yellow leaves smiling at me, life drawings and life........

Pat my best friend who I visited this week (love her)
below are the saved life drawings from tuesday





I am going to visit my folks over the pond tommorow , myself and Blathnaid , we are looking forward to it very much.
I will post some nice things on my return or even while I am over there as this time I am bringing leads and stuff :)
I wish all my lovely blog friends the very best ,isnt autumn (fall) magical oh.....sigh that is really me smiling at the yellowness of today (bless my innocence!!))

lovely lovely website of u.k illustrator etc mr nick white

life

some of my life drawings from my life drawing class tuesday........ that I feel have maybe something (life ?) in them.

I find life drawing very hard and it makes me feel humble to my means of drawing when I look around me and there are big expressive charcoal studies , correct looking drawings etc....but I know I can only make what I am able to do and lately I am begining to realise thats all any one can do (its humble and truthful and if it is lucky to have a smidge of life within it .....I am happy (for a while !)

doll broaches are an important part of my work :)

richael and towser on the sofa in my studio on wednesday

I LOVE making these funny things.
They always sell really quickly on the stall, its so rare that they make an appearance .
Thats because I have so few of the heads now and they are not made anymore.(and I do have to be in a particular type of mood to make them)
I had a lovely week sewing up stuff for my stall.
I went to life drawing and actually liked three of the 20 drawings I made .
Having my darling artist friend richael around certainly made a difference ,sometimes its nice to work with others and she is such a dear.I tidied up my studio too and I feel more productive now.
I hope you have a lovely weekend if you are reading this :)

the story of the happy dress

do you remember this dress ?
joan as fantastic customer this is her new happy dress
she was so happy that she had to get these boots (lucky girl)

I was in a great bookshop this morning

delicate
tentative
truth of feeling

swans .......(hmmmmm)
....these are just some of the reaccuring thoughts in my head right now.
I am going to make some broaches with vintage dolls heads that a lovely old nun (who used to be an art teacher) gave me.
This morning richael and I took down our installations .
This morning a lovely austrian artist in residence at the custom house bought a piece of work from a song for edith
I am truelly blessed :)

thank you everyone X........... thank you world X

emerging from the freezing cold but fantastic abandoned garage that held our show.
my treasured comments book
film still

~I was at the exhibition yesterday and it was wonderful to get a chance to look at the other artists work.
Myself and richael looked after the gallery and in the evening went to the glorious french cirque trottola .......pure magic ;)

I have to say I feel very very lucky to have so many people wishing me well , thank you to all who were able to visit my show
a song for edith,who emailed and sent texts ! who left lovely comments on my blog and who gave me the much appreciated encouragement to go on .
This year has been a very important one for me , the one in which I finally emerged !!
For one who was put on to a special table for slow eaters at school, it figures that I take my time (its ok , I am not permenantly damaged about being labelled a slow eater :) )
I have met through my blog, through tinderbox ,flickr,hand drawing, through college...... some monumental artists too numerous to mention , some I am still in contact with and I thank them all, for their braveness and their doggedness and their work.
I specially thank those fleeting connections, I heard you .
Its like an oscars speech this !
Anyway a song for edith comes down this sunday @ 6pm :(.....I have to reflect a little , and develop stuff more for my solo show next may 2011. at the custom house gallery.
I havent a CLUE as to what to do ! but thats ok.

resting and feeling in betweeny

I have a lovely old leather briefcase full of drawings from the last two or three years , which I place in a quiet space on my saturday market stall just in case.....
and sometimes people do actually pull one out and buy it .
I always think that this is very sensitive of them because to see the drawings in and amongst all the vintage china , handmadeness and all ....is very special for me .
This little pierrot lady has been hidden under the pile of drawings by a woman who is hoping to get it next week .
I will let you know :)

I need this locket !!
I ♥ Grayson Perry

opening *

film still
the rose tree house

A song For Edith
-is an installation of drawings with a film element-
it is my desire to set up a poetic space for re-imagining Edith Holdens life and tragic death.
So little is known of this artist and naturalist who is eternally connected to the well known publishing phenomenon The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.
The diary was found by her great niece in the 1970s (fifty years after Ediths tragic death whilst only in her 40,s)
She has always held a personal fascination with me and seems to accompany me on my own journey as an artist.
When I recently discovered that she died of drowning by falling into the river Thames at Kew (whilst reaching out for some chestnut branches to draw) she became marked indeliably in my mind.
My own work is rooted in the expression of personal and fleeting moments in the time between the life we are in and the life we would like to be in.
The site of my investigation rests firmly within the space between these worlds.

I am tired tired tired....but feel relieved that last night went well.
It is very special to see my work up in a good space and people looking at it , that is all I could wish for .
Now I hope that I will be able to keep making work :)
Thank you to all who came and left lovely comments in my book and that let me know they will visit the show next week.
Also thank you to the visual arts committee (ian caroline and breda xx) who invited me to show , therefore validating what I do.

