I had a brain wave today...

All I need is a white board maker...

Once this snow clears off, that is my first mission

:D

So excited

Christmas present

Everytime I go away from something, I come back loving it even more...

I saw this in Austria when I was there a few weeks back, in a shop window that seemed to specialize in cats and owls...my two favorite things...

The moment I saw the shop I nearly feel off the pavement...then when I saw this little guy...I was just gob smacked...
I know mam never looks at my blog, so this is safe here...and I'd like to share...so
My project for today...while my folks are gone, is to make my own version of this for mother. She is as obsessed with owls as I am, and she has been saying she's wanted a tea cozy for ages...I've just never seen one that would 'fit' with the kitchen...or is nice enough...
I'm taking inspiration from this little guy, not making a direct copy...how cheeky would that be.
I've seen loads of owl tea cozies, but some of them are knitted...and as much as I love the idea of knitting something...I am useless at it...
I think she will love this...
And so will I :)

I'll update later on my progress :)

I am digesting at the moment

There has been a large intake of food in the last month or two

Im just letting it settle within me

Until I know what to do with it



Good things come to those that wait...

Moon Child-I hope you change your mind...

Ta Da! I think Ive fallen in love with this one, and I don't know how i will part with her, but I will never the less :)
Once again...she is coiled, I used cotton yarn, which i dyed last year...this ball in particular went into the dye bath tied up too tightly, so it dyed in different tones, from very dark blue...down to a pale, nearly white blue.
Again, her hair is marino wool, just stitched on to the actual face, and then the braid running across, is stitched in as well. Found star and heart...not sure where they came from originally...but the heart is a locket, which is fully functioning :)
And feathers...you have to have feathers:)

I painted on her lips because she looked a bit cross...and gave her eyeliner and mascara...so...

Now she looks really pretty :)


XXX

The Brave Heart

I think, really and truly...only certain people get these...they are pretty mad to say the least about them...but also, not blowing my own trumpet, I think they are pretty amazing too:)
I think they challenge people. Dad came into my room last night when I was painting the lips onto 'the key to my heart' and he didn't even say anything for a while, he just stood beside me and smiled. But he smiled in a good way...in an 'i can appreciate how much time and effort went into that' kind of way. And he held it, and examined it...and said that he liked it...etc.
And you'd be surprised the type of people who 'get' things like this...they come from all walks...young, old...etc. But its also interesting watching people interact with them as well...Some people will go over and be all up for it, and then a friend, or boyfriend, or mother gives them a look and they instantly change their mind...isn't it funny how easily influenced some people are. It makes me really happy that im not.

I think she is really sweet...even if she wasn't worn as a broach...who's to say you couldn't put a little slid clip on the back and wear her as a little head piece...or frame her and place her somewhere in your home...or add  her onto a bag... I think people are scared of things that are different...they cant see how you can normalize something, if the situation calls for it...or do the opposite...make it totally ironic and nuts all together...
I hope 'brave heart' finds someone lovely on saturday to go home with. She deserves that i think :)

x

Coiling is tedious...but lovely

This is the first of an unknown amount of 'doll faced' broaches...

This little cutie has been given a facelift, literally. I wish i had taken a pick of what she used to look like. But, yes, this one is for me, for keeps:) I think she's really sweet, and Im naming her 'the key to my heart'...get it...get it? :) She covers my palm completely, that gives you an idea of the scale. And i have used coiling for the blue base...which is so time consuming, but worth it i think...her hair is marino wool...i drew on the black of her eye...and the heart and key came off a necklace i bought off jane years ago, which i never ever wear :( Im going to put her on my coat, me thinks:)

So tomorrow, should be lots of fun:) Im long overdue a sewing day with jane:) And i really enjoyed making this little girl, cant wait to make more tomorrow!!!!

I wouldn't like me, if I met me

Hope, the end.

Hope part two - the funny ones ;)

Hope part one - the ones that break my heart in two

these are just a selection, of ones that brought tears from my eyes. Thank you to those who took the time to write to me, i really appreciate it.

'this thing that breaks my heart in two'

pen, pencil, promarker on 90g paper

teach me up close

there is something about his face...i don't know if he is angry or sad...if he's shouting or crying...if he is fighting or giving up...but i love his little face...whatever it is that he is doing...

im looking at this, like it isn't even mine.
there is so much tension, i can barely stand it.

