Sligo Town's Lady Erin Quarter has got a certain quirkiness I can't place my finger on. When I wander past I get a sense this corner of the town has remained the same for quite a spell and it's still under it.
Sisters Tara and Kathleen McGowan set up their shop, Cait & I, here 2016. Their shop curates a beautiful range of craft and design work from Irish makers. We're delighted to be part of their collection. As of last week they have a selection of our latest tea towel designs in store.
Our tea towels feature bold and bright designs are screen printed onto luxurious, 100% organic cotton stock. The fabric is handwoven at a women's collective in Kerela, southwestern India. I understand I'm engaged in a long process that touches many lives; having the opportunity to look down the supply chain like this and get a better feel for where our stock was coming from and how it was produced is educational. This knowledge feeds into my practice and and production processes.
The luxurious, thick hand of the textile used for our tea towel stock makes these beautiful prints perfect to hang on the wall. That said, my primary intention for these pieces was that they be a beautiful, functional addition to the kitchen.
If you're in Sligo town and are hunting for a special gift for a colleague, friend or family member then head into Cait & I and ask to see our tea towels. This Christmas invest in your local community by supporting local businesses, artists and makers.
]]>Growing up our kitchen always had a few quirky tea towels bought as souvenirs of some far-flung outpost in back-country Australia. Maybe we'd bought one on one of our family road trips when all six of us were all crammed into the old station wagon for hours and hours on end. Or maybe it had arrived in the post from one of our aunties along with a postcard. I miss getting those postcards...
Perhaps as a throwback to this bit of nostalgia I designed two tea towels early in the year to see how they'd go; something quirky and fun that folks would have hanging in the kitchen that would make them smile or remind them of a place and time - just the tea towels we had at home.
This heavyweight 100% organic cotton stock was chosen as they make for great tea towels. Combined with a traditional screen print these are robust and will last for years like a good kitchen tea towel does. The fabric also makes the prints well able to be framed or otherwise hung on the wall.
The new designs are going to look stunning. Yes, I'm excited and resisting the urge to follow the tracking number of the shipment - they'll be on the doorstep soon enough. These four new designs, along with the first two (above) will be on sale from my stall at the Strandhill People Markets in Sligo, Ireland. If you can't make it to the market I can ship these to where-ever you are.
]]>I look around the blog and I see cobwebs traversing the weeds. Though it doesn't feel like it, things have been progressing. Tuning yourself in to the cadence of new rhythms takes time - steady as she goes...
We're a few months settled in Ireland from our relocation from Tasmania earlier this year. I had a spell in a warehouse to help us get on our feet but it quickly became apparent that minimum wage wont cut it for childcare in this country. Since then I've been caring for the wildings full time. Interestingly you don't so much need a muse when you've an 11-month old and a 4-year-old. No, I don't need a muse but by crikey, I'd give my patchy neck-beard for several consecutive minutes to make a few miles on some creative work. Regardless, you've got to work with what you've got and things have been coming along.
If you're following things on Instagram then you may have seen some but otherwise I'm bringing them down to the Strandhill People's Market every second Sunday. The online shop is in bits but getting rebuilt - as I've kept telling Market folk since May. I'd love to have it up and running so folks have the opportunity to avail of the current collection in time for... you know.
Parenting - by crikey. Yes, I know - self-imposed suffering stemming from an acute mis-match between desired and feasible outcomes. Luckily I've the privilege of proximity to the littoral fringe which has offered some welcome respite...
]]>Of course, this ain't a revelation to a lot of folk...
]]>"My traditional wooden longboards are lovingly HAND-MADE..."Says the shaper with bleeding knuckles and a weary, smile.