Hope (as promised and as needed always xx) Ken Kiff/pretty biscuits dyptych (just because) and work in progress

I love the back of this drawing , hand drawing posted the both sides a few days ago take a look and see which one you like :D
this book is my favourite inspiration du jour
ken would have loved these biscuits if he were still alive , my youngest daughter had a birthday party last week.
Hope
Richael Carroll
Richael installing her piece on monday

Richael has made a beautiful work which is to the right of mine in the exhibition.
She is a dear friend who graduated this year from textile desigh\fine art and I am delighted that she has a piece of work in the INVITED show which as you know if you have been paying attention opens tommorow at 6pm !!
I think she has made a great use of the available space for her piece hope

cendrine my dear collaborator has just launched a lovely artists book !
It is called Le tissage de la forêt,

Hastings garage show nearly ready....opens 6pm THIS thursday !!

my film will be going IN the little black box ! to be viewed through the gap.



yesterday with the help of dear aidan and richael I installed my show a song for edith into a great space within an old derelict garage.(it is part of a group show called INVITED which I was invited (duh ,,,to do ! )
It came at an ideal time as I feel that song for edith has become itself.
Last week I cleaned it up and painted the walls a bit , but it was already mostly white therefore easy to do .
I have just a little cross fade to smooth out on my film and all will be well , oh and re-do my artists statement .
Tommorow I will show you richaels beautifully poignant installation .

this is not the end only the begining (a song for edith)

film still
a still from my film which is what I am working on at the moment , it will be about 4.30 mins on a loop.
The show INVITED will open next thursday 30th september in hastings garage fairview westport co mayo not sure of time yet .I am going to see the space in the next few days ,it is an old empty industrial space and I have the old office which is 10ft by 15 ft.
I am looking forward to seeing the other artists work and to finishing my film :D
I hope to get more time soon to visit my favourite blogs and today I wish you all well if you are reading this and may all flow ❤

london visit part two

edvard munch



Here are some more images from my trip last week .
I am feeling quite turned upside down from all the events within the visit but I know that I have to be strong and work through them ...they are the big questions about life\death, why we are here ......
Thats why I love life so much , the life of a street , a market , the people in a place ,all of this is so vibrant in east london .
The last three images are from walthamstow.
4** a lovely trimmings shop
5**a real life ....hindu chariot racing preperation !
I could not believe my luck when I chanced upon these guys washing the golden animals for the festival tommorow.
6**in a book life....hindu vahana animals ,this was a lovely book on woodcarving which was too big and heavy to cart back to Ireland , it was in a charity shop in the morning .
The amazing thing was , it pre-empted the scene above , that of the men getting their vavaras ready ,which I saw in the afternoon !
this image on cendrines suberb blog
hortus noctis is probably a vavara .....isnt it wonderful :)

london visit part one

lorna crabbe

***here are some selected images from a very intense and unexpectedly uplifting visit (funeral of a dear woman who was also an artist)

"Lorna's wonderful drawing is not from my recent trip ,it just looks good with them and I have been meaning to show it as I WANT it !! and she wont let me have it :(
Lorna Crabbe
The middle three images are from the fantastic William Morris gallery in Walthamstow East London.
We visited it on the day before the funeral, go if you can and look at all the arts and crafts era drawings textiles and furniture (I LOVE it there)
The last image is from a book of 1970,s illustrations,which belonge to our absent friend whose presense I feel very much still.She had loads of wonderful art books and it was my pleasure and honour to look at them in the evening in the cozy nest she had created with her husband :)
this illustration is obviously influenced by alphonse mucha ,but I love it still :)

the last days of summer and some new work.....

things merely are
ink marker and acrylic on paper on board
she fell deeply into herself
ink marker and acrylic on paper on board


.....last friday it was his birthday and we cycled out to a favourite spot for fresh coffee and french butter biscuits.
It was extra special because I know we will have very few sunny days left like this.
The two drawings are for a group show called double vision,all the work will be the same size and from all the current and graduated students from my old art college.It is just one of the many exhibitions held during the westport arts festival
I am working towards finishing my film for the exhibition INVITED in Hastings garage ....cross your fingers for me:D

interesting art and design books

slowly slowly getting back to work.....and a news flash !!!!

moi sewing winnie the pooh elements into an average everyday skirt :)
La tippet

my vintage dress and scarf hanging up on my balcony shutter last week in Donostia (weep weep....)

**here is my studio before I went on holiday .
Aswell as drawing ,thinking, napping and reading, I also make clothes to sell on my market stall here in my attic studio.
It takes up a lot of my time but it allows me to make art aswell (I like to think they help each other)
I make fairly improbable and quite dressing up style clothing from older pieces and deconstructed vintage trimmings \clothing.
People seem to like them and at the moment I am enjoying making these tippets from felt which I make from boiling old knitwear (hee hee :D it is kind off mad but fun !!)

news flash !!

I am thrilled to announce that I have been offered my first solo show !!
It will take place next year 2011 in the custom house gallery westport co mayo.
I am also in a group show INVITED at this years westport arts festival which takes place in october.
I will show my ongoing work a song for edith which will include a film element (more details to follow)
I spent the day today making c.ds of irish music and trying to write in euskara which is the basque language (you try it ) and spanish to the wonderful people we met in Donostia.
The parcels have gone off in the post now so I can concentrate on finishing my little film (and a few other things too) and remain a little focused.