Irish American Civil war trails logo

Posted on 01/02/2012 by inkdropart

Recently I was asked if I’d like to design a logo for an exiting new initiative “The Irish American Civil war trails”. This project is the brainchild of a group of people who, if you did not guess it from the title, have an interest in the American Civil war and more specifically the Irish participants and communities of that particular conflict. While I have no particular interest in the American Civil War myself, I was thrilled at the opportunity to contribute to such an exiting project as I do have a general interest in history and interesting life-stories, and belive me, the Irish experience in the American Civil war and their contribution to the efforts on both sides is nothing but fascinating.

The Irish American Civil War Trail is an initiative whose intent is to highlight the stories and experiences of the individuals and communities caught up in the war, and tell the stories on how it impacted on the lives of ordinary Irish, both in the States and here on the island of Ireland. To aide in this the organisers felt they wanted a logo to help raising people’s awareness of how many Irish actually participated.

The brief was simple enough, a nice logo connecting both side of the American Civil War with the Irish aspect of this project, but avoiding too much “stars and stripes” theme as these is a theme that has been used many times before. After some consultation and me doing quick research on the subject (mostly consisting of making note of the suggestions and insights Damian Shiels had to offer on the subject, thanks Damian!) an image based on “the Maid of Erin” (a personification of Ireland) was developed. This image was felt to be highly appropriate as the symbol had been used by Irish regiments on both sides of the conflict.

The maid was given a more stylised modern look than what you might find on the orignal regimental colours however! Shamrocks in the traditional colours of North and South were also used to frame the maid. The strings of the harp are 32 in number, symbolising the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The logo was drawn in Adobe Illustrator and after a few options were submitted for review to all those involved, a green background was settled upon. A logo was created, and it is now gone live on the net as well as being used on business cards! I have to admit, I’m quite exited about it.

I had a great time doing this and would like to thank all the organiser and in particular Damian Shiels for the opportunity to design this. If anyone is interested in finding out more about the subject here is the link:

Irish American Civil War Trail: http://networkedblogs.com/triyN

Thought for the Day

Posted on 25/11/2011 by inkdropart

After a long time of silence on this blog due to me running around like a headless chicken, and not getting anything done properly, there is a need to take a moment and reassess. This quick illustration could help remind us all what really is important in life.

Remember to enjoy the little things

The illustration is based on a photo of our rescue golden retriever Ben rolling in the grass and generally enjoying life. Dogs have it figured out I think.

Fairytales – Briar Rose

Posted on 07/08/2011 by inkdropart

I’m on holidays at the moment, this means my activities for the last week has largely consisted of meeting friends and family. When my time has not been spent catching up with people I have not seen in a long time, it’s been constructively spent following the sun’s march across the sky in order to get maximum exposure for minimum effort.

Into this action-packed schedule I have still managed to squeeze in a bit of reading. As some of you might remember, a while ago I decided to reread and try to paint some of the Brothers Grimm fairytales. Today, whilst gently swinging in the hammock, it was the story of Briar Rose that caught my attention. After I read it I decided to do a first rough.

This will be developed into a proper painting when I get back to Ireland. It will hopefully be on display alongside Rapunzel and a couple of other bits and pieces at the Midleton food and drink festival in Midleton, Co. Cork on the 10th of September, but that is a completely different story.

For now let’s just remind ourselfs of the moral of Briar Rose story.

If you are a king throwing a party, with only twelve gold-plates and there are thirteen fairies in the kingdom, the sensible thing to do is to commission a thirteenth plate (or borrow of the neighbouring king, they are bound to have some). It is false economy to annoy a fairy in order to save on a gold-plate.

Shifting a full castles worth of briars and a century of accumulated dust must be a devil and will rack up the manhours something incredible.

