dark and light and inbetween (always)

 "They felt the rush of the sap in spring, they knew the wave which cannot halt, but every year throws forward the seed to begetting, and, falling back, leaves the young-born on the earth. They knew the intercourse between heaven and earth, sunshine drawn into the breast and bowels, the rain sucked up in the daytime, nakedness that comes under the wind in autumn, showing the birds' nests no longer worth hiding. Their life and inter-relations were such; feeling the pulse and body of the soil, that opened to their furrow for the grain, and became smooth and supple after their ploughing, and clung to their feet with a weight that pulled like desire, lying hard and unresponsive when the crops were shorn away. The young corn waved and was silken, and the lustre slid along the limbs of the men who saw it."
D.H Lawrence The Rainbow

sort of feeling the imensity of it all today .....I am reading dh.lawrence the rainbow ,it took me taking to the bed with a chill to start it but now I am riveted its so .....so ...... so.........stirring :)

interesting reading of Lawrence

merry merry christmas !!

highlight of december making fairyland.......

merry 

merry

merry                          

 times for you all

it sure is mild compared to this time last year......please tell me where does the time go ? 

kirsty and shayne a long time ago singing amongst other lines 

I built my dreams around you........fairytale of new york

elf ....my favourite christmas film 

spitalfields life ..consistently my favourite blog

the  already amazing mark petty is now the equally amazing Boudica Denvorgilla Veronica Scarlet Redd

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a little seasonal notelet to all my dear friends in blogland and in ire-land
thank you for all your lovely comments , interest  and support  ....you are all in myland and I am glad
jane xx

contemplating the here and now ....

this is where I sit in the morning ......

with stillness

simplicity and 

contentment

I am here and I am glad

                                         glade

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I have so many books which I treasure and find so many sources of inspiration,this image below is from a massive 1970,s book called things to make and do (readers digest)

winter exhibition inside and out

the drive over to the exhibition yesterday
turlough at 3.15pm !!

me at the opening .......(bless) :)
 ." I have no relative but the universal mother, Nature : I will seek her breast and ask for repose"

jane eyre
charlotte brönte
1847

ink oil pastel and acrylic on paper

 where all life supports that which grows from it (on right)
ink acrylic and oil pastel

antonio lopez castro
the house by the woods

grainne o reilly
railway ornament


I really enjoyed last nights opening of the group show in the custom house gallerys winter exhibition .
As you may know I had my solo show there this past may and it has the loveliest gallery staff.
I exhibited a new piece of work ." I have no relative but the universal mother, Nature : I will seek her breast and ask for repose"


news ****
My dear friend and collaborator artist Cendrine Rovini new solo show  opened last night in Paris ! I wish I could visit it in person , but I take this oppurtunity to wish her the best of luck as I know how crazy hard she has worked on this past year .
Congratulations Cendrine !

kinda busy at the mo !

vintage dolls faces  made into broaches

....I was given these lovely dolls faces by a retired art teacher nun years ago , they used to make them into cloth dolls at school.
A lot of people recognise the dolls faces from as far back as the 1940's .....I would love to know where they were made , they are pressed from buckram and have transfered features, I just embellish them and put them in a sort of space, with hair and bits and pieces !
I love them , I hope others will too :)
Just some of the things I have made for my market stall, are alchemy upcycled cardigans, handmade hats and jewellery made from assorted vintage pieces also my artists books will be available to buy.
TWO MORE MARKETS 

****saturday the 17th and friday the 23rd of december ****

then a break till march.
I am looking forward to having time to draw ....so many ideas to work on .

this looks like a lovely shop and this too looks like crazy good fun !

how beautiful is this drawing the silver bridge by nura in 1937 ?

dublin art book fair and magazine archive

a light meditation on cameos

words and drawings

edition of five
there is a bird in her heart (some life drawings)

second edition

my eldest daughter was at a college open day in the big smoke and so kindly took these photos for me, my work was selling aparently....(yipee), I am most grateful for the oppurtunity of this new venture held over the weekend in temple bar gallery dublin.

** thank you lovely ayco for this sweet post

I have been to fairyland and back .......and I am going there again soon soon (I cannot wait)

please click to see the details :)

I am fortunate enough to have a good relationship with the great folk that run a local adult mental health unit .Over the last few years I have worked there occasionally as an artist with the fine people who attend these services for many varied reasons .

Feeling a little lost myself lately ,I felt drawn back to this place and decided to volunteer these last few weeks.

We have been making beautiful hats and fairy dolls for the upcoming craft fair.

Yesterday I created a set for our dolls to exist within until they are snaffled up to maybe grace someones tree or live in a new home .

I was channelling the amazing to me Victorian Fairy Painter

John Anster Fitzgerald and will be developing this work in a new project next year :)

All I know is that every single stitch is a major achievement and that I feel privledged to be able to work alongside so many lovely people.

newsflash ****

I will have three of my artists books on sale /exhibition at the dublin art book fair and magazine archive this weekend !!!!