Basic Space

He is just so close...so so close...but he holds still, knowing that with one finger, he could crush her.

Teach me gently how to breathe

Pencil, pen, promarker on 90g paper

Girl and Bear

Thank you Jane for inspiring the layout...I think its nice to see them clustered together...but they are nice on their own as well...like your own work xxx
I like my bed spread in the background...its girly and dreamy ^------^

Im feeling warm and fuzzy looking at these...its coming back, I dare say...and I think this may develop into a much more 'worked' body of drawings/painting/sculptures/films etc...oooo so excited!!!

'It will be ok' is defo my favorite of these...the bear is beautiful, I wish he would come to life and keep me company.

I tried, with 'Hide and Seek' to put them into a place...set them somewhere...but when I looked at it again, i realized that I actually didn't like it. And I can say that now...I can say 'I like things floating on the page....I like the scale being totally off...I like how naive and simple they are...I like them'
I can breathe again...I don't have to justify, or explain or stand up for them...because they are just for me and if someone else likes them...great...but right now, that isn't my concern. Im just enjoying drawing, for the first time in YEARS...because there is no pressure...and no one is looking over my shoulder, asking what Im at, or, telling me that what Im doing is rubbish...
Right now, it doesn't matter if they are rubbish.
I love them
They make me happy...

deep breath.......

I feel like Im getting my strength back
It feels good....
So so good......

Hide and Seek

Pencil, Pen and Promarker on 90g paper

Numb

Pencil, pen and pro marker on 90g paper

it will be ok

Pencil and letraset promarkers on 90g paper

Downpatrick Head, Mayo

What a beautiful part of the world...

There is such hope in the photo...

but such darkness

Like everything

We wouldnt know what light was, if there was no darkness...

And how could we ever feel happy...if we never felt sad?

Today

I am going to draw something...if it kills me

Breathe

sonia rollo

*WOW*

Oh golly gosh
I dont think I have ever been so inspired or so moved, possibly in my life
 *Cirque Trottola*
In Westport, as part of the Westport Arts Festival...
Me and Jane went after our stint babysitting the show that we are both in, in the Hastings garage...

• Tiny tent, for starters...something you would see at electric picnic
• No pictures or video, or food or drink allowed...Jane and I came to the conclusion that those things just distract you from the performance, from the experience...so much time we spend documenting everything. I dont even feel like i was at Tegan and Sara because I spent so much time behind my camera...
• It was a French circus...everyone was v french...
• The women ushers had little red clip on tiny top hats on...short turned up jeans...and they kept talking back and forth over the 'stage' organiseing where people should sit...
• There were people from all walks of life there...young, old, artsy, middle class, upper class, lower class...hippys, goths, preps...you name it...it was so interesting to look into the crowd and see everyone's personal stories on their faces
• 3 performers...one, tall, bearded and frumpy looking, hunched over, the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looked deranged, like an escapee mental convict...like an alcoholic...a funtioning one at that tho...he opened the show my dragging himself into the centre...the music was in time to his movements...screeching violin bows on plates...it was so poetic and moving...oh my god the tension...i was about to pass out...
• The second...a woman, who looked more like a 12 year old boy...with a fiercely frightened but energetic face...her hair was deep pink, nearly red...and stood out like a hedgehogs spikes...her boyish clothes were fitted...there was not a bit on her...she was so so toned...the muscles and veins in her arms and legs...an amazing little body...so strong...she made all these tiny expressions with her face...so subtle, but alot like things that siobhan would do :)
• The last, was another man...he was slimmer in appearance then the first...lighter too...his clothes were loose...he looked very smart...with a hat on, and a jacket. 
• There was amazing chemistry between the first two...it was trust...tension, love, hate...awkwardness...frustration...understanding...so much was left totally unsaid...they gave you so much space for your own thoughts and ideas to come in and colour in everything...fill in between the lines...
• The music was so atmospheric
• Floating piano......up a ladder...bellowed little piano on the ground...the two musicians were at opposite corners...the chemistry between them alone, took my breath away...they were using the bows of violins on plates...old violins that squeeked in all the right ways...oh, jesus the music alone was worth every penny...
• It was all so physical...but not in the predictable way that circuses usually are...it was so clever and understated and humble...they looked like...like it was effortless...like they were breathing...there was so much heart in it....
• my favorite bit was when the thinish man came out with this very big old style sweeping brush, and he balanced a tapered ladder on the flat bit of wood, where the bristles are attached...then the woman came out with like a spotlight, which she attached to the bottom rung of the ladder...the lights were dimmed and she descretely put on a simple waist belt/harness thing...and then proceded to climb the ladder...while it was balanced on the sweeping brush. The light cast a shadow of her on the roof top...and I couldnt help but think of 'hope'...my piece in the festival...how it changes depending on the light outside...the darkness to light...And i dont know, something came over me...i was so so moved...this ladder to no where...and her climbing it, trusting that it was being counter balanced by the man holding the broom handle...so much trust and tension and darkness and light...little tears ran down my cheeks...

