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Janet Murran | Visual Artist

January 18, 2018 Tamsin Blackbourn
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I first met Janet Murran a few years ago when I moved to West Cork. I didn't know anyone or how I was going to fit into this community of makers and artists and she was firmly welcoming and quietly encouraging. Janet Murran is a visual artist whose work is deeply rooted in her home of rural West Cork. She's also a wife, mother to three children from 12 to 17 years and in the relatively short time I've know her, has managed to shoe horn in several art related roles, and has a number of creative side projects in collaboration with others. Her paintings are sometimes deceptively simple, belying her mastery of materials and understanding of subject matter. Further investigation into her broad body of work raises speculation as to what is really behind the seemingly straightforward images and she doesn't shy from darker themes. I'm lucky to have two of Janet's painting hanging in my home and they are works that from time to time, request you look at them with new eyes. As much as she would be the first to point out the flaws in my claim, Janet lives the way I think many aspire to – keeping a family, gardening, cooking, walking her Jack Russell Terriers, rowing, catching up with friends and somehow carving out time everyday to make new work in her studio. She is a creative talent, fiercely kind and a person of immense integrity.

Where did you grow up and what influence did it have on you creatively?

I grew up on a farm not too far from Innishannon and our nearest village was four miles away. The farm was hugely influential; I loved the animals, walking the land, the seasons. There was always change, always something happening, it was never boring. We had access to a shed full of tools and I can't imagine now my own children having access to saws and hammers and nails. You were allowed to use it and the one rule was that you put it back. You didn't have to ask anyone, you just cut your piece of plank which was going to be used in your playhouse. If there was a tin of paint, you'd be able to use that to paint what ever you were doing and there was a lovely freedom in that.

Looking back, has there been anyone in your life who influenced you in what you're doing today?

My grandmother who lived down the road from us was key in the sense of that lovely quiet teaching. We'd sit on the step and she'd teach me knitting, embroidery or crochet. Her hands were never still, she was always busy mending socks or a hole in a jumper or knitting woolly hats. I remember her knitting the socks, so she was just mending socks she had knitted. The other person, who is my rock, would be my husband, because without him I couldn't pursue a career as a visual artist. There's an element of constantly picking yourself up and dusting yourself down and trying again. I can't imagine that I wouldn't have that as my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. He facilitates me in that and encourages me. 

My parents never stopped me from doing anything creatively. Books were my fathers thing. In the seventies, my mother made all our dresses and would have a ribbon to match every dress, so there was a lot of creativity around me. It rarely was just to put something on a wall, it had a purpose.

You spent a decade or so travelling - whilst you were travelling, were you drawing or doing photography?

I always had a sketchbook with me and used to draw with a normal bic pen. When I first travelled I made my money by mending things, I'd go around to all the boats and if they needed uniforms fixed, a button sewn on or a zip repaired, jeans taken up, whatever needed mending I'd do it. Everyday I'd make enough to afford my hostel for the night, food for the day and a couple of drinks. I used my skills I'd learnt from my grandmother to keep me going and then I got a job on the boats. When you're working on boats it's full on, you work hard and play hard. I read a lot as you were nearly always waiting for someone to come, guests to arrive, or they'd gone ashore and you were waiting for them to come back. You could read a chapter of a book as oppose to pull out the sketchbook.

Why did you decide to settle in West Cork?

My grandmother was from Schull and my mother from Rosscarbery and I've always loved this part of the country. When you get to Leap, the landscape changes and I love that ruggedness you get when heading further West. We were driving through Skibbereen and there was a tree in front of the old Arts Centre with big loaves of bread hanging down and I thought 'Any town that has that stuff going on is for me'.

How did it come about that you did the Visual Arts degree course on Sherkin Island?

My youngest was about one and a half at the time and so many things that seemed impossible became possible very quickly. Through Sean saying he could work around the hours, through me realising it would be around the weekends and Sean and I could work it out. I thought, 'Nothing to lose here, I can do it' and that was the start of four years of me being able to focus.

Are there ethical implications of the art materials you use?

I use acrylics, which is a plastic. I want to use oil paint, but because I've worked with acrylic for so long, I will need time to explore how I'd work with it. I used charcoal and paper initially because it's so low impact, but you have to fix the charcoal and I was using a spray that became quite toxic. I don't think any materials are particularly easy on the environment.

