Daily Life

Saturday 15th August I’m restless. I want to make the most of my free Saturday. It’s warm, but not so sunny. I want to go into town to sketch the Potter’s ...

Tuesday 21st July I dropped my children, Paddy (18) and Liv (16) to the sailing club to start their new jobs as sailing instructors. It was a grey day but I ...

Friday 26th June “For every old sock, there’s an old shoe.” I stop by a French bakery on the outskirts of Galway City, wait in a socially-distant queue and buy all the ...

Sunday 21st June There’s a place I have sketched many times. It is called Killeenaran Quay. It has colourful boats and a wall with a bridge, and sea and seaweed, and ...

Thursday 18th June Paddy (18) wants to visit Galway City. He hasn’t been in town for three months, whereas we used to go once every couple of weeks. “I just want ...

Monday 15th June It is hot today. We have been spoiled with amazing weather lately, but then some wretched wind came in from the Arctic and we got cold again. ...

It’s elderflower season in Galway. years ago I used to make elderflower cordial, but I have passed the baton on to my younger daughter Olivia (15), who is as domestically-goddess ...

My brother Malachy paid us a visit. He bought clams and mussels from the guys down the road. They harvest them down at the shore where I sat on wet ...

I am sewing a lot of pencil cases at the moment. They are gifts for the generous artists who contributed their work to my new book, Urban Sketcher’s Handbook – ...

It couldn’t last forever. The beautiful harmony we had enjoyed as a family for three whole months of being cooped up together cracked, and after a dinner that had taken ...

Locked down, still? Yes. We can go no further than 5km from our homes, unless it’s for shopping or essential work. That hasn’t stopped much of Ireland from piling into ...

Thursday 28th May Summer seems to have arrived in Galway. Everything is green and lush and it’s much too hot for anyone in their right mind to go for a walk ...

Tuesday 26th May I emerge from my studio late this afternoon into a tranquil garden scene. The sun is still warm, even though it is time to start cooking dinner. I ...

Saturday 23rd May I work on Saturdays until quite late, too late to start cooking dinner. So my husband Marcel cooks on Saturday. I thought it would be nice to capture ...

Monday 18th May At long last my face masks are available for sale. Forgive me, I know masks are a symbol of this awful time, but I wanted them to be ...

Saturday 16th May Today in my Zoom class I show some great students the benefits of a limited palette. I really enjoy spending time with them, albeit through a fibre optic ...

I say “loosely” locked down, because we can travel 5km from our home now, and by next Monday certain shops will be open. I might be able to buy a ...

Every week, the Urban Sketching organisation hosts an hour of talks with some favourite sketchers from around the world. This Sunday gone was the turn of Mário Linhares and Hugo ...

Saturday 9th May So…I started my new Zoom class with a group of students from all over the world. There are occasional tech issues, but somehow we get over the speedwobbles ...

I am Lounging In Lockdown, because I handed in my latest book for publication the other day. Yes, I know I have mentioned this before now but I am going ...