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West Cork Collective

March 2025,  I initiated a new venture.  West Cork Collective.  This is a gift shop and gallery poised right at the start of the Wild Atlantic Way in Cork. Local makers, creatives and artists have heard the call and came together to create a beautiful symbiosis of excellence. This is a shopping experience that touches … Continue reading West Cork Collective

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More adventures with seaweed

It seems like an age since I wrote a post! I have been so engrossed in my creations I have been very remiss with my writings. I only have to scroll through photos on my phone to see how much time I have spent eco printing and dyeing fabrics, experimenting and evolving my adventures with seaweed. There has been quite a bit of interest in what I am doing with seaweed and my plan is to get involved with heritage festivals here in Ireland to further my interest. There is one called the Ellen Hutchings festival dedicated to young women who painted intricate and incredible botanical art of seaweeds, lichens, liverworts and mosses along the coast and woodlands of Bantry and Glengarriff here in West Cork, Ireland. She was the first female botanist to research and create a huge body of work on seaweeds. I hope to get involved at that festival next August. Continue reading More adventures with seaweed

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Stone circles and summer scenes

I recently bought this little car. Beep Beep, I call her. An amazing little car! My friend Ildiko and I took her for a road trip down into the wilds of Co.Kerry for the weekend and discovered hidden roads, piers, beaches and magical stone circles over the summer solstice days. A mix of downpours, drizzle, fog and gorgeous sunshine gave us plenty of variety to see and not see! Continue reading Stone circles and summer scenes

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Dye colour using Wallflowers

Some years ago I spent much of the year living in small mountain villages in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco south of Marrakech. One of the houses I rented had an old garden behind it which hadn’t been tended for a good number of years. It had an abundant corner of wallflowers along with stunning hollyhocks. I was aware that local women use plants to make dyes for their wool which they make into beautiful rugs but no-one could tell me if wallflowers were one of those plants. Back home in Ireland, I planted wallflower seeds and now have a healthy patch to test my theory. Continue reading Dye colour using Wallflowers

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Solo Textile Art Exhibition

Next Wednesday marks the end of a momentous event for me. The end of my solo textile art exhibition in our local library exhibition space. It started on March 28th and finishes on April 24th. Mixed media textile exhibitions are still a rare sight in Ireland, especially down in the South West and even more so, a solo one, so I am feeling very grateful to have the opportunity to show such a large body of work in such a public place. Continue reading Solo Textile Art Exhibition

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Monoprints with fabric.

All my work is packed up ready to hang my upcoming solo textile exhibition next Wednesday in the local Kinsale library. Time to play in the studio. I find mono-printing somewhat addictive once I get started so this time it was all about the preparation before ink hit glass. I almost invested in one of those cool gelli plates, but decided to hold tough with my sheet of glass from an old fridge which has served me well. I wanted to try using stitched fabric samplers to print images and perhaps make them into unique cards. Continue reading Monoprints with fabric.

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Mushroom Spore Prints…more fun with natures gifts.

I spend a lot of time in the woods, any woods, I love the energy, the smells, the sounds and the connections with trees. Fungi fascinates me and the more I learn about them, the more I am intrigued. I have learnt about a few that are edible and delicious, more that I don’t like much and a few my tummy doesn’t like. I have also made a pain relieving tincture from the Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria) Mushroom. I have a healthy respect for these exquisitely beautiful fungi and photograph them every year. This year I found so many huge honey fungus , sulphur tufts and cortinarius I decided to have a go at making spore prints. A super simple process. Continue reading Mushroom Spore Prints…more fun with natures gifts.