This Is Not A Shop

Dear friends,

it is almost Advent Calendar time. If you have no idea what I’m talking about you can read about it here. Every year it takes a slightly different shape, has a different rhythm. This year I will be sharing mainly originals again. Last year, I had everything available as a print. It worked very well, but since then there have been increasing delays and extra costs and it no longer makes sense to print them like that for Irish customers at least. I have sourced a local printer and any prints I share will be available to order from me.

The first exhibition I organised after graduating from Art College with two friends was in a disused shop down near the Four Courts in Dublin. We called it ‘This is Not a Shop’. I have photos of it somewhere, I will root them out sometime. While planning the calendar this year I had a small voice in the back of my head which kept saying ‘Astrid, this is not a shop’. Part of what I love about the process of sharing this work with you is intuitively choosing the images and tuning in to what I want to say. So I have left myself the option of sharing images in between of things that may not be for sale, either because they no longer exist in physical form or they are from the sketchbook.

Finally, if anyone here would like the Advent Calendar straight to your Whatsapp, you can join the group here.

I am the only one who can post, so there will be only one or two pings a day!

See you on Monday,

lots of love,

Astrid

White Thorn

White Thorn (Sceach Ghael)

I have heard women over 50 say they are invisible.

They must mean invisible like the Whitethorn tree.

You can’t see it unless you know what you are looking for:

The muscle, bone and heart of Irish hedgerows.

Unseen, unrecognised 

Holding it all together.

These women over 50

For a few short weeks in May 

They wear their white dresses

They laugh out loud

Shamelessly 

Attracting all sorts.

Before disappearing again 

To do what they do

And in October 

It would be easy to miss 

An almost imperceptible blush 

The ripe harvest of invisible pleasures.

Whitethorn, or Hawthorn is a sacred tree in Ireland connected to fairies, spirits and mystical beings.  Something I only learned recently is that the flowers change from white to pink when they have been pollinated.  It is said you shouldn’t bring it in to your house.  This poem came to me a few years ago, driving through the Irish countryside.  The women are putting on their white dresses now.  You can see a twinkle in their eyes.  Listen and you will hear them laughing.

One

ONE

I have been threatening to start a newsletter for some time now.  To those of you finding this in their inboxes: welcome!  You are witnessing the birth of something new for me.  There will be artwork, writing and news when I have some.

I had a few different ideas of how to start.  Then, while walking to school with my son yesterday, he asked me: ‘what is your lucky number, Mama?’.  I, as always struggling to give an answer for fear I will be held to it, mumbled something unconvincing.  We play the game ‘would you rather’ often. ‘Would you rather give up cheese or chocolate?’. I have to practice not overthinking an answer, because deep down part of me believes someday I will actually have to choose between giving up cheese or chocolate, or wether I would rather have eyes for hands or hands for eyes.  ‘My lucky number is 1’, he said. ‘Because it’s the smallest number and I am the smallest in my family’.  ‘Ok’ I replied, busily trying to evaluate the implications of this for him, his personality, his life and future prospects (as you do).  He continued ‘I love seeing all the nines in a row:

…and then you add 1 and it changes everything and you get Googolplex’. *

It’s not the first time that I have had my mind silently blown on the way to school.

999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 You add 1 and it changes everything.

And there I was thinking he felt powerless.

One person to a family

One person changing the rules

One apology

One decision

One woman refusing to give up her seat

One tipping point

One blog post

One step 

One step 

One step

One is the smallest number, but it has the power to change everything.  

*(A googol is the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes.  Googolplex is the number 1 followed by a googol zeroes)

What is a Visual Advent Calendar

Since 2019 I have been offering an image a day for the 24 days of Advent, ending on Christmas Eve.  The Advent Calendar is originally a German tradition and as children we always had one, made by my grandmother.  It was embroidered and had small metal rings on it, from which dangled a little parcel. There was chocolate inside and a few times little gifts.  My two sisters and I took turns cutting the little parcel from the calendar - ‘Abschneiden’ was always very exciting.  Now I have one for my son, embroidered with love by my mother, his ‘Oma”.

Along with the novelty of getting to eat chocolate first thing in the morning, there was a sense of building anticipation.  It was also a small act which really set this time apart from the rest of the year.  In the earliest forms of this tradition a candle was burned every day, or a simple chalk mark put on a wall.  Later devotional images were hung, or maybe a short verse from the bible.  I love the act of putting up an image every day and the interactions that follow.  In the last few years I have been including some thoughts or observations and they do feel like little prayers, offered to everyone at this time of year.

For me it has been an opportunity to show people some of what I have been working on, particularly during a time where I have not being showing my work in galleries.  The reason it is in its fifth year though, is because of the always overwhelming positive response I have gotten. It could easily have been a one off if it weren’t for the question: ‘are you doing your advent calendar again this year?’.  This year it will be a mixed bag, some older work, some newer work and some photography.  But everything will be available as a print from my website for the first time.  I always want to offer opportunities for people to be able to own and enjoy something at an affordable price. Each day a new print will be offered…but only until Christmas Day! On Christmas Day, they will come down again.

The prints will go to you directly from the printer, to save them being shipped twice. I was not able to make a test print of each and every one, so if there is a problem or if they do not meet expectations, contact me and we will sort it out! Please stay in touch during this, because it really is my way of connecting with people coming up to Christmas.  I have never been good at sending cards.  It’s not a German tradition! 

Coming Soon!

A place for writing and a behind the scenes look at my art process and the deep recesses of my mind…