Your paintings references the world around you and you especially explore rural themes. Sometimes, your work has an unexpectedly darker side.

Scarecrows are sad, they are put up with great hope, but I'm not sure they actually achieve very much. I know the people who've made them probably don't consider themselves to have a creative bone in their body and yet here's this construct that is three dimensional and it's got a personality and it's doing a job. I'm very drawn to that. When you look at them up close, the person has put a bit of detail in and you think 'They really got into this'. When they've been thrown to the side of the field because their job is done, it can take on a much heavier meaning. Some of that work for me is my strongest and was loaded with meaning.

In your Instagram posts you often offer a narrative which gives an insight into the way you see the world - do you think it's important to tell the story?

I use words quite a lot in conjunction with my art, although it's more notebook work. If I go to a place I try to sum up a sense or feeling of the place through words and it can be a very simple list describing that place, what am I seeing, what am I hearing, what am I feeling, what's the sensation, maybe what's the weather like. I'll never forget that place then or that time based on the list and those words correspond to the work when I'm painting. Some pieces just compel me to write just a little bit.

Do you have any rituals or practices that help you in your creative work?

You need to be in the space in order to get started. If you feel you've got nothing to say, there's always paper that needs prepping, or the studio to tidy, or maybe mixing colours is a good way to start. There are days when I'd be in my studio and have put in a good two hours of prepping boards and only started applying paint and the alarm goes off and I need to go for the kids and you just have to stop then. And that's fine. If I have another hour later on, whatever was there might come straight back to me and that quite often happens, it's a state of mind to keep it alive. I do what I can when I can. Some days are really good and I'll only be prepping boards for five minutes and then I'm off. I use the words, 'What have I got to lose?' a lot. Being in the space is the most important thing and once I get in there, I'm not looking at the dishes that need washing or the clothes that need hanging out.

How do you find inspiration and then organise it?

My kids are so sick and tired of me stopping the car suddenly to capture something. I use my camera a lot, because I'm driving by or out walking and I need to capture it there and then. At the moment I'm working on waterways, so if you look at my research you see the same images, at different times of day, or different angles. I always have my notebook with me if I'm waiting for the kids and I can do my writing or sketching then. My inspiration is largely from the landscape I'm walking or driving passed everyday. I'm watching it and studying it. I've a series of drawings I called The Two Trees and it's one particular field I revisited season after season. I've drawn it with big round bales in the field, another time I went back and they'd just spread lime and the tractor marks through the lime looked like snow. There's always something else there.

Tell me about the puppet making, the use of recycled materials and the story telling?

My kids go to the Gaelscoil in Skibbereen and I knew three other ladies who are creative, so I thought we'd pull together as a team and see if we could make something happen. I find puppets are great, for the child who's a bit more gregarious, you're not asking the child to quieten down, you're asking him to calm down his puppet. Or if there's a child who's shy or has struggled learning, you're not directing actions to the child, it's through the puppet. We linked up with Green-Schools which encourages recycling in schools, so for the most part it was all done using recycled materials. We never wanted the kids to go out and buy anything to make a puppet, they just needed to open their eyes and look around their home, then we would show them how they could turn bottle lids into hats, buttons or eyes. Nets that you buy fruit in can be made into fantastic hair tied in bunches. We've done puppetry for the St Patricks Day parades, made a set of artist heads when we were promoting Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre and we made the Phoenix for the O'Donovan Rossa festival. One of the girls would be good at mechanics, I tend to be able to picture what it's going to be like and form it, another girl is good at giving it that finesse, so we're a good team. We are working on other creative projects, too.

You have chickens and grow your own veg. Why is self sufficiency important to you?

It is what was always done, growing up on a farm. I love the seasonality about it and nothing gives me more pleasure than to go to my tunnel and pick fresh veg that I've grown. I'm always amazed that some of the seeds are so tiny and you plant it and have this tiny little seedling and within a number of months you're eating a carrot from a tiny little carrot seed. I think it's astoundingly amazing and I'm always bowled over by the size of the seed and the amount that it gives me, there's something humbling about that.

What is your relationship with fashion and clothing?

