Tips from Neil Gaiman on what to do if you find yourself in a fairytale, especially for Vanessa Valencia, who looks like she could do with this advice;-)
Continuing my series on top Artisan Bloggers, check out the amazing work of Judy Wilkenfeld.
Did you know that I have a beard? I respect men with beards and bands with names like ‘Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip’.
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But I don’t want to just focus on Irish Artists in this blog. There are some really wonderful international artisan bloggers out there and in this post, I am going to draw your attention to some of them.
Thanks to Cliodhna Quinlan, I have discovered Vanessa Valencia of A fanciful twist. This is a most astonishing blog, wonderfully inventive, with fantastic attention to detail and sense of comedy. Her stories are long, but highly entertaining and well written. She uses sequences of images that look like stills from a movie plot and a wonderful sense of fun emanates from it all.
I find that Artisans are mostly meditative and introspective by nature. They have a sense of the present, nature and the shifting of season. You get a feeling of calmness and sociability from their blogs. Artists like Jenny Vorwaller look beyond their art and apply their mindfulness to other aspects of their lifestyle in a manner which is refreshing and inspirational.
Rima Staines is another blogger new to me. She’s an artist and animator and her blog really is a treat for the eclectic eye. Here is a wonderful animation from her, set to the music of Polly Paulusma:
So these are some artisan bloggers who I admire. I believe art made out of love is inspirational, and the more we surround ourselves with it, the more elevated our mood and consciousness become.
These are reasons why I believe art blogging is so important. We need to resurrect our connection with Art, Nature and our Intuition.
I’m promoting the Irish Arts Blog this week so I thought I might highlight a few posts from some of the artists. The image above comes from Michael Rays interesting post on Portals. Cliodhna Quinlan tells us about the story of the Greedy Giant and I learn a little bit of greek mythology on her blog also.
Did you know that my 6 year old daughter is a podcaster. At least since last week anyway. Listen to her story of the Big Blue Whale, all made up on the spot.
I’ve done a number of things this year. Firstly, I left my job in the summer. The best decision I ever made (’I hope’).
I’ve now decided at the tender age of 42 to try and start my own business… a bit scary I know and it really is an uphill battle as anybody who has tried it will testify to. But despite the relentless challenge of it, it has to be better then working a job you’re not comfortable in.
I tend to get lots of business ideas, which is good in one sense but it can lead to indecision.
So I resolved in the end to follow the project I felt most passionate about…. Getting artists on the web. In a previous blog of mine I wrote about the rationale behind my belief that artisan work is ideal for selling on the web. Through blogging about artisan products and my contact with other artisan bloggers, I quickly came to the realisation that blogging is the ideal platform for artisans. If you are an artist and you are still not convinced about the power of blogging, have a look at the comments i received on that post from long time bloggers.
Originally, I started Siopa Eile to highlight mostly Irish artisan products, but I eventually ran out of artisans to write about, because so few here have a credible web presence. Having seen countless bloggers from abroad, successfully selling their art through blogs and reveling in the process, I decided to try and kick start an artisan blogging revolution in Ireland.
First off, was to offer a free group blog to 10 select artisan bloggers. In the end I received an amazing 30 applications. All of this came through my blog and the contacts I made through the blog. I even had a very nice intern over from the U.S. to help me with the project, all thanks to the blog.
An added bonus was the contact I made with Karen Harper. Karen has helped me find artists for my group blog and many other things. I have also helped her set up 2 very important blogs. First off, Irish Craft Update, which is a fantastic source of information for craftspeople and has already notched up 100+ subscribers.
Karen will be launching the Irish Crafts Association shortly and is really doing a great job of making things happen on the crafts scene.
So what of the new year?
I’ve got lots of things planned. First off, I intend to launch the Irish Arts Blog in the coming weeks. I want to see if I can promote it online and if successful we might look at organising an exhibition to officially launch offline in the springtime.
I will also be doing something similar with Cliodhna Quinlans new blog called Cliodhnas Wave. Cliodhna hopes to cover a lot of topics on her blog, her art, her stories, lessons in creativity and self expression as well as practical information on embroidery and fabric dying. So make sure you subscribe to it.
I have 2 other major projects in the pipeline, which will both revolve around getting artists to blog. But for the moment that’s a bit hush-hush.