Holiday journey to Finland: Part 3

Posted on 31/07/2011 by inkdropart

This is the third and final part of my journey home for my holidays. Helsinki/Vantaa airport to Pietarsaari or Jakobstad as it is called in Swedish. Those of you who have followed me on this journey by reading every part (well done and thank you by the way!) will notice a gap in the story.

What, are you asking yourself, how did she get from Ireland to Finland? Teleportation?

The answer is no, it’s just that for some reason the cabin-crew in airplanes takes exception to those trying to access Internet during a flight. Just imagine me telling you about the snooze I had as well as the wonderful photos of lovely lit clouds with a wing dramatically in perspective, I have not posted. Yes I know this could have been done in airplane mode, but that would be too organised by me, I only remembered as we took off about that option.

Landing is ahead of schedule, or so our captain claims. I find this to be a bit of an exaggeration. It’s true we touch down ten minutes before the stated arrival of ten o’clock in the evening local time, but to my reckoning by the time we actually get to disembark it is ten and we are spot on time. Call me awkward but I don’t think I have arrived anywhere until it’s once again under my own control whether or not I’m running late.

Getting to the trainstation in Tikkurila from the airport is a doodle. The buses are parked just outside the exit and number 61 drops us off right at the station.

It’s now half ten at night and it’s getting dark. The station is busy enough with all types of people. One difference between Finland and Ireland I always notice when taking the train is the relative ease by which a pet owner and their pets can travel. The train I’m getting this night has a dedicated section for pets and their owners, and let me tell you, it looks a lot more comfortable than the seats I’m currently occupying. That is another thing about the trains here. They are quite modern and uptodate, but often you have tacked on to the end a wagon or two, which are, at this stage relics from many a years ago. They are perfectly serviceable, but you always hope you get a seat in the new section. In my case this seldom happens.

I am now too tired to do anything in particular but still not able to sleep (see comment about torture chairs in Part 2, this also applies to my train seat). My mind starts to go down funny lines of reasoning. I start noticing things.

For example its a funny juxtaposition that a really trendy groomed individual, will, as a solution to the problem of keeping warm and cosy on a summers night, make sure they have their hand knitted socks with them. A truly scandinavian phenomena, although I suspect it can probably be found elsewhere in the world in such places where part of the year you can experience the type of cold that make your knitted socks are a priced possession.

It’s after contemplating such matters for a good ten minutes I realise I’m now so tired (it’s 4.23 in the morning) that I’m making no sense. No matter though, my stop is only three minutes away.

I get of the train after a brief wrestle with the door and a moments panic that the train will pull off with me still on it, this happens practically every time I take this train. Finally I win, jump off the train, walk over to where my mum has come to meet me me, give her a hug. I’m home, everything else is just details.

Thanks for following this blog series, apologies for bad writing and low quality photos.

Holiday journey to Finland: Part 2

Posted on 30/07/2011 by inkdropart

Ok, here comes part two of my journey where I stave off boredom by subjecting you, dear reader to my reflections. This leg consists of travelling between Heuston train station to Dublin airport with the airport direct bus, checking in and going through security.
The bus service no 747 provided by Dublin bus is quite handy and one of the cheapest ways to get from Dublin out to the airport. In addition you get a bit of sightseeing thrown into the bargain.

Top of Dame street in Dublin. Not the route the bus have taken in the past, but as my bus-driver did not object to me wanting to go to the airport, I’m assuming we’ll get there.

This is a bad photo of the entrance to Trinity College Dublin, home of the book of Kells. I can recommend a visit.

The base of the Spire on O’Connell street, taken from the back of the bus.

After these city centre sights, the bus continues on through less picturesque areas of the city, the port tunnel and on to the motorway to arrive at airport.

I’m spending this time, well obviously writing this, but otherwise I generally people watch. I suppose I could read but it tends to make me feel travel-sick, besides travelling does bring you into contact with an endless supply of different characters and stories that you don’t get the opportunity to observe otherwise.

This time around I get to experience the newly opened Terminal 2 for the first time. I’ve flown out and into this airport many times by now, but this new terminal impresses.