For all my love of fashion, I don't like the fashion world. I really don't like waste and excess and the way that because it's cheap it loses it's value. In an ideal world it would be better to have less and that it's better quality.

I think I'm very lucky to live in Skibbereen, for the most part I don't feel enormous pressure from the kids that they are in the latest of gear. My son was always a guy who, when he liked something, would nearly wear it to shreds. The thing that has come to the house is internet shopping and my daughter would be a huge advocate of that. She's not foolish with her money, she buys a few key pieces and the thing that I think is really cool is the girls her age share their clothes. They might be in a different outfit whenever they go out, but they're sharing them. They've done that from the very beginning and that came from them.

Do you have an heirloom piece perhaps clothing or something else that you will always keep?

In my work I've done pieces on what I call Hidden Beauty or Hidden Treasures. I have quite a few bits that probably nobody would put on display; they're chipped and somewhat discarded and have become unloved over time, but they are actually very dear to me, because I know my ancestors would have used them. I've a dictionary going back to 1889 and some crockery that also goes back quite far. They won't be heirlooms as such, but what I'm trying to do in my paintings is create works that in themselves may become heirlooms. So the objects, whilst not useful or particularly beautiful in their own right have become objects of beauty and given new life through working with them. So I see them more as being heirlooms in the paintings than heirlooms in themselves.

When do you feel most connected with yourself?

When I'm in the landscape; when I'm walking a field or when I have the dogs with me and I can 'off road', I just love solitude, being alone and being in the landscape. I absolutely love being in a field or being by the coast – Skibbereen does it for me, I am most myself when I'm in this place.

Is there a book or film that you would recommend?

There are two films, The Deer Hunter and Out of Africa. The Deer Hunter took me completely out of my comfort zone and was just monumental. Out of Africa, I so loved the costumes and so wanted to become a costume designer or fashion designer, it was really key at that time. As for a book, I read Girl With a Pearl Earring way before the film came out and I was just blown away by Tracy Chevalier's writing and her descriptions, such as the mixing of the paint. I've read it three times. There are times you put down a book and you don't want it to end because it was so magical. My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok is about an artist, another beautiful book, one of those books you know you're better for having read it, you're different. I love books.

Are there any favourite quotes or mantras that you turn to?

It's always, 'What have you got to lose?'. Being an artist is an amazing and wonderful thing and what I do isn't a hobby, it's way beyond that. You question yourself daily, 'Why am I? What is it? What is it all about?'. You have an exhibition and maybe the reaction isn't as hoped and you wonder why you do it and what's it all about and you constantly need to be picking yourself up, because there's an urge inside of you that is driving you. So you have to have something like 'What have you got to lose?'. I've been doing this steadily now for about seven years and everyday is brighter, even a walk in the rain is so much better because I do what I do, everything is more interesting because of it.

Thinking about ethical living and sustainability, what small things can we do everyday to live as more conscious consumers?

A difference that could be made straight away is packaging. As a mum with a family the bin fills in a day and it's ridiculous. Stuff individually wrapped which then has to be wrapped in a package, but then you might have a special offer where there's two, so those two packages are wrapped in another package. How much packaging do we need? I just get cross about it. We have to reduce and re-use a lot more. If we all cared just a little bit more, pick up that piece of rubbish you see blowing across the street, it's not going to kill you to pick it up. It's our planet and we need to mind it.

January is about fresh starts and new beginnings and resolving to do things differently and better. Are you someone who makes New Years Resolutions?

No, every time I go up to the studio it's, 'Let's give it another go'. New Year for me is actually a time of reflection, where you are thankful for what you've got. As I get older, having parents who are elderly and seeing what they went through, it makes you realise that this minute, this moment, today is precious, so it's not about the new year, it's about being grateful and making the most of now. I have a philosophy to make the most of right now. If it's a wet day, grand, but do you know what, it's a grand day, too.


follow Janet and her work online

website | Instagram

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Alice Halliday | Ethical Fashion Designer

December 1, 2017 Tamsin Blackbourn
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I think I first met Alice Halliday at Skibbereen Farmers Market and if that wasn't our first meeting, it may as well have been, as a spiritual home for us both. Introduced by Alice's mother and fine artist Claire Halliday, who I knew already, Alice had been a past stall holder and was curious to learn how it was going for me in the market, take a look at my wares and share a few tips. We connected on Instagram and I began to understand the breadth of Alice's creativity, her immersion in her unique ethereal aesthetic and her focus on bringing together all aspects of her business on social media to engage her clients and followers. Alice Halliday has an amazing eye for colour, texture, composition and layering in a manner she makes look effortless and in this conversation I learn that the roots of it come from growing up in an enviably creative home with years of experimenting with materials and making from a very young age. She is one of the most authentic people I know and she warmly welcomed me to her studio in Skibbereen to talk about her back story, influences and inspirations and show me some of her wonderful pieces.

