Inspirations from Ireland

Wee Houses in Mauve

Happy Saint Patrick's Day dear friends. Today, in celebration of all things Irish I wanted to feature a fellow artisan from Ireland and during my search I had the luck of the Irish by meeting Iris whose shop Iris O' Connor is a sight to behold. Below, please enjoy some of Iris' works and our interview:

1. Tell me a little about yourself:

I was born in Germany but came to live in Ireland in 1987. After living in Dublin inner city for about a year I decided it was just too noisy and crowded for my liking so I moved to Dun Laoghaire which is a beautiful little seaside town just a few miles outside Dublin.
I am married to Mr. O’Connor and we – including Mouse the Cat – live about 3 minutes away from the harbour and we love it here!
It is only natural that I go for daily walks and more often than not I will collect sea glass and seashells which then end up in my shop.
I do work part-time in a second hand bookshop, which is absolutely wonderful as I am an avid reader and I can borrow books from the shop which means I look at the bookshop as my own personal library.

If you want to see a few pics about me and the bookshop:


2. How long have you been crafting?

I think forever.
There isn’t really a point in time I could pick out and say: ‘this is when I started crafting’
And of course it was part of school life as well.
But I was about 10 years old when my love affair with pebbles began. It started at a riverbed in Austria where I picked up a big granite stone, beautifully shaped, with black, gray and green specks of colours which was lovingly varnished to give it that ‘wet’ look that makes the colours look stronger.
I still do a lot of work with pebbles as you can see in my flickr but unfortunately the pieces are too heavy to sell on Etsy.

3. What are your inspirations and for your Irish Street Sign Collage, what draws you to a particular sign?

It’s usually colour that gets my creative juices flowing and a vague idea what I would like to create.
I usually start by cutting out a shape and applying the base coat to it. After that it is trying not to force my idea onto the MDF or paint but to let the creative process take over and usually what comes out at the end of the process is very different from the initial idea.

I love photography and I love the fact that Irish street signs are in both English and Irish. As I do a lot of collages I tend to use some of my own photographs and it just struck me one day that maybe someone out there might like a digital download of the street signs. That’s all. I have no plans to go into digital downloads, the street signs are the only digital file I have for sale in my shop.
Having said that, I do have a lot of digital images sitting on my computer …..

4. What goals/plans do you have for your shop in the near future?

Right now I am working really hard on building up some serious Ballinasnoot real estate. My aim is to have at least 5 pages of houses in the shop to give customers a good choice.
Have a few different designs and maybe use a bit more paper instead of paint. Different house sizes, that sort of thing.
I really need to experiment a bit. Apart from that I am working on some bigger pieces which I want to have in a gallery. Selling in a B&M store or even in a market is a great experience and quite different from on-line selling, so I’m looking forward to some feedback from that...
And of course have the houses and some of my other collages for sale on my blog.
I really need to spread myself out a bit more.


And then there is my photography. I really got back into it last year and I’m thinking about offering prints some time in the future. But that won’t be in the near future….I think…


5. What is your favorite item in your shop and why?

I honestly don’t have a favourite item in my shop because everything you see in there started out as something I made for myself and only after I run out of wall space do I list the items in my Etsy shop.
But I have to say that at the moment I am really taken with my Ballinasnoot Houses.

I have always loved painting houses and those particular ones have evolved from houses painted on MDF to being Real Estate in a fictional Irish village.

Even how the story of Ballinasnoot came about is somehow typical irish: in my local
Of course I had the idea of a village before that but I wanted some input from my friends and over a few pints of Guinness one night we made great progress into the write-up of it all. Even the owner of the pub got involved and between the lads there was lots of ‘no, you can’t put that in ‘cause we don’t have that here in Ireland’ and ‘ well now, if you want to mention a traditional roof you better have a thatched one on your houses’ to ‘how about some historical background’
It was great fun and although the story is in itself fixed I still add a few bits or change something with every new house I list. I suppose Ballinasnoot will evolve naturally, just like any other (real) town here in Ireland.

