Because I want to tease you

This is all work in progress, but I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer...So here are little details you can ponder over and sink your teeth into...until the pieces are finished...hopefully sometime soon :)

Squeek loves lieing on them...I don't know what she's trying to tell me :)

xxx

The Spring Owls have arrived!

Yes yes, it is that time again.
The Spring Owls have finally landed and are featured in a Galway Market Stall near you, provided you live in or around the Galway area, and happen to be there on a Saturday...but NEVER MIND!! :)

This is the first batch entitled Spring Earlies and they are ready for the off!
I know I know, they only just landed, but they are ready to find they're new homes.

I have them up in my 'shop', but don't expect them to stick around too long...they do have wings...they are owls after all ! :)

ShelkyBean's photostream on Flickr.

Come check out my new shop on flickr :)

April, 14 days later

Because I ran out of space on my Picasso web photo holding whatever it is, its taken me awhile to get this up here. But here it is, in all its glory :) Feel free to vote for me if you already haven't :)

the magic feather has landed!!

What you have all been waiting for has finally arrived. Jane O Sullivan, my dear friend and fellow artist/magic maker, is having her first (of many, hopefully) solo show, uber soon. If anyone is interested in her work...and golly, how couldn't you be, you can find it here. And, if you want to come to her show, its on for a month, and will definitely be worth the treck from where ever you are ! :)

Back to work!!

This is a picture of the first, of a new body of work. I didn't want to ruin the 'grand revel' so Squeek did me the favor of sprawling out of top of it. What is it with cats? They can be given then coziest little nook at the bottom of your bed, complete with hand crocheted violet and white blanket, and a sliver of early afternoon sun, and they will still insist on either curling up in your lap, when you are in no position to accommodate them, or they go and lie on a still wet work in process. 

Cardboard + tissue paper, no matter how you dress it up, is not nearly as comfy as blanket + sun. 

And then it makes me think...is it because she really likes the drawing, that she wants to be closer to it, or is it the opposite?

Just evolve to be able to talk, you silly kitty, and tell me what you are up to !?

All joking aside, I have started 4 drawings this week. AMAZING, I know. And by started, I mean, they are all at a stage where I didn't know what to do next, so I left them and moved on to another one, instead of panicking and making a mess of drawings that I'm pretty happy with for the moment. None of them are anywhere near finished, but they are started, and that makes me feel all giddy, and giggly and girly and silly :)

The one I started today, actually turned in to two. And Im inventing these techniques...by invented, I mean, happen across totally by accident...And that is just making me excited about a lot of other ideas in my head. I also know that this drawing that I ended up doing by accident, I will never be able to part with, not that I think anyone will ever want it...but I just couldn't bare to see it go. I like it too much.

Sort of like the polar bear drawings.

Layers and textures...textures are not something that I bring in to my work at all, which is ironic, coming from a background in Textiles...what is it they say about going against how you were raised...I think Im rebelling or something at the moment...or forever...Im like..."No NO more fabric. Get it OUT of my sight!! Give me FABRIANO and watercolors, and markers, and INK!!! To hell with thread and cotton and EMBROIDERY HOOPS...hellO tissue paper!!"

But Im totally loving it. There is something very normal feeling, about sitting for hours and hours mulling over a drawing, going back to my ideas book, finding what I need and adding it in. Or leaning over so much into the drawing Im working on, that I feel a part of it, as I fill in these tiny little squares I've drawn with a tiny paintbrush, only to paint over the whole thing, a moment later...

It sounds insane, but it's making me feel so grounded and sane at the moment, that I feel ecstatic...I wake up, have something small for breakfast, maybe a cup of tea. Get dressed properly, I cannot work in casual clothes...I don't  really  own any casual clothes anyway...so...and then go straight into it. Get everything set up and start working. 

Its wonderful.

I love it :)

x

Im working on a painting at the moment, and I SO excited about it its not even funny.
Granted, when I started it, I didn't really know what I was doing, I was throwing things, not really certain if any of it made any sense, of it would all sit well together. But today, well...its just sitting pretty.
And Im starting to understand what Im doing, and why. Im starting to make connections within the very odd and disjointed personal mythology that I have assembled over the last few years, and they are all coming to the surface and making themselves readily available to me.
And it is exciting.
I know what this body of work will be called, and the reason for it being named that.
I know, already, what things will link the pieces together, to ensure it all makes sense.
I know what each piece will look like, what they will all say, how they will all feel, how big they will be, and how they will engage with they're audience.
I know it all.
And it is filling me with such a feeling of energy and anticipation, that I would happily go without sleep for the next 6 months in order to get them all done.
This first one...I wish I could put it up...but if art college taught me anything, its that, people will steal your idea's and make them their own...so I wont put anything up here, until Im totally ready with it...give me some time to get a few of them done.

But just know that, so far, so good...and Im excited about the next few babies to come.

Bring it

Mother's day cards

Dad wanted me to go to town to get Nana a mother's day card from him...

But why, I ask you, when I can just whip one up myself??

Nothing beats a hand made card...especially when you can turn yourself and your brother and mum into owls...now, you wouldn't get one like THAT from Hallmark ;)

Im at the compiling stage of all my projects. Research is so important. Done throughly, and you wont be wasting any time later on. Of course you can research too much, but its about getting a nice balance...knowing when you have just enough general stuff to work from, and whittle down to a more concise collection. 

Owls of course are on the cards, when are they not?! Cats are a must, along with several other animals that I have been becoming interested in recently. 

Words, phrases, lyrics and specific sentences which hold relevance and meaning for me, are being jotted down and mulled over.

Shapes...round shapes. Don't ask why, Ive not figured that one out yet.

And quite a lot of darkness...although that is just in my minds eye, and Im hoping that when I get down to it, it wont be as dark as Im imagining, as that would be very unlike me.

As for the zine's, now that summer addition is not happening, I have more time to get what I really want out of them, out of them...and that is very exciting. If I had allowed myself to go at them in a rush, I would be fearful that the result would be some unpolished, angst ridden compilation, a regurgitation of the last several months, and as cleansing as that would be, I don't think it would be doing me any favors in the long run. So, now with more time to spend on them, Ill be able to make sure that they are something that I will be able to stand over, and not just another forum for me to vent through.

I started embroidering on those pillowcases there the other night...it is going to be a very very slow process, and the end result will be so expensive, that I will probably have to get the damn things ensured...probably should have factored that in when I was think of doing them in the first place...oh well...Itl be worth it... o.O

A very good weekend wished to all of you, and a happy start to the month of April...boy is she greeting us with some weather!!

This just made me laugh.