a few random images of work today that appealed to me.

rainbows right here ,right now ...two of them ,thats lucky you know...

.......was so happy to see this sign of nature,which I took to be for my eyes at the particular time I opened the front door . Light has to be the most magical thing ,it is divine ,it is there.
Good luck to all those working towards a dream somewhere, and thank you to all those people that have helped me, all of you, this double rainbow is for us all xx

some objects

......on saturdays I have a little market stall.Yesterday I thought these two things very cute. I sold the cats ,they are by wade and made in the north of Ireland c.1970 and the little fairy pomanda sits on a little saucer of which there were 5 in various shades of faded gorgeousness.My life seems to constantly recycle into and out of the private and the public and sometimes it leaves me speechless with glee.