Royal Ulster Academy Annual Show

I was very chuffed that my work 'Irish Lights' was selected for this years Royal Ulster Academy annual exhibition.  It's up in the Ulster Museum at the moment and you can see the exhibition until the start of January.  Even more exciting that being picked to be in the exhibition is the fact that my book has been sold!  I couldn't believe it when my mum phoned me to say she'd seen a red dot by my piece when she was in looking around the exhibition.  Woohoo! There is no other word for it really.

Detail of the book

Another close up

How the book is displayed in the exhibition.

Cheesy pick of me at the opening of the exhibition with someone looking through my book in the background!

Rathlin Adventures....

Last month we took a sailing trip to Rathlin Island.  We set off on a Sunday with the most amazing weather, which is always nice!

We were setting off from Glenarm but before we did we had a wander up into the forrest….



The light was dappled through the leaves of the trees.







There were swathes of wild garlic, the smell was quite something.




Glenarm Castle.




Some whispy cow parsley by the gate of the forrest.

Once we’d popped into the shop and got the Sunday papers and a chocpop ice lolly we started off for Rathlin.













After a few hours we had a spot of lunch and then Rathlin appeared in the distance…







The entrance to Church Bay.









I was very taken by this lovely arch.




Sunset in Church Bay




These invoices were on the wall in McCuaigs Bar.  I have a bit of an obsession with old invoices and receipts so I was very taken by these!  I’m always amazed by the incredibly decorative headers at the top of these invoices.




The next day we set off to the west lighthouse where there is an RSPB bird sanctuary.  We passed this cottage on the way, I’m a great fan of blue painted windows.




This is the church which I assume Church Bay is named after.  It is very pretty and has a number of Commonwealth War Graves in the graveyard.




After four miles or so we made it to the sanctuary and had a look for some puffins on the cliffs.




They were a long way down, but incredibly noisy!




This is the West Lighthouse which I had drawn for my Irish Lights book.




The lichen on the wall was the colour of egg yolks.




and the view was something else (sorry the horizon is a bit wonky!)




We spotted this little beach from up near the lighthouse, I think probably the only way to get to it is by boat.


Rather than walking back we hopped on the puffin bus which travels up and down to the sanctuary.  We were a bit hungry so nipped in to Emma’s Chips Ahoy for some scampi.




Then sat on the harbour wall to eat and look at these old boats.








Some California poppies (I think)




The next day wasn’t quite so sunny (wellies and raincoats all round)  But we still decided to walk out to Rue Point, another of Rathlin’s lighthouses.




We passed this building on the way which I think was used to dry and store seaweed that the locals collected to sell.




The cheerful pink sea thrift brightened up the dreary weather.













There were some interesting details to this remote house, and some rugged daisies who’d made their home there.




We made it to Rue Point, a little damp and through a barrage of screaming seagulls!




another secret cove, surrounded by no one except lots of sheep…







The smell from the gorse was amazing, so tropical and coconutty.




On our way back into church bay we spotted this stone, don’t know what it means.  Answers on a postcard please!

We were only away for a few days but we managed to pack a lot in, if you haven’t been to Rathlin before I’d definitely recommend a trip, it’s lovely in the sunshine but in the rain and mizzle it is just as windswept and interesting!  You can get there by ferry from Ballycastle and there are quite a few B&B’s in Church Bay you can stay in.  The National Trust also have accommodation in the Manor House which is open in the summer months.

Exhibition opening...

On Thursday night we had  the opening of our joint exhibition, Land, Sea and Air in Castle Espie.  This exhibition is the first time me, my mum and my sister have had an exhibition together.  It was a lot of work getting ready for it but it was all worthwhile - so many people turned up for the opening night, we were really chuffed!



We started with a little celebratory glass of champagne…




My piece was called Irish Lights - a concertina book of lithographs of drawings of all of the lighthouses around ireland - 73 of them in total!




It worked out pretty long in the end, 7 metres when laid out flat, about 4 metres when concertina’d.







I also created a large print of all the lighthouses together (as I figured most people probably wouldn’t want to buy a 7 metre book for their house!)




Sarah had beautiful paintings of wildlife including hares, pheasants and stags. As well as a selection of drawings and prints.










and mum had gorgeous landscapes and still lifes.







The exhibition is on until the 9th June so there’s plenty of time to have a look if you’d like to.  There is a lovely cafe at Castle Espie so you can team it with some tasty lunch or a cup of tea and a brownie, and of course you can always go and see the ducks as well!

Castle Espie
78 Ballydrain Road, Comber, Co Down
028 91874146
info.castleespie@wwt.org.uk

Open Monday - Friday 10 - 5 and Sat - Sun 10 - 5.30