As you can see, Iris is a wonderfully talented artist who has a lot to share and a genuine warmth about her. Hopefully you will take the time to visit her shop, blog, or look through her works on Flicker, it will be time enjoyably spent. Have a wonderful Saint Patrick's Day until next time!

Talented New York artist featured for 9/11

Today is a day for remembering the events that marked our lifetimes forever, 9/11 will never be just another day on the calendar but a day of rememberance.

Since I had posted my memories of 9/11 on the first day of this month, I wanted to feature a wonderful artist out of the heart of the beloved city of New York today.

Mauro is an extremely talented artist from New York who owns the shop Brooklymade where photography and painting intermingle to form absolutely stunning results in which no two are alike. I think of Mauro as being a "green" artist as well for what may have been discarded is recycled and turned into beautiful art work to be admired.

One of my favorites is the Washington Square at Night which shows the landmark arch with the Empire State building in the backdrop. Measuring in at a substantial 16 x 20 this piece is certain to make a statement. Would be perfect talking point in an office as well.

Enjoy the work of this skillful artist and the interview below.

Introduction: ". I have been a photographer for about 12 years. i picked up a camera for the first time when i came to NYC in 1998 and i have been shooting ever since. This is one of the first pictures i took

I was amazed when that picture came out, specially because I shot it with a cheap camera I had bought at Kmart for $40 (it was so cheaply made that the lens eventually fell off the camera, which proves you don't need expensive equipment to express yourself), but mostly because it portrayed exactly what attracted me most about the city: those fleeting moments in which streets are empty or almost empty. they make me feel like the city belongs to me; like i am here to witness it. All of us who live in NYC are packed in tiny apartments and experience the city as an extension of of living grounds, we eat out because we can't entertain at home, we sunbathe in the parks because we don't have a backyard, etc..all of which makes us form strong connections with the space we all share (for better and for worse). My pictures are reminders to myself of my favorite spots which I share with tons of other people, but that they belong only to me at the moment in which I took that particular photograph.

Q) . How long have you been crafting?

A) I have been crafting since I was a child. I was a shy kid who spend a lot of time reading and drawing. Art has always been a part of my life and it doesn't matter what else I try I always go back to it...it's like my default state of seeing and interacting with reality.

Q) What are your inspirations / if you have any thoughts about 9/11, please comment?

A) I'm inspired by everything. it's is kinda overwhelming sometimes. With these paintings, I'm always on the lookout for discarded items -what most people would consider trash- I'm constantly picking up stuff on the street to use on my paintings. even my friends are getting into it! every time I meet with them I get a bag of "treasures" they pick up for me. I don't know, I guess I'm really curious about where things end up, what they had been before I got them and why they were discarded. I love giving them a new life, it gives me pleasure to rescue them from disappearing.

On september 10th 2001 I took my first class on photography. I wanted to lear more about it and to have more control over my camera and not depend so much on chance. Before the professor dismissed the class, he gave us the assignment for the following week: "go out , photograph your neighborhood, document your surroundings, this city is every changing, it is always evolving, just because something is here today doesn't mean it will tomorrow. I wanna see what you bring". Next day the world changed and I will always remember his words. I do not take anything for granted, I am grateful for what i have, and i try to be mindful of the impact things and people have on me and the impact i have on them. I try to respect life and hope it respects me back, so far it is working out fine.

Q) What goals/plans do you have for your shop in the near future?

A) I want to continue expanding on the portfolio, keep photographing and painting and get feedback from people about my work. I have a very faithful client base in nyc, and etsy is providing me with the opportunity to reach one a lot more people. I want to continue to attract a new audience and my presence on line is a first step in that direction.

Q) What is your favorite item in your shop and why?

A) My current favorite item on my shop is this painting of a street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. This is a very interesting area for me because of the level of gentrification it has suffered in recent years and on the abrupt stop the economic crisis has brought to the development of neighborhood. it feels like for a little bit longer at least you get to enjoy here the strong contrast between past and present .

I would like to thank Mauro for the informative and interesting interview. Remember today what is important on this day, our family, our friends, and our fellow countrymen and mankind throughout the world.