Shopping in Ireland
I did very little shopping and a lot of looking.
At the amazing Dundrum Shopping Centre which seems to have every shop in the world, I came across these shoes, on sale, in various colours. Only one pair in my size and that was black. I loved the 40s look to them and they fit like a dream so I took them home (black will go with everything anyway!).

Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

 My Irish in-laws in their youth.

Watercolour and gouache on Arches paper.

The clan has grown since they've been gone. In two weeks I'll be there doing the rounds in Wicklow, Wexford and Dublin.

  
Simplicity is the removal of the useless and the unnecessary--source unknown

When choosing old and antique fabrics, I always look for stitches, patches, mending and other little items that might be stitched onto the fabric. Some years ago, in Ireland, Joyce, a friend from out university days, gave me some beautiful old kimono pieces that had belonged to her grandmother. Among them was a piece of red silk that had a paper "tag" attached to one corner. It has Japanese characters written on it. It finally saw the light of day on this piece.

To thine own self be true -- The Bard

The shoe and I

While visiting family in Enniskery, County Wicklow, I took a lot of walks. On one of them I came across a shop that was filled to the brim with vintage and antique treasures. One of the things I found was a tiny bisque shoe. I've since used it to create a mold for plaster casting. I made this one a couple of years ago and it has stood the test of time. (I also made the bird head in my banner above.)

Irish art

I found Roisin while blog-hopping. She is an Irish artist who paints in oils, and what pulled me in were her bold, juicy brush strokes. And since I love landscapes, some of which I know so well, and coffee cups, I was a gonner.

 All photos (c) Roisin O'Farrell

It's easy being green

My friend Sandra told me this morning that I should be making nothing but tags. [she loves my tags] My reply was, I wouldn't mind because I love making them. But then I would get restless; I like variety in my work.

My Irish tags are authentic. I come by my ephemera honestly: I'm Irish by marriage and have a direct channel to old photos and stamps and documents that I use in my artwork. The photo on the middle tag shows a farmeress in County Wexford in the 1950s... The Irish goodnaturedly suffer the "stage Irish" thing, as they call it, but Ireland is not all about leprechauns and begorrahs (in all my years in Ireland, I never heard the word begorrah even once!).

I was looking through Nicholas Mosse's book Irish Country Style and the section on embroidered motifs inspired me to sew the little shamrocks. Primarily a potter, Mosse is one of my favourites. I own one of his older pieces (photo below) in his unmistakable style.

Have a great day, bedad and begorrah!!!!

Great Design: Designs by Bonzie

I've been wanting to share some of my favorite artists, and I'll begin with this gorgeously talented Irish designer. Irish fashion designers have always been top-notch, at least in my lifetime. In fact, Irish design is quite wonderful in general.

I found Bonzie a short while ago. She lives in Waterford, a name known for high-end crystal, in Ireland. She is a quirky, vintage-loving, independent designer of couture calibre (just look at the details), and if I could, I would have my wardrobe full of her clothing. Look at these creations, and weep! Rather, rejoice to see someone designing and creating pieces that would make you feel like a million bucks (or euros!!!) wearing them. I especially love her neck pieces, the likes of which I have never seen, and I covet the jacket in one of the photos below. On my next trip to Ireland, I'm going to grab my youngest sister-in-law who loves this kind of style and go and visit Bonzie in her atelier. By appointment, of course.

Meanwhile, enjoy this splendour. (Christian de la Croix, Vivienne Westwood, eat your hearts out!) Visit her shop to see what she creates, and her blog to get to know her better. You won't regret it.

Bonzie's Etsy shop

Da

I dreamed I was telling someone that my in-laws' family farm in Wexford, Ireland, supplied milk to Yoplait, who only accepted the highest-grade milk. (This part is true, not a figment of my dream world.) It got me to thinking that so much hard work and pride in one's work would produce the best. And so, I made this collage, as a tribute to the gentle, quiet man I called Da, who, when times were very tough in the 1950s and people emigrated, stuck to the family farm and persevered.

I "inherited" the family photos and ephemera. This piece will end up back at the family farm. I may have lost my husband, but I never lost his family, my family. There are families who drift apart after deaths have occurred, but not this family. They have held me to them all these years.