The view across my field today  Happy New Year!!  All is calm on Loop Head today. The light is bright and golden and it is almost warm in the sun. We have just weathered Storm Bella - for 4 days!! That was a big one. With some amazing waves. But not as big as some of the waves we saw at the end of October - my goodness they were huge, as you can see from this image. Massive waves at the Kilkee Cliffs on the 28th October 2020. This is a short film I made of the waves. Wave Watching at Kilkee Cliffs  ***   It feels we have a lot to catch up on - but not much has happened. Time has certainly passed . . Who would have thought, this time last year, that we would be in turns afraid, angry, scared and just inert, with the feelings that Covid 19 and all the restrictions brought with them. I hope 2021 is finding you reasonably positive and healthy. With the prospect of the vaccine looming, there appears to be hope for us all. Do we have the energy for it? I don't know about ...

 Sunset at Ross, one of my new pieces.  Hello - it's been a while. Isn't life strange at the moment? I certainly chose the right place to live during isolation. Who knew? I don't know about you, but I have swung between total inertia and great creative activity. I'm still not back into any kind of working rhythm.  Here in Ireland we are still in Phase 3 of the Covid 19 recovery. Restaurants but not pubs can open and all non essential international travel is discouraged. Anyone entering the country needs to quarantine for 14 days. It is a bit like living in a parallel universe. Does it feel the same for you? The world has suffered dreadfully, some countries more than others. I don't need to highlight this as we are all very aware of the sadness and terror this pandemic has created. But being aware doesn't make it any less terrible. During this time, a lot of us have discovered just what we don't actually need in our lives. While these things are ...

Printed and painted Bondaweb, ironed onto black cotton and decorated with torn skeleton leaves, gilding flake and herringbone stitch. It always helps to read the small print in a contract!!! I have been continuing to pay the monthly subscription to Ruzuku so that students who are currently on workshops can get their work finished before I stop teaching online on May 27th. Since inquiring about deleting my subscription to Ruzuku, I have discovered that the students currently on workshops, and any that enrol before midnight on Tuesday 26th May , can view the workshops and videos INDEFINITELY. So if you were put off enrolling on a workshop because you thought the workshops wouldn't be available after the end of May, we were both wrong. So - here are the links again - 30% off as there are no more inspiration books to send out. Only use these links to enrol. The links on the website are full price. To find out more about the workshops have a look here - http://kimthitticha...

  Block print flooded with a colour wash by Janet who is on The Journey workshop. Happy New Year!!!  Yes - I know its the end of March!! It's been a while. Most of you will know the feeling, when you are undecided - you do nothing!! Sometimes inspiration or a direction presents itself - sometimes you just have to wait . . .  I have been getting used to living in a remote area. It has been over 3 years now. Mostly it is wonderful, just occasionally when we are in the middle of a big storm, I lie in bed wondering if the roof is going to come off and question did I do the right thing? The resounding reply is always - Yes!  Any of you who follow me on social media will know how much I love living on the edge of the world. The West Coast of County Clare, and particularly Loop Head, has an 'other worldliness' about it. It is hard to explain, but hopefully is comes through when I post on Instagram and Facebook. This is the website for our little piece of wonderful...

A splendid sample. It is amazing to think that last weekend I was teaching this workshop in Christchurch, New Zealand. I am now snuggled in at home, in front of the fire, with my dogs. Isn't life amazing? A New Starting Point is my favourite workshop. By layering up old newspapers, maps and book pages with painted and unpainted Bondaweb, you can create some fabulous effects. If you add a little gilding flake and transfer foil, you can create something rather special. Christchurch Quilters are a great grouo to work with, such fun. They are very experienced which made things very easy for me. We had 2 days of play with all manner of papers and sparkle. First we painted the Bondaweb, or Vliesofix as it is known in NZ and Australia.   Nicky and Catherine painting Bondaweb. Then we began the 'backgrounds and prettys'. This technique involves layering paper with Bondaweb and building, tearing and building new layers. It's great fun and you never quite know ...