Where did you grow up? Was creativity encouraged in your family?

In Bluid in West Cork, about 10 minutes from Skibbereen. There's a hill behind the house from where you can see the sea. My parents are still in the house I grew up in. I went away to college in England, first to Leamington Spa, then to Epsom University for the Creative Arts to do a degree in fashion design. Then I moved back to Ireland, spent some time in Cork City and ended up returning to West Cork and now I'm living in Skibbereen, eight minutes walk from my studio.

Most of my family are artists; my dad's parents both were artists, his dad actually taught art years ago in the college I went to in Leamington. Dad is a political cartoonist for the local newspaper and my mum is a fine artist as well as being creative with sewing. My aunts are very creative: one is the appliqué artist, Sukey Sindall. My mum taught me to sew Barbie clothes, as she had all her old Barbies from when she was little and that's kind of how it started. We did a lot of art around the house and had friends over to do paintings, it was very much encouraged. There were books, like the Flower Fairy books and Beatrix Potter and fairytale stories. We would play dress up games, we'd do fashion shows in the kitchen for my parents and make outfits out of scarves and things from the dressing up box. My mum had some lovely vintage bits as well, so I'd dress up my siblings and our friends and do little catwalk shows, it was a really big part of our childhood.

Is there anyone outside of the family who particularly influenced you creatively growing up?

Aida Austin, an artist in Clonakilty, is a good friend of my mum and we'd go to her house quite often, she decorates her home really beautifully. She makes art out of metal with repousse technique and restores furniture. She used to make these woodland fairy marionettes that were just so delicate, from old torn fabrics and found objects from nature like nuts, grasses, little branches and twigs. I absolutely loved them. She's always had a skill for re-using old materials and has so many ideas. The sheer detail in each piece I found mind blowing because of the hours that went into it. I really admire that craftsmanship.

You describe yourself as an ethical fashion designer and I'm really interested to hear your back story, can you share some of the experiences that led to what you're doing now?

My mum really encouraged that make do and mend ethos, reusing vintage fabrics. My granny had done the same and we always had bits lying around that we could rework. We made do with what we had and got the odd new thing which was actually really special, but I loved receiving a big bag of clothes from friends and going through it all.

One of my favourite films is The Sound of Music, I loved the way Maria made the kids play clothes out of the curtains, and the fact that each outfit was different. I've watched it now in HD and I can see things I didn't see when I was younger, little ribbons and lacy trims. I was about 12 or 13 when I made my first range of accessories which I sold in some local shops. I made handbags from a vintage seventies table cloth, and suedette belts using fabric from a shop window display, brown and tan coloured, they looked seventies in style. Table cloths, curtains, all these domestic textiles, I've always loved to use them and I continue to with my bridal wear, most of that is made from table cloths, doilies and place mats.

One of your recent posts on Instagram was of your packaging and your caption described how you source shoe boxes and wallpaper to create these beautiful gift boxes for customers orders. How is this idea of re-use and re-purpose at the core of what your business is about?

There's just so much waste in this world, it's awful to think of it, especially about the amount of plastics in the ocean, it really upsets me. When there are things people are throwing out that are perfectly usable, why should you buy a load of new packaging materials? It's so important to re-use as much as we can. I think it makes it unique as well; the vintage wallpaper I source from charity shops and if I don't take those boxes from shoe shops they just get flattened and put into recycling. I know there's a lot of controversy around the whole recycling system, we don't actually know how much is actually being recycled. I use natural options like recycled card and would love for everything to be recycled. I hope that if my boxes are particularly pretty, customers might keep them and put things in; some people have said ' I'm keeping the box' and that's lovely. My pieces are designed to really last and I hope that people will treasure them and wear them as much as possible or even hang the dress on the wall as decoration or put their flower crown around a lampshade, which is something I do.

