I go to a sleepy country town two evenings a week. My daughter Olivia does Taekwondo in Gort, a small town in south Galway. Not a lot happens in Gort, and I have an hour and a half in which to do it…twice a week. (Two things make it stand out: it has the best…
DetailsMy youngest, Olivia (Liv), took up Taekwon-do a few months ago. The classes take place twice a week in a boxing club in Gort, a small town some twenty minutes’ drive away. There is nothing to do at nighttime in winter in this town except go to the one hotel and have a coffee. You…
DetailsWhen I’m out and about sketching, I’m struck over and over again how nice people are to each other. I find it inspiring and it makes me want to be nicer. Trouble is, I keep failing. A couple of days ago I was in Ó’Máille’s, sketching away. It’s a special shop selling the most beautiful…
DetailsI had a few minutes to wait for a meeting in Dublin last Monday. It was cold but very sunny so I did a quick sketch of a pretty little statue in the sun, part of the Oscar Wilde monument in Merrion Square. As the paint refused to dry, running all over the page and…
DetailsSometimes it’s a big effort to go out at night. You’ve had dinner, you’re tired, a glass of wine sounds nice. But as a sketcher it’s always worth the effort. I’m in the throes of putting together my first solo book. I’ve illustrated lots of picture books, and I’ve written a blog for years, but…
DetailsI really love cheese, but when you are raising teenagers you’re not going to buy fancy hand-made cheese at fancy prices. They would have it all gobbled in a morning! So I do my best – I buy it in a supermarket and try to leave it at the right temperature to get the flavours…
DetailsOn Saturday I went into Galway to get on with amassing sketches for my new book, An Urban Sketcher’s Galway. I wasn’t too happy to leave the cosy home and drive into a busy, wet town, but time’s a-wasting, and my deadline looms, so I did. You know, one of the best things about the…
DetailsI am collecting sketches for my new book, An Urban Sketcher’s Galway. Being January, I try to identify indoor locations with big windows. This plan is working: there are far more big windows than I had ever realised. One of them is in Papa Rich, an Asian-fusion type restaurant in the centre of town, and…
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DetailsIt was the 1990s. I’d just completed my first year in the university of Galway. It was time to choose the subjects for the next year: I was in a hall full of students milling about, choosing the subjects they wanted to pursue, and then joining queues at tables with someone from each department at…
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