Wexford Girl

Old Photos

I was rooting around downstairs in a file box this morning, shredding ancient paperwork for old freelance jobs and a car that got stolen four years ago. I came across a bundle of photos.

A nice photo of the Galvin Four and my mother, C. 1979:

Liz and I in our ballet outfits, 1973. I was 7; she was 4. I always felt like a big clodhopper in ballet class compared to all the other snobby little girls with long shiny hair. Bitches.

My mom and I in downtown Wexford:

My friend Dan and I at his brother Matt's wedding. I like having longer hair, although the short hair looks pretty good here:

Eric and I on a Dublin bus in the year 2000:

Another Birthday Girl

Another adorable niece, Lauryn, turned five this week. She didn't get a creepy jigsaw from me, just some cute dollies.

This cracked me up yesterday.

Creepy Gift?

My lovely niece Kaylin turned four last week, and this is the gift I sent her from an educational Irish toy company. I think this is the kind of toy that if I had it when I was four, I would never forget its creepy weirdnesss.

The most morbidly fascinating part is when you get right down to the skeleton; The figure is cartoony and big-headed, but you don't often see a cartoony big-headed skeleton, so it's extra wrong. It reminds me of the work of Michael Paulus.

Anyway, I hope Kaylin is mesmerized by this, always remembers it, and attempts to describe it to her appalled friends in 20 years.

Colors

Here are some colorful new 49 Mile Drives I'm working on:

Today a few of us took a field trip from work at lunchtime to the Mission, and I bought this awesome print in the Curiosity Shoppe:

New Paintings in the Shop

Did I mention that the 3 Fish Studios Shop is up and running and we're adding new paintings all the time?

Here are some new old-style paintings that Eric just uploaded. (Old-style because this is the kind of textile-ish paintings I used to do, and it was fun to get back to them.)

 

New Glasses

Erica and I are showing off our new glasses. The pleasures of being over 40. Actually, I barely need mine (they are for distance), but I had to use up health care spending account money by mid-March.

It really irks me that if you don't use the pre-tax dollars you put away for health care, it just dissapears, poof! Where does it go? It's my money. If I don't use it, I think I should be given the option of paying the tax and getting the money back.

Or if that's not possible, unused dollars (which must total millions) should go into a  fund for people who can't afford health care. Perhaps it could be given to Remote Area Medical, an amazing organization I saw profiled on 60 Minutes.

Do you like the diffuse glow effect I found on PhotoShop, which nicely fuzzes out the wrinkles?

Some Facts About St. Patrick

...and an answer to those people who ask me every year, "why aren't you wearing green?"

• St. Patrick was born in Britain. Irish brigands kidnapped him at 16 and brought him to Ireland. He was sold as a slave and served in bondage for six years until he escaped to France. He later returned to his parents' home in Britain, where he had a vision that he would preach to the Irish. After 14 years of study, Patrick returned to Ireland, where he built churches and spread the Christian faith for some 30 years.

• Many myths surround St. Patrick. One of the best known — and most inaccurate — is that Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland. But snakes have never been native to the Emerald Isle. The stories of Saint Patrick and the snakes are likely a metaphor for his bringing Christianity to Ireland and driving out the pagan religions (serpents were a common symbol in many of these religions).

• In the United States, it's customary to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. But in Ireland the color is considered to be unlucky. Irish folklore holds that green is the favorite color of the Little People. They are likely to steal people, especially children, who wear too much of the color.

• The shamrock, which looks like clover, has three leaves on each stem. According to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to explain about the Holy Trinity, (three divine beings in one God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.)

 

I won't be visiting an Irish pub today (St. Patrick's Day is for amateurs). But I will be raising a glass to all my family back home. Beannachtaí Lá Féile Phádraig!

Leigh

Here is a picture of my pretty neice Leigh with me last New Year's Eve. She is 20 this year. People used to tell her that she looked like Christina Ricci, but I don't see it as much anymore.

20 years ago I was working in an ad agency in Dublin. I remember getting the bus down to Wexford the night Leigh was born. I brought her a plush black cat, which I think she still has. She was the only baby in the family and we were all kind of enthralled by her. My brother's wife told me that one of the reasons she fell for him was that he was crazy about his neice, whom he called "little Leigh."

I moved to America when she was one, and when I returned for my cousin's wedding a year later, mam and Liz met me at Shannon Airport with Leigh. Liz pointed the toddler towards me and said, "go on Leigh, give your auntie Anne a kiss." She gamely came towards me with a wary smile, even though I must have looked like a total stranger.

She's cute, funny, sassy, and sometimes a pain in the ass. But I love little Leigh, and I can't wait to celebrate her 20th birthday with her when I'm home in May.

First Holy Communion

I took a picture of Cullen's, a shop in Wexford Town the last time we were home in Ireland. First Holy Communion season was approaching.

What I remember about my FHC

I wore my mother's wedding veil, an elaborate beaded affair with a headdress that kept falling into my eyes.

My white shoes were so pretty and shiny that I literally could not stop looking at them all day.

After mass and the ceremony, on the way out to lunch with the family, my dad stopped the car and went into a shop to get the newspaper or something. He bought a impulse present for me of a little comb/barrette set, which he gave to me in the car. I think this was the first time he, not mom, had actually picked out something for me, so I remember it clearly. But I don't remember where we went for lunch that day.

As was (and is) the custom, relatives and my parents' friends gave me money all day. 10p or 5p was usual. 50p was a lot, and I don't think anyone gave me a pound note.

At the end of the day, my dad counted my money, and I heard him say in a note of amazement to my mother, "God, there's nearly eight pounds here!"

I spent my loot on a pair of roller skates.

My Interview with Victoria

Victoria of SFgirlbybay asked me to be part of her Unexpected Guests series of artists' interviews. I loved doing it. Here's the finished interview. Thanks Victoria!