What's different about your work to what others might be doing? What do you give your clients that's to you?

Each piece is unique or limited edition, it's all handmade by me. I make bespoke pieces where I work closely with a client, so we're designing together. I love to hear the story behind what the client is looking for, to get an insight into their own sense of style, their own character and how that influences what they wear. If they're shy, they might not want something too revealing or maybe there are certain parts of their body they want to hide or enhance. To create something they're going to be really comfortable in, that they're going to look in the mirror and think 'I look amazing' is a really lovely thing to do for someone.

In your Instagram posts you have a very particular visual aesthetic. What are your influences?

My mum gave me a book on the art of Alphonse Mucha when I was about eleven. She has always loved his art and there's something ethereal about it, the flowing clothes and hair, the flower crowns, the jewellery and amazing headpieces. Art Nouveau is inspired by nature and natural forms, there's so much beauty in the uniqueness of nature, where each flower is different and you never have two the same in every living thing.

The way I work is quite organic, I don't really draw designs. At uni we had to do fashion illustrations and design development drawings and I much preferred to work in 3D on the mannequin. I pin things in place and change them about and often hand stitch on the mannequin and the design will change throughout the process.

How did your time in college affect your style?

I have another side to me which is a bit gothic and dark. I went through a phase of punk/goth when I was wearing dark eye make up, tartan and studs as a teenager. Graveyards really inspire me. I love the ornate metal crosses, old stone carvings, and the fact they are so peaceful. We use to go on holiday to France as a family and there were some incredible graveyards there, the detail was so beautiful and because it was the middle of summer and hot they had artificial flowers that had faded and mottled, set beside old black and white portraits. That inspired my pre-collection which I called “Love is Strong as Death”. I was also looking at poetry by John Keats and the film Bright Star based on his life, which came out at the time. It's a tragic story, but the clothes and setting are just so beautiful, it all influenced the collection.

Now, my work is more vintage inspired but at uni we were encouraged to be contemporary and I did more sculptural styles which were edgy, with a gothic side, but still feminine. I'd like to try more contemporary silhouettes but still using vintage fabrics. I have some black lacy fabrics which I'd like to consider for bridal wear, perhaps layering them over colours, I always have so many ideas in my mind.

You have several career roles; you're a fashion designer and maker, a jewellery maker, headpiece designer and maker, a fashion stylist and on top of all of that you're also a mum! Do you have any daily practices that help you fit it all in?

Not enough, I'd like to do more. Now that I have my studio and Naythan is in school, I have set times each morning to actually work and that is better. I go to yoga on Thursday mornings which is great and I try to go swimming. I'd love to be more organised, I dream of being really planned and organised.

Do you enjoy travelling – how does it inspire your work?

Yes, very much. My boyfriend lives in Majorca, the landscape is so beautiful there, very different to here. I saw such amazing colours, in the flowers, the mountains and coastline. I love the architecture and interiors of really old buildings in Spain, France and Italy. The Spanish religious iconography is particularly inspiring to me, and every time I visit we'll go into old churchs and cathedrals; it's the ceilings, the paintings and statues, and the use of gold. I was in Barcelona in the spring where my sister was living and we went to a beach that was covered in shell glitter – I think it was from the inside of mother of pearl shells. There were tiny little shells everywhere and it was all sparkling. I was in heaven sifting through it. Wherever I go, I find inspiration.

What do you like about living in West Cork? Does it inspire you creatively?

There's a really nice sense of community, it's very friendly and supportive and there are so many creative people here. There are lovely markets, like Skibb Farmers Market and local shops willing to stock my work and networking groups, too. It's an easy place to live without a huge amount of money. I need to be near nature, Skibbereen is quite a small town and it's really close to beaches and woodlands. To see Naythan growing up where I grew up and going to the same places is so special, he's really content here and I can't imagine moving somewhere else and starting again. Your can walk down the street and see at least five people you know and I think that's really important, it feels safe. It's home and all I know really. Although college was fun, I always missed West Cork.

Do you have an heirloom piece in your own wardrobe that you will always keep?