Thats what art is though...its something that moves you. it touches a central nerve. it taps into something deep within you. you might not even know what it means to you, or what it is really trying to say...what its intention is, but it speaks to you anyway...and you feel something...it moves you, like the ocean waves, pushing and pulling at your body as you walk into the water, a force that you cant really understand, but you cant stop either...it takes you out of yourself...so you feel things that you mite not have been able to otherwise...you think of things that you mite not have thought about...it just...art...or what i think art is...i think it has a higher purpose then to look nice on your wall at home...or in a gallery...thats all well and good...but good art, real art comes home in your mind and stays with you for days...it grows in your heart and makes a nest inside you...it doesnt care if you buy it for your wall, because it has already moved in and made a home inside you...and it wants to be with you because it knows how much you need it...and it needs you to love it and be remembered and grow itself and become something else and change and develope...

• any way...that little art rant pep talk is over now ^_^
• so yeh...amazing...balanced dress on broom as well and danced with that...it actually looked like it was a ghost...i nearly fell off my seat
• trapeze stunts which were nerve rackingly beautiful and intense...and funny....

It was amazing...and im so happy that i had the oppourtunity to go and be inspired. i feel so full.
I feel like ive eaten a big dinner...if my stomach was in my heart.
I havent get like this is so long
Its because their work came from the heart. And it was amazeing.

Bear Heart

I had a dream that a bear was holding my heart

It was a nice dream

He was a cute bear

:)

Tangled

Heart Attack

Hope is all this and more to come

Ignore all that came before

This is the fresh start.

28 days later

Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

This is at the start of third year
Let me see...
I still had hair...alot more then now...
I still had my lip pierced...which I lament the loss of every so often...
I was wearing jeans, which I hardly ever do anymore...
No make up...so my eyes look NAKID!


I think...in between this pic and how I look now, I changed alot, very drastically...but it was part of my art project...so Im not sure if I would have changed so much, if not for that.
I think Ive changed internally...mentally too...of course...everyone does...
Its part of growing up
We change
People are constantly changing
In a state of fluxus...
We are.


The second picture was taken sometime recently...last week or two
My hair is shorter...
Im wearing clothes that dont purposefully clash...which is what I used to do...
I have gotten a tattoo since the first pic, on the inside of my left forearm...
I still wear converse nearly every day...until they fall to pieces...
I think Im more 'together' in the way i look...even if my head is all over the place


^_^

Hope is all this and more

'Hope is a Feather'

Hope is a bird

Hope is a ship coming in from the sea

'Hope feels like the only thing left to hold on to, when there is nothing left concrete'

'Hope is the name of the weakest branch you have the misfortune to grab hold of when your falling to your death'

Hope is noise

Hope is a song

Hope is a small four letter word

Hope is a child's face

Hope is the bright horizon after a storm

Hope is a feeling

Hope is a state of mind

Hope is a lifestyle choice

Hope is Positive

Hope is Negative

Hope is a nest, cradling you until you are strong again

Hope can heal every broken heart

Hope can mend every broken bone

Hope is a feeling, selfgenerating, and invisible…like faith…and love

Hope is all we have right now

Hope is all any of us has right now

eighteen

Day 18 - Plans, dreams, goals you have...

You can ask anyone that knows me...I dont plan.
I dont plan anything...what Im going to wear...until Im literally infront of the wardrobe fishing for things in the morning...
What Im going to eat...I dont go food shopping with a list of ingredients that I will need for every day's meals...I think I did that once...and I nearly passed out from the restriction, so decided never to do it again...
I dont even like to plan what Im going to do the next day.
I dont like things to be set in stone...not that plans are literally a list of things that must be followed or else...
I just feel restricted...and like things cant change then, and if they do, itl be a huge hassel...etc...

