Donation boxes

I surprise myself with my continuing interest in objects and imagery related to the catholic church. I should take this moment to remind you that I am agnostic and pretty anti catholic from my experiences of being raised as one, but have developed a fascination with things related to Catholicism. I see the aesthetic value in these objects/images and feel a familiarity with them, but at the same time I'm maybe poking fun, making a statement and also venting some frustration at the way the religion operates. It really matters that people reading know that Catholicism was a part of my upbringing and so a part of my life, until I got wise and realised it was all nonsense. But my point is... I have earned the right to play with this subject and am not using it as a short cut to be a controversial designer/artist, like so many do.
All that aside, I love these boxes... I hate what they're doing, taking every opportunity to make money from people seeking comfort, but I love them as objects and the whole thing just humours me also. Its weird, I have an affection for these things also because of what they are, its very strange...

The Douglas Bay Hotel

I found this postcard online, which is of a place on the Isle of Man called 'The Douglas Bay Hotel'. Its a very haunting image for me as I stayed in this hotel on number of occasions with family as a child, but the Hotel itself is no longer there... It was devastated by a fire in 1988 and was then demolished shortly after.

From Alfie Gallogly

My brilliant Uncle Alfie has recently got in touch with me... He has come across a document signed by my great grand father Peter Gallogly and his Landlord Deputy Lieutenant Lawder of the Barony of Carrickallen, on the 15th day of December 1902 in which Peter gets a 50 year lease on a piece of land upon which he builds a house.

What a lovely thing...

Thanks Alf!

Mary Mary quite contrary...

If you didn't know me better, you would I was demonstrating my religious persuasions here...
Its a nostalgic image for me.. the quality of the print, the washed out colour etc, its all very comforting to me, but not in the way it was intended to be.

Mary Mary quite contrary, how did your belly grow? being a virgin and all that...

Dream House

Museum Collection at Kelvingrove

While delivering a workshop at Kelvingrove Museum today, I got the chance to get some close up photos of animals and animal bits from the teaching collections within the education department.

The skull to the left belonged to a rook. The bottom one is a humming bird.. it was tiny, the head is actually pea size, its mental.

Charity shop curtains

There are loads of fabrics and products in general, out there at the moment, doing the whole shabby chic thing. The trend is kind of coming to its end now, but I'm still seeing faded toile prints everywhere, annoying - only so, because it means I have to fight so much harder to make my textiles special.
These anyway, are a pair of curtains purely aged and worn with time.. which is such a lovely thing. They're covered in sun spots and watermarks and in areas the colour has been almost completely bleached out. Honestly though, these aging affects can be created, so I had to sneakily unpick the seam to compare the unexposed fabric to confirm the aging was indeed natural and not man made! The curtain hooks were all scuffed and ancient looking, so thats another clue.
While I find all of this interested and perfectly normal to ponder over with myself... I can't help but cringe a bit as I write this!