I've probably got more than one! A navy cable knit cardigan that my granny knitted. Things that were my mums and don't necessarily even fit me, but I'm still going to keep them. The skirt I'm wearing is from Liberty & Jasmine. I'm always going to keep, it's become my new favourite wardrobe item. I have lots of vintage pieces, I like to mix granny chic with a more ethereal, fairy style. There are things I've parted with and then missed them down the line, sometimes you don't get over them. But I have also sold on some bits at markets, that belonged to my Granny or that were given to me, and I feel joy knowing they are going to a loving home. I think it’s really important to make pieces last, but I think it's unhealthy to hoard and keep everything. You don't want to get bored of your wardrobe, so a great idea is to rework old pieces, donate to charity shops and go to clothes swaps.

Is there a book you've read that you would recommend?

I'm bad at finishing books lately, I seem to have a few books on my shelf with bookmarks in that just haven't been finished. The only time I read is before going to sleep and I could literally read a page before drifting off, and then I don't even know what I've read. I like descriptive books where you can really visualise the story. My dad lent me When I stepped Out One Midsummers Morning by Laurie Lee and that was lovely; the travelling, the descriptions of everywhere he went and the characters. I also loved all the Harry Potter books, too and that whole magical world!.

Are there any favourite quotes or mantras that you turn to?

Years ago, I went for a healing treatment and at the end I had a vision of a snowy owl flying towards me. Afterwards, I looked up the image of the white owl and there was a mantra beside it;

“I open my heart and soul to the truth and ask that my life's journey be illuminated before me. I ask for the wisdom to see, even in the darkness of life's challenges and the ability to manifest my true path”. That helps me if I have a struggle or I can't make a decision or if I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Thinking about ethical living and sustainability, it can be overwhelming for people to know where to begin. What small things can we do everyday to live as more conscious consumers?

When you go shopping for food the amount of plastic packaging used is just ridiculous. At the famers market you can get veg without packaging and you know it's from a good source. We should try not to take a plastic bag to put things into, use a paper bag instead or bring your own fabric bags. I got bread the other day and had it sliced and they put it on a polystyrene tray and I thought, I don't want that, because you can't even recycle polystyrene - it's just the worst thing. Next time I'll ask them not to, I think we have to not be afraid to say it.

And try not to buy too many things. With clothing, it's better to spend a more on a special piece than lots of cheaper ones, because the quality is going to be much better and then it will last. Vivienne Westwood has it right 'Buy Less, Choose Well, Make it Last'.


Follow Alice Halliday and her work online

Instagram | Website | Facebook | Etsy

In Ethical Muse
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Some new Homeware items I’ve had fun making from offcuts of Irish linen and stocked exclusively at @kilcoe_studios in Ballydehob, West Cork.
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The gingham tea cosy wadding is repurposed medical wool insulation and guaranteed to keep your teapot
This weeks @southernstarirl includes the Spring Greener Living edition and I’m delighted to be featured.  I’m in great company, sharing a page with @redlavelle of @cecas.ie , as well as many others in West Cork making a difference by bein
Bernadette Dress
A front full button-up dress inspired by French choreware, the 1950s silhouette and perhaps a hint of Little House on the Prairie. Made in a lightish weight cotton denim twill and fully lined in natural Irish linen. The fitted bodice
Yesterday morning was this. 
Today the wind is restless and blowy…
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Wednesday morning gave this spectacular, if momentary, sunrise.
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Gingham scarf made of Irish linen woven in Wexford by Emblem Weavers. An Irish linen gingham in shades of natural and beach. The hem is sewn by hand (that’s about 5 metres of hand sewing).
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#irishlinen #artisanmade #longscarf #linenscarf #
New (very limited fabric) Josephine Dress in an autumn cotton print. Lined with Irish linen and side fastened with mother of pearl buttons. And pockets! 
This one is size 8 and there’s fabric to make one or two more…
🪡 🍂 
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#Partyd
Good morning from Crewe Bay.
Dry cold, still, serene.
And still dark - this was on Tuesday.
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#schull #westcork #seashore #dawn #sunrise #startthedayright #firstlight #waw

"It's about reconnecting with our clothes, rather than viewing them as quick trends or throwaway items, it's about tapping into the pleasure of buying a well-made garment with a timeless design, being able to recognize quality, repairing and properly caring for your wardrobe." - Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion 


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