Feeling swamped by what you have to get completed this week even though the sun is shining? Feeling that you are always rushing around with not enough hours in the day?

Well, join the club in one way but I have to say I find these new prints we are stocking quite calming – is there anything more effective that having something that has a simple message, just place one of these in a frame in a co-ordinating colour for your bathroom, your study, your kitchen or perhaps by the door where you see it every time you enter and exit the house.

I just have to decide on which colourway and which room for when this batch of decorating is finished! But what a lovely daily reminder to ‘be at one’ with yourself and the world.

You can see the range of new prints by Mindful Productivity here.

And Happy 4th of July to all our American readers

I came across Farm21 from Lisnavagh estate (not far from here actually) at 100% Design last September and loved everything they had there.  I meant to post about the fabulous creations before now but better late than ever. Here’s a few of my favourites:

A Limited Edition Tri-Part Rye Straw Screen €2,500 and here it is in a close-up. What a beautiful specimen of functional art.

The Bed of Roses table is also available in a limited edition of 20.  €950

And I think this Straw Cube II with internal lighting is amazing.  A beautiful piece of art and can be used either as a lamp or a side table.

‘farm21 concentrates on re-presenting nature through modern materials and technology, as functional forms. Via acrylics and resins, delicate & transient organic materials are ‘frozen’ between life and decay, and through obsessive scale and concentration they highlight the process of nature in our increasingly urban world.’

To see more of Farm21′s creations, you can access their website here.

The Women-In-Business meeting (from the Carlow Enterprise Board) was held in the new Artforms Gallery in Charlette Street, Carlow last week.  I’m blogging about it because it really has some beautiful pieces of art and they were so varied in terms of form and price, there really was something for everyone there.  They also sell ceramic, jewellery and sculpture.  Many courses are organised during the year and what I particularly liked about this was that they were so varied and also that people from all walks of life are encouraged to go and enjoy their creative side and no expectations are made for past experience or any kind of expertise.  There are classes for children and teenagers as well as oil painting and drawing for different levels.

What’s more, although there isn’t any golden calves in sight, there is one gorgeous painting of ‘The Wistful Cow’.

There’s a wide variety of art available and it can all be viewed on their website.  It is certainly a gallery that I will be visiting – on behalf of clients and myself!

Castlecomer is a small rural town that is offering more and more.  I blogged about the estate craft yard and demense a couple of weeks ago and on Saturday evening, I popped into the new Arthro Gallery which only opened about a month ago.  Photographic artist Josette Tierney from Inistioge was opening her exhibition and it will be there for the next two weeks.  Limited editions of her prints are for sale (unfortunately, neither Josette or the Arthro Gallery have their website up and running yet but Eliza said it will be soon…) and she has taken her inspiration from nature.  I really enjoyed looking around and my favourite were photographs showing the scattering of seeds, wild orange poppies, frozen reeds in sunlight with the ice slowly melting and close up images of ferns.  Do call in if you are passing through Castlecomer, it is in the small cul-de-sac opposite the community hall.  The Arthro Gallery also offers a picture framing service.

I had a lovely relaxing birthday on Saturday, the children gave me calla lilies and they went for a sleepover to their gran’s on Saturday night, so after going to the Art Exhibition, Brian and I went to the Lemongrass in Carlow and I had a lovely lie-in on Sunday morning.  I didn’t even switch on the laptop over the weekend, just relaxed and enjoyed.

The painting above was painted by a local Carlow artist, Sileshi Deyassa.  He is originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he got his bachelors’ degree in Fine Art.  He worked in Malawi as a freelance artist and as a teacher for a number of years, met his Irish wife there and moved to Carlow in 2002. 

 I love this abstract painting.  I probably shouldn’t try to work out what abstract paintings are, if you know what I mean, but I always do.  Others see this as curtains, I see it as a woman’s leg.  I also have a still life by Sileshi which is almost as vivid and striking as the one above.  He also does figurative paintings, some of which are quite political.  Sileshi does do commissions, email me for his contact details if you would like to have a chat with him.