I am French and I love Ireland, though I have not been back there for two years.
I have spent the time thinking and making images about both cultures. The results appear in my end of year project, a picture book about Ireland and France. Aimed at children, it introduces the history, geography, arts and cuisine of both countries. It offers some exercises to aid the acquisition of a french vocabulary.
I am attracted to naïve images, which have a kind of expressive poetry that comes from being handmade. This is found in the colours, details and playfulness of the work by illustrators from the 1960s like Fiep Westendorp and Miroslav Sasek. It is also seen in the carefree and boundless creativity of children.
Work starts with my own photographs, a secondary passion, which is then translated into illustrations by means of collage, thick markers and fine pens. Scenes from life, landscapes and buildings come alive when vividly coloured and simply drawn.
Postcard Set
National Symbols – Spread 1
Spring Day – Spread 2
Patrick the Leprechaun – Spread 3
The Little Prince – Spread 4
Seaside – Spread 5
Harry Clarke – Spread 6
Eoin & Chloé go to school. Zine (1)
Eoin & Chloé go to school. Zine (2)
Research
French-Irish Alphabet