New Beginnings...

Well, it's quite hard to believe I put down my clay over a year ago. The last year has been...full on, to say the least. My husband, Todd and I decided to renovate and sell our house, which took about eight months of hard work, a lot of money and all our spare time to bring to fruition. The end of the year saw Todd and I living in our new house, with a new car and a brand new kelpie puppy, River. With an overseas trip planned to go see my mum and dad in Scotland. When we decide to change things, apparently we go the whole hog!! Needless to say, as you can see from my lack of blogging, polymer clay has had to take a back seat for a while.

Chloe and our new fur baby, River.

I named my polymer clay collection of work Inishkea, for the island where my nana was born. My beautiful nana, Sabina, lost her battle with Alzheimer's disease in August. It was hard on my family to lose someone so special to such a devastating illness, to see her fade away in mind and body. I wrote a poem for my nana, which my dad made into a slide show:

In March, we took a road trip with my parents through Ireland and were lucky enough to find someone who could take us out in his boat to visit Inishkea. An amazing experience I was so happy to share with my husband, my mum and especially my dad. We also had David, owner of the boat 'Wave Sweeper 2' and his father-in-law, Paddy Reilly (his father had grown up on the Islands) - who were both fantastic and had lots to tell us about the Inishkea islands.

The Wave Sweeper 2; Paddy, Me, Todd, Dad and Mum.

On Inishkea, the colours really struck me. Soft green grass, pale yellow sand, the grey of the stone houses, the orange rust of the hinges and tin roofs, the brown and white pebbles, the aqua blue of the water and the deep ominous blue of the imposing Achill island nearby. I've tried to capture these colours in my first Inishkea-inspired polymer work - my "Colours of Inishkea" cane.

Inishkea - looking to Achill island.

Inishkea.

Inishkea.

Ruined roof on Inishkea.

Colours of Inishkea - Ring.

I've returned to my clay table, after a year of so much change, with a renewed passion and buzz about my work! I hope Nana is proud of what I'm doing.