That’s it for now. Just a reminder to everyone that the Irish Blog Awards are accepting nominations at the moment. I’m not sure if my mother is voting for me this year, so you might need to;-) And you only need to vote in the categories that you are familiar with. I guess I would come under craft blog category, although sometimes I wonder.
I haven’t paid much attention to Irish bloggers this year, I’m sad to say….(Strike me down Oh Satan!)
Damien Mulley, I read on a daily basis, but I don’t think I can vote for him as he’s organising the awards.
Bloggers I’ve recently discovered are Sabrina Dent (she’s a fabulous web designer, but also writes very well) and Ellen McDermott (member of the Irish Arts Blog and a really funny and talented blogger).
Irish Sally Garden run by Rebecca and Dan Hillman is another extraordinary blog I think.
Of course as mentioned above Irish Craft Update has created a bit of a stir in the craft world too.
Ok, I’ve set up the blog now for our group of Irish Artisans. I’ve also picked Cliodhna Quinlan for the free solo blog. Well done to her. For now, I’m going to soft launch the blog and wait until after Christmas before I do any serious work on it, as I believe most of the artists are too busy now with christmas fairs and so on. Thanks to everyone for their patience and for taking the time out to contribute to the blog.
I feel confident, we can make a successful blog out of this and I may add a few other artists after Christmas to it.
Do make sure to link to the blog from your website and let other people know about it.
On an aside, good luck to the Paddys Valley crew on their way to a tour of Silicon Valley. Well done especially to Damien Mulley, James Corbett and Conor O’Neill on all their efforts in making it happen.
So, at last we have come to picking the final 10 artisans for our group blog.
Would sincerely like to thank all who have applied. It wasn’t easy picking who to go on the blog. In the end we went for the people who we felt would adapt quickly to blogging. So here is a summary of all the artists chosen.
First of all Ellen McDermott
I only just recently came across Ellens blog. Its one of the funniest Irish blogs I’ve come across in quite a while. She is also an excellent artist and photographer, with some fabulous portait photos.
If ever anybody was made to be a blogger, I would say it’s Cliodhna Quinlan. Her ethereal art is refreshingly unique. She also does some lovely embroidered handbags. And she’s a wonderful storyteller to top it all. Have a look at her latest entry on artisan revolution.
Cristina Colli is a self taught mosaic artist. Originally from Tuscanny, Cristina describes very eloquently her art on artisan revolution.
Michael Ray is an award winning glass sculpturer. Again, I think Michael is showing he has an excellent sense for blogging already and that combined with his outstanding art bodes well.
Lynne Durie is a young jewellery maker, who was hesitant about writing on the blog as she felt she wasn’t experienced enough to have anything to say. In the end she followed my advice and just wrote in her natural voice.
Emma Baroneis another artist with a unique style of her own. She is opening an exhibition called the Shoe Show on Friday 16th Nov in Birr theatre & arts centre. Here’s how Emma introduces the show.
Sandra Richardson of Feltpix.ie makes handmade original wall art for children. Again this is a unique product and I think ideally suited to blogging. Sandra describes her pieces naturally on artisan revolution.
Ed Parkinson is an artist who mixes painting with digital art to create his images. His Art is very much focused on spirituality and highly original. Ed has already started a blog for himself and looks very at home in the medium.
Thats it for now, need to think of a name for the group now…. all suggestions welcome.
Cliodhna Quinlan is another artist who has applied for my group blog offer. Her paintings are very dreamlike and unique and would fit very well in a blog setting in my opinion. She also makes some very interesting embroidered handbags.
Added to that, she has a talent for storytelling, a quality I associate with the very best bloggers. Having said that, I believe anybody can be a storyteller if they put there mind to it.
Máiréad’s abstract style uses colour and texture to marry together the emotional with the physical. Her work is of a very personal nature and she works instinctively, blending her feelings at the time with natural forms from nature, or landscapes.
As a result, her work is not usually an interpretation of one place in time, instead a representation of several places all drawn together with a common emotional thread. Her titles will sometimes suggest, but the viewer will interpret for themselves, through their connection with her works.
Her technique involves building an image in several layers, scratching and over-painting in her studio. She will sometimes work on several paintings at a time.
Máiréad is currently exhibiting her work in Washington DC and Dublin.
She can be contacted at mairead@deblaca.eu