I, so, then, have very very very loose plans.
Ones that can be changed around quite easily, without much fuss, or bother, or heartache to anyone involved...
1. I plan on having Kiaya over on Wednesday, to keep me company seeing as the boy is leaving :_(
2. I plan to go back to sligo soon...for to get my disasterous tattoos fixed up, so they look sharp...
3. I plan to plant a flower patch for next spring/summer...so I have picking flowers...something Ive always wanted.
4. I plan to visit alex at the end of october...
5. I plan to spend Halloween with Grace, Bug and Liudas...trick or treating :)
6. I plan on moving to Galway when Alex gets back form Austria...

1. I dream about doing something that will make a difference in the world...I dont know what. I think I should be given quite alot of power, over the world. I promise I will fix EVERYTHING...because I am sick to death of how it all is...
2. I dream of living in a totally passive, ecofriendly house, that has its own water, and creates its own electricity...I want to be totally self sufficient...grow my own food...make my own clothes...
3. I do dream of having children...but that much responsibility...I think Ill transfer that over to dogs and cats maybe...
4. I dream of travelling, I want to see lots of different places, one place at a time...slowly. I want to take my time, and soak them up. I dont want to go on a massive, sweeping world tour...
5. I dream of being thin...a little superficial...but at least im honest...
6. I dream of being happy...of really being happy...through and through
7. I dream of being a better person, a better friend, daughter, sister, lover...
8. I dream of being proficient in something...whether that be making herbal remedies, or reading tarot cards...or art...
...
Those are my goals...if I can manage to fulfill all my plans AND manage to get some dreams out of the way, Ill be doing. Pretty. Well

Today's coldplay snippet...

a long time coming

Jesus H. Christ...

Got the official shock of my life today, when I got the little bro to take pictures, of what I thought, was a relatively ok back tattoo...

NO  NO   NO...

Defo not ok...not ok in the slightest...

Hopefully someone will be able to do something with this abomination which has been living at the base of my spine for 4 years...but really, at this stage, a solid black rectangle would look better then this craic...

IF I EVER SEE THE TATTOO ARTIST THAT DID THIS TO ME...

:head spins 360* repeatedly for a few seconds, then explodes:

17

Day 17 - Someone youd want to switch lives with for a day and why

I dont know...
I wish that this question was easy to answer...like I think about this all the time...as a form of escape or something...just off the top of my head...

:shes the one on the right...giving tegan the evils...at least ive got the look down to a tea:

I think I would happily switch lives with Sara Quin. During a time when shes writing music, not performing...or maybe performing a small gig...
She is quite intense...and I like that. I can be pretty intense, so I dont think it would be that much of a change...Id like to sit, and write...for hours and hours and hours...then meet my sister, and make fun of each other, and laugh alot...
Alternately...Id like to go somewhere ive never been...and take pictures...and sing the songs i love...and make fun of my sister and laugh alot.

I think it would be nice for a day.

Grapes=natures candy

Squeek, and a fly...the battle continues...

Mr. Hedgehog...who graced us with a shy visit last night, at about 12...He was so cute...I could see him taking each concentrated breath...lovely animals...and the very first one Ive ever seen - alive

One of the last, beautiful, summer sunsets...

16

Day 16 - Another Picture of yourself

I took this one day that me and alex were skyping...im in the smaller box. I think she looks like a cute raccoon...and I look like i got dipped in pink paint...but youl have that...

I like the grids on this...nice :)

i will try to fix you

four teen

Day 14- A picture of you and your family

After quite a bit of searching through the many folders and sub folders on my external, this is what I came up with...

Eoghain...brother, Mother in the middle, back...Me on the right in the black and Nana, mam's mammy.

Honestly, this is the only pic on my hard drive that has any family in a cluster together...kinda of sad really.

Collette is taking the pic...and dad is in America...

I must start taking pictures of my family 0_o

Lovely things that make me melt

  

tiffany bozic

jesse hazelip

lars henkel

allesandro papetti

katarzyna gajewska

steve seeley

linn olofsdotter

Ok...Squeek's heart shaped spot...maybe a bit random...but look...still melting :)