Those dark elements : 4. 9. 2015

You are on your knees in a lavender patch, following the music of bees. In the distance a harvester is droning, and the evening sun highlights wings and petals.

You are obsessing about the need for a soft bed and a warm hearth as the autumn sets in; for a safe place to pause, for a warm welcome. And you can't imagine leaving all this, leaving your own home and setting out on foot, to walk for miles to who knows where?

And you can barely grasp how thousands of them are walking through fields full of lavender and don't have even a moment to watch every last flicker of this season's sunsets, or to photograph bees in the evening light.

And you find that "$50 will provide high thermal fleece blankets to help protect a family from the elements." And you can't help imagining those dark elements as the chill of a September breeze, rustles through the leaves.

Please donate to the urgent appeal for humanitarian relief in Syria here at the UN Refugee Agency  

In other news.....Foxglove Lane has been shortlisted for the Blog Awards 2015. Would love it if you could vote here It only takes a minute. Thank you!!

Being creative in the dark

It's getting darker and these are challenging times. I see it every day in my work with NGOs. The current lack of funding allows very little wriggle room for creativity and it's getting harder to stay upbeat about the future.

I also notice that every time I put my latest work out there in the world, it feels like I might slip right off the edge of my comfort zone and end up barely clinging on by the finger nails. There is so much vulnerability in self promotion and exposure, especially in this time of austerity and lack of opportunity.

There's a conflict going on inside my head as to why it can feel so perilous, and whether this is even worth mentioning? It goes with the territory I know and that's probably why my little book is about staying on the creative path and not throwing the towel in completely!

For November I wrote

" I am becoming ages older and deeper. I am no longer afraid of the dark. It is part of the deepening taking place in the creative process. Not to be avoided or feared anymore." 

The act of creating and sharing your art (or any creative project), is such an act of courage that it would be impossible to avoid some moments of exposure and uncertainty.  So there is no alternative to putting one foot in front of the other and living in colour to the bitter end. While it's not a matter of life and death, sometimes when we find ourselves having to embrace the shadows it can feel like it......

So to celebrate the wonder of creativity and the launch of my first little book I have a GIVE AWAY competition! The winner will get a signed copy of the book "Seek light, embrace shade and live colour" along with a selection of cards from the collection. The announcement will be made here in three weeks on Sunday November 9th.

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on the book page here. The winner will be drawn at random. GOOD LUCK!!

Does it make you wonder?

Does it feel darker inside when it's darker outside? Do you ever wonder why the earth turns away again from the sun, when that's what we crave? Or do you feel the sheer lack of control, of authority of consultation? It just does. No body asks us what we think. The seasons loop around us.

Still. Tonight I can see down to the coast from the top of the hill. It's too dark for photographing and yet I still can. In my pocket this machine for magic. For capturing light.

Tonight I offer up energy for peace. Hand in the quota of long evenings for magical autumn sunsets. Take the moment for whatever it is, dark or not.

It's dark, late and time is running out....

It's dark, it's late and the November evening light is seeping away. We had no summer and now out of season, a patch of hedgerow is coming back into bloom. While hoping to snap berries and rosehips, here I am taking dark photos of blackberry blossoms and buds. Sprinkles of life in the shadowy withering tangle....


Late blooming is not about perfection. How could it be? It's far too last minute for that, not enough sun, not enough heat. Time is running out. It's more about getting away with it. Basking in the opportunity. Snatching the limelight when all the early bloomers have faded out.

These thorny bushes will never bear the fruit they missed out on. They bloom for no one, programmed to complete the cycle of life.

The shutter closes like the blink of an eye.

Every last November second counts double for a late bloomer.  Half light, dark light, any light, snatched, snapped and wallowed in......





Browse the Dark November Gallery here

Those deep dark blue days

There is a cold blue light that we sometimes experience in Ireland especially on an overcast day. The land becomes deeper and darker and occasionally a streak of sunlight will flash on a ditch or on a hill spotlighting a paler green or the gold of furze. This contrast between the dark sky and the bright hills creates layers of colour from the deepest blue greys to the paler mauves.

These layered and darker days draw me towards the bigger picture landscapes. On my creative path I still have a lot to learn but I now see the limitations in the longed for purely "blue sky days". I never thought I would be saying that!

The darker cloudier days have a soulful still quality. You can see further to the horizon, the mountains soak up the light and the hedgerow plants sparkle against the fierce grey backdrop. I still love the warm sunny days but the cold blue cloudy ones have won me over to their unfathomable mysteries.