I’m waiting for a change in the weather before I can install the latest ‘ Fort & Wood” commission
So, I’m going back in time for this post
The day after we had the photographer here for the HOUSE & HOME magazine
photoshoot I took advantage of that never since repeated tidiness and had the in-house photographer take some more in-house photos
Here are some of those photos , the text in italics is some of the unprinted questions and
answers from the article
What are your main inspirations ?
It's probably quite relevant that as a mosaic artist and surface decorator it’s the mosaic art form of
Pique assiette that has greatly informed my Artwork, my interior design sensibilities and my style.
Pique assiette is about reusing materials in a different way ,It’s about thinking laterally ,it’s about
humour, the art of recycling ,the significance of found objects and it’s about using what you've got.
I 've also found that Necessity is indeed "the mother of invention."
THE 'OLD' DINING ROOM
In your answers, it would be great if you can make reference to the following items which may be selected in photography:
Your art
Over the last 20 years my home has been the blank canvass for my artistic experiments and expression .
I work mainly doing glass and mosaic work but I make lots of other things.....and I collect things.
One of the walls in the dining room houses my toy-portraits collection, they are my "self-portrait as a cartoon character"
pictures,also known as " Events in our lifes as depicted by kept and found chlldrens toys "
Every year I try to learn at least one other new technique/medium/skill. This fruit bowl resulted from
a glass slumping workshop, the ‘two flowers’ print over the light switch below came out of another
textile and screen-printing workshop
Tell us about colour choices in your home - for example, the darker colours in your living room, the blue floor, and the turquoise.
Why do you like them?
I absolutely LOVE black, It's my favourite colour,like white , it complements every other colour,
I've had a black feature wall in my home for over 8 years now. I was inspired by an article on the English
architect Edward Luytens who believed every home should have at least one room painted black.
I've also painted one of the walls in my sons bedroom black and that doubles as a chalkboard,
With black its just win win .
THE OLD SITTING ROOM
Tell us about the most treasured things in your home
Cáit’s drawings : In the front room on the wall to the right of the guitars are two pictures my daughter Cáit drew when she was 8 .
They amaze me .
treasured things [cont.]
There is a ceramic car on my mantlepiece in the front room , it was the first christmas present
Joe gave me, He's bought it off a Nigerian street dealer outside Clarendon St. church in Dublin
in the early 80's , he'd said it was a Nigerian 'kitch' car, apparently that's a Nigerian
wedding car??? We never felt the need for a formal ceremony after that......
In your answers, it would be great if you can make reference to the following items which may be selected in photography:
The items on the open sideboard (turquoise background) and the photo on the wall
I think of these open shelves as a piece of collage/ assemblage work, a temporary art installation
if you like, . everything on it and around it pretty much tells you a lot about us as a family ,
There’s a little bit of every one's stories on these shelves . Things that are personal ,
favourite and meaningful .
It’s a work in progress and it keeps changing.
The photo on the wall
I mentioned my daughter Cáit's drawings as an 8 year old as being one of the treasures ,
This photo is on the opposite wall and is another one of her artworks.
We only have it on loan though as it’s part of a forthcoming photography exhibition."Legacy"
Very soon after these photographs were taken we started on the new
extension and now, all has changed , changed utterly ......
The new rooms are too shy for their close up just now,.....but
one day.....one day .....