::sky watching::

The End & The Beginning

"So that's it, it's all over,its done, it's finished!" This is what I said to one of my tutors, who in return replied..."This is just the beginning Paula...this is where is all starts!" I have had the idea in my mind that my graduation was the end, the final hurdle, the destination. In fact I have had to retrain my thinking as it really is the beginning. This is another leg of the journey & not just the final destination.

Connemara Blues

The last few whirl wind weeks have just flown by & time has just seemed to disappear. After the degree show was taken down, R whisked me away to one of the most beautiful places in Ireland...Connemara...in my opinion anyway. We spent our honeymoon traveling around Ireland on a motorbike & one of the many places we stayed was Clifden. So, as it was our 7th wedding anniversary it was very appropriate that we returned, without the motorbike this time, much to R's disappointment. It was surprisingly sunny & our days were filled with holding hands, going for long walks, drinking Guinness, eating chowder, talking about plans for the future...it was perfect. Oh wedded bliss, I felt like a newly wed all over again!!! It was just nice to have time to do nothing in particular. Just to wander & dander around as if we didn't have a care in the world, it was a welcome relief especially after the mayhem of my finals & degree show.


The town itself is lovely, but it's once you get out around the countryside that you see the real beauty. I haven't seen such crystal clear sea & stunningly beautiful turquoise water since my days in Thailand. At times it was hard to believe we were still in Ireland & not some remote tropical island, ignoring the wind that is. It's at times like those I feel immensely proud to be Irish & long to live there again...Oh, one of these days I'm sure! People were so friendly I almost forgot what that's like [living in London I guess] or maybe I had my rose tinted glasses on when I was at home. We choose to see what we want, or not as the case maybe.



If you're ever passing through Clifden I recommend having yourself a Guinness in Lowry's where you will receive a very warm welcome from the owner Paul & barman Barry. It is less touristy than some of the others, perhaps a little worn around the edges, but a more typical Irish pub than some of the others in the town. There was traditional music most nights, where the 'ceol agus craic' was flowing & of course the Guinness & there was even a few jigs & reels to be had...I even tried my hand at playing the spoons! My Pop used to play them & I'm sure would have been amazed. Oh to play a musical instrument...why did I not listen in guitar lessons when I was 10? Why..why...why...??? Over the last week I added the accordion to my list of instruments to learn, along with the fiddle, piano, clarinet, cello & the harp !

I found some more beautiful images of Connemara by a guy called David G Kelly on Flickr, check them out when you have a chance & if you really have time have a look at some of his other photos, very impressive indeed.

it's all in the detail

The following is an excerpt from my artists statement which I had alongside my work. I often think it is useful for those viewing the work to have some sort of explanation of what the artists does and why...it helps put it into context...I hope!
I am interested in memento mori and how memories can bring to mind our own mortality. Figuring the presence and absence of people from cradle to grave I am reiterating the notion of fragility and time. At present I am using hair as a reminder of an individuals identity and therefore their mortality, a trace of self removed from a living body. Using hair as a metaphor for femininity, growth, time, death and loss. I use it as a form of thread. Stitch is important for me as a representation of the domestic, childhood and the passing of time. It is a work of process.


The pinhole technique interests me and the space in between that these pinholes create, the gaps, the void, the loss. It is an alternative form of drawing. Piercing through paper which leaves a fragile trace of an image, endeavouring to make these lost moments in life more permanent. It ensures that the drawing won’t fade, as it penetrates it is embedded, the memory not forgotten. I am trying to capture the memories of the image before the fade, crumble and disappear. I work on a small scale but in a repetitive manner, reiterating the sense of making memories more permanent and adding my own to them, so they evolve. Enabling the viewer to add their own memories and relate to the work. To me, this slow, repetitive process reflects constancy the labour intensive nature of the work and reiterates the fleeting nature of time. I am exploring the ideas of reinterpreted memories that evokes brief glimpses of fragments and lost moments in life. Ensuring they are remembered by a new audience and their memories are distilled.