Writer Portraits; Sky Arts Tv Portrait Expo

This is the project that I've been working on that I mentioned earlier in the week. I was approached by SkyArts Tv a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to sell my canvas bags at an expo that they are hosting on portraiture in the RDS. When I went to their website and saw the standard of stuff that will be on show I was bowled over, and more than a little chagrined/chuffed to be asked to be part of the show. I decided that I needed to add quite a few images to my range to expand them beyond the narrow field of Irish writers. 

I have loads of photos of writers printed out and piled up on my desk, over the past couple of weeks I've been whiling away the hours while sketching, painting, and colouring. As I mentioned I was finding it hard to get the creative juices flowing again so this has been a great gateway back to making things; to go back to my first love drawing. 

The event will be on in the RDS Dublin on the the 14th of July, from 10am-6pm, it's just a one day event, so if you are going to be in the area mark it in your diary. The event is part of a six part documentary series that Sky Arts are filming on portraiture as part of their national competition to find Britain's Portrait Artist of the Year. As well as my canvas bags I will be selling my original paintings and drawings, printed portrait greeting cards, and some badges and magnet sets. 

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Full Range of Canvas Tote Bags

I have at long last sorted out all the problems I was having with my canvas bag production. At the very beginning I was ironing them on by hand and using prohibitively expensive transfer paper. Then when I got a heat press from a friend of mine I had major issues with getting the pressure right. Then ensued a problem with burning the canvas of the bag, which a teflon sheet from ebay solved. After all that I still wasn't getting full coverage all the time, there was a lot of costly wastage. I just recently changed my brand of transfer sheets and all my problems were solved-eureka!

Today I did a whole batch of bags and there was no wastage whatsoever. So thrilled was I by this revelation that I took some photos of my range of bags and listed them all in my Etsy shop. I've been meaning to do this for ages, but since I was having so many problems it didn't seem to be worth my while.

To see all 12 designs go to this section in my shop, they are €5 each. I will also be selling them every weekend at the Milk Market. Now that all the glitches are sorted I'm looking forward to working on some new designs.

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Book Worm Canvas Tote Bag: Waiting for Godot

When I get an idea for a new project I become totally obsessed with it. Usually I'll be thinking about it as I fall asleep; planing out the finer details. For a while I've been toying with the idea of doing canvas tote bags for the my second hand book stall Bazaar Tales. It was only when ideas starting sparking off about the book themed illustrations that I could do that I became consumed by the idea. 


When I finished college years ago I really wanted to do children's illustration. I worked on making a portfolio for a while but I never had the guts to show it to anyone. In the end I got distracted by other projects and eventually by Nice Day Designs, and the dream was shelved. When I made the connection in my brain between the tote bags and my abandoned dream of being an illustrator I got very excited indeed. I really love the work that I do with Nice Day designs, but lately I've really missed doing artwork. I had chatted with some friends about maybe doing pieces for exhibition, and trying to get back to making work again unrelated to crafts. In reality I knew that I wasn't going to take that time for myself, as there is always a mountain of work to be done. But I feel that this new project could give me the outlet I've been craving while still expanding my range of crafts.

The idea is that I will do images based on books, quotes, famous fictional characters. I don't want to do anything that already has an established image, like Winnie the Pooh. But things like Alice in Wonderland have loads of different versions, so I would happily do my own. I've been wracking my brain thinking of popular books that have a visual element that really appeals to me. On the list so far is; The girl with the dragon tattoo, Hamlet, Frankenstein, Lord of the flies,and the Narnia books. 

I went through my illustration sketchbook and had a look at the ideas that I was working on. There I found this idea sketch for Waiting for Godot a play by Samuel Beckett, this depicts the character Lucky. I was chuffed to find something that matched exactly the kind of thing I was looking for to put on the bags. I set out to do the drawing and dug out my pencils and notebook. To be honest I was a little nervous, drawing is like any exercise, and I was feeling rather unfit and out of practice. The enjoyment of getting back to basics overcame any initial trepidation and after a few hours I was finished.


I got the transfer paper is Silkes and a bunch of blank canvas bags in Aldi. If you are attempting doing any transfer stuff yourself just be careful firstly reverse your image before printing it, and also to iron it for AGES. When you think you are done, iron it for a bit more, it's better to be safe than sorry; especially since the paper is so darned expensive!

I had a look through some of my other paintings and illustrations and I found these two pieces; Beckett and Yeats, which also work perfectly for the book bags. I'm delighted with how these turned out and they make a great pair. I intend on doing more Irish writers as they are so recognizable, and probably popular with the tourist crowd. I plan on doing a good few designs in the next week or two and then after that add a new design each week. The bags will be for sale at the Bazaar Tales book stall from this weekend and they are just €5. Or if you would like to buy one online head over to my Etsy shop.


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