It was Enchanting...

The Skerries Soundwaves Launch was opened last by the wonderful Robert Dunbar who as Oisín McGann puts it "is arguably the grandaddy of the children’s books community in Ireland." Oisín has a great write up of last night on his blog here. There was lovely guitar music, lots of nibbles and wine and plenty of friends and family there. It was just lovely to have Polly Dunbar along too last night!

The Enchanted Exhibition of Children's book art that features myself, Oisín, Bruce Ingram, Annie West and Adrienne Geoghan and it has travelled Ireland for the past two years. So I was thrilled to be able to bring it to Skerries and host it at Skerries Mills. I can see the windmill from my studio window so it really was a perfect setting. You could see the magical trees that I designed back in 2004 for Barabbas's Mid Summer Nights Dream twinkling away at nights end :)

News.

Trócaire Cards are now up on their website and here too if you want to place an order before Christmas.
Also if you missed Robert Dunbar's Christmas roundup in the Irish Times it can be found here. He features PJ Lynch's The Gift of the Magi and my Cinderella.

Robert Dunbar Archive

HI! I'm just back from a week in Tuscany in Italy, to rain! This is a photo of me in the Studio above The Natural Shoe Store in Dublin. My good friend Dermot who ran the shoe store encouraged me through my 'early years'. I used to work downstairs selling Birkenstock and lovely roundy toes shoes for part of the week and doodle and paint in between times upstairs in the attic. Children's Books Ireland has just made available a collection of interviews in which Robert Dunbar meets with authors and illustrators to discuss their work. Many of these conversations were first broadcast as part of The Pied Piper series. Robert interviewed me about ten years ago around the same era as the photo, as part of this series and you can hear it here. Make sure to listen to the rest including one with PJ Lynch.