While the old terminal was overcrowded, chaotic and low in choice of eateries (actually there are quite a few, but they tend to serve the same thing: underwhelming and overpriced), this new one seems to be the opposite. Airy, calm, and striving to provide quality. Maybe it’s because it’s still new it feels so much better and mire advanced but if so I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

Top tips of day:
Use self check in – you’ll avoid waiting at the check in desk.

Prepare in advance for security – this means dress in flats, avoid abundance of jewellery, get rid of liquids before security, and prepare yourself that the laptop needs to be unpacked and gone trough scanner separately.

I find the combination of these two things keeps both pain and stress to a minimum and allows me more time to lounge about the place, safe in the knowledge that my gate is within hassle free reach. I’m now through security and waiting to board the plane.

The boarding has started, next stop Finland.

Holiday journey to Finland: Part 1

Posted on 30/07/2011 by inkdropart

I’m heading home to Finland for a weeks holiday and catching up with the family. While I’m really looking forward to spending time with loved ones who I don’t see that often, the actual travelling there I’m less enthusiastic about.
The travelling is not that bad all things considered, I know plenty of people who have longer, more exhausting hauls they have to do to get back to the hometown. This knowledge however, does nothing to alleviate my boredom or lack of enthusiasm for the next 18 hours or so. The processed air, the bad food and uncomfortable sleeping positions in seats which would make a master torturer sit down and take notes (although he’d take care to not sit in the actual seats he is impressed by), all help to make the destination matter more than the journey itself.
So I like everyone else have developed coping mechanisms. The main one is sleeping, ask anyone who knows me and they will happily testify to me being able to fall asleep in any moving vehicle. Secondly I read a lot and try to sketch down some of the ideas I’ve been mulling over lately.
This time I thought I might try to document the trip to Finland as it progresses, Internet connections allowing. This is the first part Cork to Dublin by train.

The sketchbook and the essential latte at the ready.

A change is as good as a rest?

Posted on 21/07/2011 by inkdropart

I’m disappointed in myself. When starting this blog I promised myself to try to post something at least once a week. Up to this point this has not been the case. There just never seems to be enough time. Lately our time has been spent boxing up material possessions, yes after years of discussing moving to a bigger house, it’s finally happened, we took the step. We are only changing the scenery to something fairly similar ten minutes down the road, but it still means we are packing up all our stuff, which among other things include quite a substantial library.

The reason for our move is that while our current dwelling is a good 3 bed, it always had the drawback of not having a garden. In addition my work space was reaching critical mass. Even though I kept attempting to keep things organised, I was failing miserably. Especially since my workspace was the kitchen table. Currently it’s looking like a disaster area.

The disaster area that was my workspace, photo taken mid packing

As you can see from the picture any hint of an organised system has gone out the window. In my defence it has to be said that the picture is taken mid packing and both the before and after pictures are (slightly) better.

Tomorrow we get the keys to the new house. After that there will be a week of cleaning and organising both new and old, then a holiday in Finland and in a few weeks I look forward to dedicate my efforts into organising my own personal office! Plus I will have a storage shed! I hope to be posting nice pics of my new and improved workspace before long.

Of course, true to my nature I will also be preparing for keeping a stall at the Midleton Food and Drink festival at the same time, oh and of course the nine to five as well. I sometimes think that I should start only having one thing on at the time, but then again, that would be no challenge at all now would it?

These past few weeks have been hectic, filled with activities and the challenges of organising all our stuff , the rediscovery of travel mementos and clothes I had forgotten I owned. At this point I am dreaming about cardboard boxes in my sleep. Life has not been normal at all lately, not least because the house is now resembling the type of obstacle course you might find built for professional athletes. So we come back to the question stated in the caption, is a change as good as a rest? Well if the change is moving house then I am afraid I will have to say – definitely NOT!

Inkdrop art

arts, crafts, archaeology and anything in between