Illustration Friday - Jump!

Here's  a wee lady I did a while back

Jump For Joy! 

Life is good :-) 

Preparations and Contemplations

Lots of preparation is happening in the garden and the studio in anticipation of a funfilled and exciting summer! 

I always get so excited at this time of year, dreaming of harvesting all that we invest into ourselves, the land, our work. It seems that it all rests on the work which is done in spring and we must trust that we've done enough to reap a reward during the summer. Himself has done a power of work in our pollytunnel, preparing the soil, planting the seeds and tending to the seedlings.

I feel it's the same in the studio - a flickering of an idea is prepared, planted and tended to in order for it to grow into a piece. We trust the sun will shine enough to allow our ideas grow, we help with nourishing ideas and putting in the work but it's such an organic process ANYTHING can happen! 

It's so exciting! I can't wait to see what's going to happen next :-)

Carlow's annual arts festival, (Éigse)  is coming up and it's theme is 'civilizing the wilderness' - LOVE this theme, it's so rich and opens my mind up to a whole plethora of ideas and directions.

I cannot wait to see all the shows which will be on so if you're in the country from the 8th - 17th June 2012 do come down and have a look see!

 

Here's some of my newest works for my show at the Cathedral Parish Center during the festival. 

So much to be done!!! 

new website!

Remember I had said I'd been working on redesigning my website? 

Well it's now up an running! yay

I'm totally loving the fresh feel of it - it works and links in everything together (my shop, my blog, facebook and twitter) And allows you to sign up to my newsletter!

I think this may be the 5th website I've designed for myself and by far my favourite - at least at the moment! haha

Here's a link to one I did in 2008 for my landscape paintings (wow that doesn't feel like 4 years ago!)

So. I invite you to come have a nosey around and let me know what you think!

www.siobhanjordan.com 

PS I've got a great GIVEAWAY on my facebook page - it's ending today so go on like and share the picture to be in with a chance of winning the earrings!!! 

One of my favourite things - my paint tin

One of my favorite things to do is mix paint. I find it meditative and calming and can throw up many surprises. I'm getting good at it at this stage and have gotten to know all of the nuances of my watercolour tin.

It was  gift from an artist I painted with in Germany when I was 16. I adore that a symbol of the early nurturing of my creativity has traveled with me everywhere, been used and abused, refilled and just gives and gives. I can't remember the ladies name which is a shame but we had a glorious day painting her garden and she gifted me this precious tin. I spoke very little German and she spoke no English. It was the first time I really understood the power of visual art as a communicator and connector.

I am working on some new illustrations today. It's fun to take the paints back out! 

PS Here's another great shop (Gallery Crafts, Cork) which is stocking my canvas prints and jewellery range - If you're in the cork area do be sure to check it out! Have a beautiful Day :"-)

Drinks Cabinet - Re purposed and Reborn

I love a bargain and this drinks / display cabinet is defiently a bargain!

 

Herself has taken over the bottom shelf for toys and thankfully can't yet reach the higher shelves and doors! 

 

She cost my €50 in Oxfam Home, Dublin.

Probably €20 to get her home in petrol

Paint was free (left over from other projects) 

Vintage wallpaper was free (gifted to me from an interior design shop) 

Knobs were around €3 each (I picked them up in Austria when I was on a painting residency) 

 It\s great  to finally be able to display car boot finds (vintage telephone, vintage plates) along with some fab wedding presents we hadn't been able to display before (Mosses pottery plates and bowls, Killarney crystal glasses etc)

And paintings from Mary Hoare, Laura De Búrca, TimsSally and my newest purchase from Marriane Wolf (Mon Petit Pois)

I'm sorry I didn't take a before pic but she was a big dark ominous beast in the room! Lets just say himself was none too happy when I brought her home! But he did the majority of the hard work with her and I'm so in love!

at long last! A new blog post!

I'm back!!

It's been a while,

things have been busy.

The juggling continues but recently I've enjoyed lots of family time. Some time in the garden and lots of play time with herself. I'm enjoying the longer days, warmer (slightly!) weather, and new growth.

We have a lovely old granite wall in our garden and last year I planted some bulbs on top of it in the crevaces. Nothing came up last year - but hey presto this year we have a poppy! 

Auch a heartlifting sight to see some colour and growth in the garden after the winter. 

Here's our dog Rosie standing on the wall admiring the flower - or maybe just contemplating trampling it! 

I don't know why I'm surprised but so much of my time is spent on non-making / non-painting endeavors! I've been doing lots of writing of proposals, business plans, cathcing up with accounts, networking that I haven't gotten to paint in a while.

My new plan is to do a plan! A realistic plan this time :-) 

I'm redesigning my website! Here's my proposed new layout. Hopefully it'll give me room to grow, is  a tad less busy than the one I've up at the mo and will be search engine friendly!

So now it's just a matter of getting the head down and coding it! 

No rest eh? 

PS

I'm really excited to be stocked in such lovely shops as Couture, Naas and  Sineads Gifts, Portarlington. Do check them out if you're in the area :-) x

New Year

It's Spring time again!! 

we're constantly talking about the weather in Ireland so an update for you! The sun is shining here, it's still cold and frosty but so beautiful. Snowdrops are out in force, some daffodils have already bloomed, fields are ploughed ready for sewing, seeds are layed out and planning for the new year has started in earnest.

2012 so far has been good to me. 

I've took a booth at Showcase, Dublin with the Creative Carlow group. This was my first wholesale show and I got great feedback on my products, made wonderful connections and some fab new shops who are going to stock my goods! 

So now it's all about filling out the order book, getting suppliers to ship out stock yesterday, thinking seriously about where I want to go as an artist and a designer, product maker etc. Thinking about the logistics of actually making this work for me. How I want to grow, where I want to be. It's a very exciting time filled with sheer bliss and a healthy dose of fear!

I'm doing my best to embrace true growth and existence in the now, and the future journey it will bring me on.

 This little (well she's quite tall really!) darling is available on my etsy shop - link here x

2012 - bring it on :-)