A Day in the Life of an EtsyIreland Artist.

Fáilte, welcome to my ‘day in the life’ micro blog. Isn’t EtsyIreland wonderful? Thank You for the invite.

Everyday of my ‘placed’ life has been totally different, this was the objective – shake life up a bit add a bit of variation, change the dynamic, so on that front it has been a total success. I work over various mediums including textiles, screen & block printing, painting and graphic design. At the minute I am exploring various directions and slowly realising the areas I prefer and those which are most rewarding.

Screenprinting has been a total delight, I love it and I will be going back to BelfastPrintWorkshop (BPW) in February to do some more. Yesterday morning I went there to arrange and pay for my next studio time. The BPW is one of Belfast’s fantastic resources for artists and its located on Cotton Court right in the heart of the city centre.

Directly opposite is the amazing Merchant Hotel, my top recommendation for accommodation this side of Dublin! Not exactly dressed for a 5* coffee morning I head to Bradbury Graphics to pick up a few supplies. While this is not the most cost effective place to stock up on paint and glue, as a bit of a novice in some of my practices I like to see a range of products in reality to make a choice from. I find buying online is fantastic when I know exactly what I am looking for, so in the meantime some things just demand a trip to the shops. Plus it’s great to support a local business.

Back to the studio and here is a sneak preview of something I am working on. Watch this evolve, it should be finished in a few days and will be available at my etsy shop then.

When hunger strikes I head to my local café on the Ormeau Road. A lovely little place, Soul Food really has a great menu of fresh, wholesome and organic deliciousness and is a welcome break for my scalpel ravaged finger. This current paper cut work does tend to give me terrible finger cramp!

While I am out I take a quick detour to the Lisburn Road to get some fresh bread and cheese. Belfast has a fantastic few gems, unfortunately they are still relatively unknown and I panic that they won’t survive. Artisan cheese shop Clydesdale and Morrow's arrival last year almost made me leap with joy. The foresight of people like Antionette Morrow the proprietor makes me flutter. I love a good risk taking retail venture and this is one I hope lasts the distance – great cheese is something Ireland ought to be supremely proud of and more dedicated cheese shops on our high streets would be a very welcome sight.

No point getting cheese without some good fresh bread. The Lisburn Road Boulangerie bake real French bread and patisserie treats.

Back to work and a trip to the post office to mail an order to Dublin. There is always a sense of accomplishment that comes with getting products parcelled up and mailed.

I must be honest and reveal the probable hour I spent reading other peoples blogs and lifestyle magazines (my guilty pleasure). Decor8, designismine, poppytalk and sweetsweetlife are my favourite blog stops and magazines include Livingetc (which I have written for myself in the past), ElleDecoration and of course our own Image Interiors.

A bit more paper cutting follows this interlude and then I’m off to do the school run, which is literally a run – my girls ride their bikes to and from school and I run along behind! Homework, dinner, bath, bedtime stories, load washing machine, glass of wine, sit down, blah, blah, blah…..slán.