At midnight, in the month of June,
I stand beneath the mystic moon. (Poe, The Sleeper)
Welcome to my June newsletter! Can you believe I’m 6 months into this?!
The Joy of Newslettering
Dopamine is Available for Slower Experiences: People have reached the physiological limit of the endless scroll. They’re sick and drained from having brains in constant crisis mode from rewardlessly thumbing the bad news machine. There are endorphins available to brains that engage in slow, deliberate, finite activities like reading or looking at art, experienced on other platforms without distractions. There are no red dots popping up on a nice email newsletter, you read a curated collection of pieces by someone whose work interests you, and it comes to an end. I’m not vying for your attention, I actually want to give you something enjoyable to read. I’m trying to build audience through newsletter because I enjoy writing it, I’ve had some lovely feedback from people who enjoy reading it, and I suspect a Great Social Media Reckoning is approaching. The paucity of authenticity in the current online landscape is leaving people hungry for the real. For people working in creative fields it’s imperative to think beyond search and social media right now, and has been for some time. One dedicated reader is worth more than a million bounces. I value your reading!
Early Visitor to the Galway Arts Festival
This giant painted bronze figure by Sean Henry has been installed in Galway for the upcoming Galway International Arts Festival. Read more about it here.
Outset Gallery Artists’ Talk
Outset Gallery here in Galway has a great programme of exhibitions, workshops and events and is wonderful space run by a group of proactive artists. In June I attended one of their Artist Talks with the HERmetics Collective: artists Sinead Aldridge, Mary Theresa Keown, and Patricia Doherty were in conversation with Meadhbh McNutt to a full house. A major theme was the effect of being in a collective in the generation of work, and how having peers expecting to see progress helps that progress along. As someone who works alone and has done for the better part of 2 decades I’ve often felt I’d have benefitted from that too but I’ve figured out how to kick my own arse a form of self-discipline. Outset Gallery Website
How I Became the Face of Culdaff Beach and the Wild Atlantic Way
You may have already read this as I sent it out to subscribers but I wrote a piece on the weirdness of how I became the (official?) face of Inishowen’s portion of Wild Atlantic Way.
Commissions:
Here’s some of my recent commissions I posted on my blog during the month of June.
Weddings
It’s peak wedding season for me right now so I’m on the road right through until September to the four corners of Ireland. June saw me in Sligo Park, Riverside Enniscorthy, Castleknock Hotel Dublin, Clonabreaney House Meath, Kingstons in Killorglin, Cabra Castle in Cavan, and Fota Island Resort Cork.
I posted galleries of loads of people laughing their heads off at weddings in Kerry and Kilkenny, linked below!
New Toy: PenMat 2 from Pentips
I got a new textured screen protector (PenMat 2 from Pentips) for my iPad and it was an instant gamechanger after the slidey, glassy feel of regular protectors or the screen itself. I really had to change how I drew to accommodate that slide by slowing down and zooming in. This protector feels like paper, the tactile resistance gives an immensely pleasant feeling and the control I have of the line now means I’m drawing much much faster: I was like Dash realising he could run on water. PenMat2
Film: Oddity
I watching Oddity this month, written and directed by Damian McCarthy. It’s a rare mix of excellent plotting, story, pacing, creepiness and performances. McCarthy has a satisfying set-up/pay off sensibility that I feel disappeared from mainstream movies after the 90s, so many elements are seeded and climactically harvested. The production values are absolutely beautiful (the illuminated tent inside the renovated house, my god) but I had some minor nit-picking in what seemed to me anachronistic production details (there’s a mental facility that would have looked dated in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest but I do understand budgetary constraints). It’s a rare jump scare that affects me but Oddity had me lepping out of the seat at least 4 times. You can watch Oddity on Shudder (I got the free trial!). I’m really looking forward to McCarthy’s new one, Hokum. Shudder Website
Dear God Bernie Sanders Does Not Understand Generative AI
Giving the American public a 50% ownership in the largest AI companies in America will expose the American public to 50% of the crash coming when the cup game/shell game of the generative AI bubble bursts.
I was pretty pleased with this accidental bit of anti-AI alliteration I came up with in conversation during the week:
I don’t think the planet should burn producing pixel predictions pilfered from purveyors of photography and painting.
Cool Optical Illusion
I find this works better on a mobile screen than desktop but each dot will appear purple when looked at directly while the surrounding dots appear blue. It’s speculated there are 3 phenomena working together to create this effect but I’m going with the only one I understood, that the center of our vision is less sensitive to blue light. 9 Purple Dots
Cartoons
Well June was horribly newsworthy wasn’t it? (There was a good bit of domestic news too, mentioned below.) All my cartoons are here.
Mel Brooks Turned 100
This blew my mind: Mel Brooks is older (1926) than Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927).
The End.
I really appreciate you reading my newsletter and if you got this far you deserve a star, because that’s what you are. This is for you. ⭐
You can read previous newsletters here.
Want to order a caricature? Click here.
Want to make an enquiry? Click here.
Top-rated caricature artist in Ireland! See my reviews here.
See even more examples of my art at the bottom of this post!