I began these paintings during my residency at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Co. Mayo in the summer of 2023. The colour palette is derived directly from the landscape in and around Ballycastle and the Céide Fields. The use of egg tempera requires preparing the paints from scratch each day. I layer colours slowly and meticulously to capture the ephemeral qualities of light exemplified by this traditional technique. This method allows me to explore the interplay between artistic engagement, time, materiality, texture, and form.
Dodo 2 (#1–5) emerged in the brief, quiet intervals of my second child’s naps. Made with colouring pencil, they contrast with my usual slow practice of egg tempera, where paint must be carefully mixed by hand each day. Quick, immediate, and playful, these drawings respond to the fleeting pauses of early parenthood. Their title, Dodo, the French word for nap, and a gentle, childlike sound, reflects both their origins and the tender transitional moments that shaped them.