:)

I am taking a small break from my blog .............just need to energize myself up again.

all will be well

thank you all

jane x

remember me.........she is back in residence

Victorian early souvenir- ware made in Germany .......

(behind is a drawing made my daughter last year of a japanese girl ice skating .....you know like a totally obvious thing to draw...love her so much)

the lovely Inge and Hasmita ,art interns at the life changing museum of everything exhibition held in the old Selfridges hotel London

new alchemy cardigans made in house (here in my house)


no words yet .........

film stills etc ......

there were some lovely arts and crafts era tiles at the carboot sale a few days ago.

I have been reviewing my work from a while ago .....I made so much when I was at college that I never explored or understood but knew there was something in some of the images so I kept them , I am starting to work out what or where to find that something.

I posted some more stills on my flickr

Its getting wintery.
Tommorow I fly over the sea to England to see my folks there. I am looking forward to the break , the first one on my own in many years.
I am going to two very exciting shows ,which I will let you know about soon soon .
Grayson Perry at the British Museum
Judith Scott at the amazing amazing .......museum of everything

today is the new moon ....and all is well

thank you hillery from specks and keepings (so beautiful)

drawing from ayco from osaka japan
my own work slowly slowly........
my new old book against the bleak skies we are getting now

laura deer

oil pastel on glass vintage paper and watercolour

when I was thinking about laura , I remembered this little drawing that I gave to her a long time ago now ....I hope she still loves it :)

....after only just receiving the drawing from laura ,today on the new moon all the way from Japan I got this lovely little watercolour from ayco.

I came across her work on flickr and it makes me feel so happy, she has such a light touch.

Her drawings of deer are exquisite.

That is my most favourite part of being an artist , when you find others of a similar feather :)

**********

**********

special announcement to my lovely readers........

only the river stares back is a brand new short film definately worth looking at , it is by my friend and sometime collaborator Richael.

She is a young emerging artist who lives near by and whom I would be lost without !

Please feel free to give feedback on the film on her comment page, I know that she would love you too.

to jane love laura

thanks for making my day laura !

Laura Ferrara , an ace painter and a friend.

She also makes wonderful drawings and occasionally collage drawings and one that I liked came into my post box , poetically guarded within a super little french vintage book on malliol the sculptor.

Lauras work is a consistent poignant song to a haunting and surreal space which she alludes to in her gentle yet unsettling paintings full of symbols which I love love love.

I am happy to have met Laura through my blog and count her as an important part of my art/world .

take a look here and you can see more of Lauras work

new works in progress and things I love at the moment

re-constructed dress

modern pennys dress from 2 years ago and 1950's skirt
sorrow growing from the chance reading of a line in jane eyre

work in progress

oil pastel ink acrylic and pen
1950's light which I got for 1 euro at last months carboot sale
my parrot skirt really makes me feel jolly !
this fantastic painting made me smile when I spied it last week in a health care unit which I sometimes get the chance to work in.
franks new drawings

.....thank you *thank you* thank you *frank who also bought universe of fables .

last week was an unprecedented high.

☂☁....its got awful wintery here , to think last week I was cycling around in the sun !

anyway here are some things that make me feel good at the moment ....I need strong vibrant patterns, the more the merrier..........like this dress that I am reconstructing adding in two side pieces from a never worn 1950's skirt , so my new dress will have a fuller skirt.

I love the clash of the patterns together :)

I made a red coat on friday which really makes me smile too and will photograph it later.

a spectacular week in more ways than one !

thanks katy the lovely artist and curator of blog pigeon curd

this print from the surrealist artist leonora fini hangs in the same beautiful restaraunt the pantry and corkscrew in westport co.mayo (run by the sweetest janice and dermott)..........that is home to a selection of my drawings and self published artists books !

loving these patterns at the moment.......
hoping these manifest a bit more this week !

a lovely woman from america called by my stall yesterday delighted to find some artisanal(as she put it) products to take home with her, first she bought one of my limited edition book a light meditation on cameos ....then a cute folk art kind of totem pole tea pot - cup- jug kind of object :)....and then she spied the spectacular coat and said it had to go back home with her . She was keen to support irish artists and really went out of her way to find hand made work ,I was pleased that she found me and loved what she found !

thanks cathy x

I make exactly what I feel like and would like to see , that which I miss from around me , same as in my drawings .....and somehow /somewhere others are seeing something they yearn for too.

I have to say I have never felt so connected to my work , my life, my friends and family ....at last I feel fully alive and true.

I simply cannot say all the amazing things that has happened this week , but I can feel them , thank you Patrick, Frank,Janice,Cathy, Michaela, Richael,Pat, my girls and Aidan in particular and also thank you to all my other dear friends who always stay close and true.

What a week !

pigeon curd

more on leonora fini