"Yeeeaahhh, BUT you didn't make the wood did you?"...vomits the troublesome troll. Trolls will be trolls and they will continue to breed under bridges and berate billy goats who have the courage to tread their own path. Draw your wiggly line and stand behind it and remember it's ok to rub it out and shift it if you need to - perceptions change, paradigms change. Years back I forked out for a custom, Steve Lis template keel-finned twinny that was hand-shaped by a close friend of a friend; I paid extra for the glass fins and a heavier volan cloth. It was a thing of beauty and, well, it just felt totally different from anything I'd ridden before. Some might call it, "the vibe". To me it just felt special. My first surfmat wasn't handmade. It was super fun and I still have it - it rides great! Since I now have ah... too-many surfmats this mat rarely gets a go-out. I have more fun on the others. Maybe part of the appeal is that with each one of these I got to have a conversation with the guy whose hands were the ones making the measurements, cutting out the material, meticulously welding the fabric together and finally signing his name and dating the build on the finished craft. That's special. Hand-made surfmats feel special. Yeah ok... perhaps it's just the vibe. (Kook) So that's what these tees are celebrating - hand-made surfmats - those making them and those along for the ride. So you don't think I'm taking the proverbial mickey here I'll have these printed on Earth Positive tees (I've no affiliation, nor am I getting any freebees for this); 100% certifiable organic cotton. These cost more but the the extra we fork out for products like this ensures there is more consideration paid to the environmental impact of production and more coin is paid to those involved in the process. Ethical fashion? We can do a bit better. It'll be a limited run on these and you'll find them in the OD-Webstore soon enough. Updates on Instagram and Facebook when they're done. Happy sliding.]]>
Let's get this out of the way first - a surfmat is not an inflatable bodyboard.How a surfmat itself interacts with the wave shape, and the rider's experience when they are surfing across its surface, has its closest similarity with bodysurfing. You are more within the wave rather than on top of the wave. As wholly inflatable surf craft however, they are unique and radically different to any rigid craft like bodyboards, paipos, kneeboards, surfboards, skis, SUPs etc. Surfmats are a unique wave-riding craft that are completely inflatable, super lightweight, incredibly fast (check out this video of our surfmats in action) and extremely robust. You can take them out in all conditions. However, while they excel in smooth glassy surf conditions, surfmats also perform exceptionally well in choppy/bumpy conditions. From small, fun waves near shore through to more challenging conditions a surfmat will ride it all. Compared to all other rigid surf craft a surfmat's unique characteristic of being inflatable, and ridden at low inflation, allows the bumps and irregularities of a wave to pass through the craft without slowing it down. In this way the surfmat can continue to accelerate across the wave face. It's a very different way to experience surfing waves - it allows you to become part of the wave. Through the Warpmats website Matt and I will be offering several stock model surfmats as well as a full custom service which will allow you to completely customise the look and design to create something truly unique. If you're curious and would like to know more, or want to buy one of these incredible craft, head to the new Warpmats shop. We'd love to make you one. ]]>
A little more over three months back we moved from the burbs of south county Dublin (sure, could've been worse) to a lovely little cottage in north-west Sligo crammed between the Dartry mountains and the Atlantic ocean. Oh, and there was a shed. This was quickly gutted, scrubbed out and transformed into a studio space. Well-built she is but insulated she aint so the walls are being packed out with tetra-paks for insulation; am I nuts here? Yes, quite possibly.
Next there was the platen press. A close friend, craftsman and artisan himself, helped with the design and did the lion's share of the build; it helps when someone has all the toys and knows how to use them - welding stainless steel is a little beyond me. Two sandwiches of plywood, threaded stainless steel bars, mahogany spreader, trampoline springs and a six-tonne bottle jack. This bit of kit is legendary and paid for itself in the first month.
Two weeks later we got bored and the single colour screenprinting press was the next project to come to fruition. I've designed and built a few of these in the past but this one has been by far the best - simplicity, form and function in one lightweight portable setup. Again, Graham was key in the production of this machine. He'll make you one of each if you like - let me know if you need an introduction. The press paid for itself in about two weeks.
During this time we (oh yes, certainly a 'We' here - impossible without the our little family on board for the hard yards behind the scenes and up-front) set up a market stall at the Strandhill People's Market. First time I'd had a crack at this - going public with my illustration and printed work. Understanding how to transform some weird doodles into a saleable product has been a real eye-opener - hard yards made merry with an arguably unhealthy obsession with detail and the seemingly inevitable perpetual compromise-wrestle with suppliers contributing to the finished product.
By the second week in I was hooked - it's a great way to spend a Sunday. Ahh sure, bombing down the cliffs of Chamonix in your wing-suit might offer a few more jiggles but this seemed a bit cheaper, and with less washing. It's kept me on my toes setting up each week in different stalls, adapting to the new layouts and creating a space that can present the work well and provide an interesting space for folk to get in close to check it out. Further, the market has offered a wonderful opportunity and challenge to push things creatively throughout the processes of design, product development and at the shop-front.
Is it paying off? In short, for sure. I'm stoked to have been accepted (tolerated?) by the community of marketeers down in Strandhill there every Sunday. Oh, I'm paying my way and investing back into all facets of this dynamic, polymorphic thing that is Organic Devolution. However, if you're obsessed over the shekels then you're overlooking the real rewards. No, I'm not making a killing but it's a hell of a load of fun - when I catch that stranger doing a double-take on their way past and see some bewildered, confused or delighted smile creep across their mug... I couldn't care less after that, I'm done. That's my good day right there.
Given that we've been winging it since we got into Hanger One down at the Market it came as a surprise to be one of the award-winners at the end-of-season do last Sunday arvo up at the Dunes Tavern in Strandhill. Below, apart from the odd one on the left, Troy and Jessie from the Driftwood Coffee Cart, John and Kathy from Microcosm, and the muscle behind Cyril & Paula's Catering.
Yeah, I've neglected things here on-site for a while now but I'm settling in to a new and dynamic stable state. There's a few gaps to fill in, a number of things to get prioritised, new routines and… it's not too different to your own set-up perhaps - change a few names, tweak some elements and re-jig the commitments and you're shaking it together in your own way. We're all dancing here - sometimes we're over thinking the choreography and sometimes we're just channeling that true boogie raw.
Yeah, for sure I slide off track and feel a bit overwhelmed with all the 'stuff' that needs to be done. In reflection though I ease my mind back to the name of the umbrella hat all this is under, Organic Devolution. So... what's in a name again?
Oh, my monkey mind.
]]>