Duirwaigh

Christmas in August!!

It’s a hot summer in Georgia and our resident faeries have abandoned the garden (and the hummingbird feeder) to shack up with a family of mice in our garage. We have to regularly leave a glass of lemonade at the foot of the stairs (actually lemon water-no sugar. They like to bath in it when it gets too hot). So we’ve turned our attention to fine art of Staying Cool and gather daily around the Air Conditioning Goddess to worship at her feet.

This makes for very long days. Even our Chihuahuas—who were bred in Mexico to endure the heat—are begging for Haagen Daaz. You should hear the howling eruption that echos through our house when the ice cream truck's music tinkles down our street. I scream. You Scream. We all HOWL for ice cream!

What better time of year to celebrate Christmas? I think we could all use a little nip from Jack Frost and a bit of good cheer, so Duirwaigh has decided to play Santa.We refuse to put on the white scratchy beard and red velvet suit—too hot!—but we DO have a giant jolly sack-o-toys and it’s loaded with goodies.

Each Monday we'll pull out one goody from the sack to help induce a spirit of good cheer and celebration. We're calling it Merry Monday and hope it helps cool us all down by ushering in the glorious relief that is autumn!

MERRY MONDAY - August 14, 2006
BUY ONE GARDEN FAERY GET THE SECOND HALF PRICE!

Our large, bronze-finish faerie statues have been one of our best sellers of all time. I think it's because they look identical to the limited edition bronze pieces that sell in galleries worldwide for $2,000.00-$3,000.00. We've just received another large container of them and to celebrate, we're offering:

Buy one get one half price! You can buy Belaine, Ellen or Brigid and receive the second at half price (any combination of styles is fine!) This gives you a chance to save $60.00! Buy one for your own garden and get one as a Christmas gift for a friend at HALF PRICE!!

If you like these girls, you'll want to move on this quickly. We received our shipment on July 26th and already we've gone from 600 statues to 300!! We will not be reordering before Christmas so if you like them, get them before they fly off!

OFFER GOOD ONLY BY PHONE ORDER. APPLIES TO BRIGID, ELLEN AND BELAINE.

Show and Tell (Starring Marc Fishman)

OK, class. This is an experiment that harkens back to second grade. I simply LOVED Show and Tell in Ms. Mullin’s second grade class at Audubon Elementary School in Orlando, Florida. Truth be told I loved Show and Tell in every grade, until Jonathon Sutton brought in a National Geographic magazine to show the class a story on African tribal life and tell of his affinity for brown nipples and nose piercings. Thus ended Show and Tell forever.

But now it’s back! And even better since it’s my stage and I get to decide what to Show and what to Tell. *Insert evil mad scientist laughter here.* Hand puppets, strangely shaped vegetables and origami are among my favorite topics. But for now, I’ll attempt to stick with the goings-on of the artists and friends of Duirwaigh. Just know the sock puppet can come out at any time…

MARC FISHMAN

Many of you have written in about Marc’s work over the past two years, so I thought I'd begin our red curtain event with him. Though he is a mild mannered man and likes to keep a low profile, Marc’s work continues to be published, exhibited and nominated for awards around the world. (Did you know he won Chesley in 1998 for 'Salvation' and again in 2005 for 'Water Nymph'?)

A little known secret: The makers of “Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” hired Marc early on in the creative process of the film to develop character and set design conceptual art. Check the Narnia film credits next time you watch your DVD and there it is! Marc’s name in lights! These are a few of the paintings created for the film. And ANOTHER juicy tidbit! The painting to the left featuring Asland now hangs in the home of "Song of Fire and Ice" author George R. R. Martin. Being a huge fan of both men and their talents, this delights me to no end. (George bought the painting for his lovely lady in our Endicott Studio benefit auction!)

Marc’s current project is...(drum roll please!) a picture book of Perseus with writer Marianna Mayer. In fact, his last Chesely nomination is for an original painting from that book project. The book is about three months away from completion and should be on the market in 2007/2008. I promise to feature it here when it launches, as Marc has promised us exclusive signed copies. (I've seen sneak peeks at the art. Although we're not legally allowed to show them, trust me, this is going to be one scrumptious book!)

Much to the glee of many collectors, Marc also works on commissions. Some of the paintings I cherish most by Marc have been commissioned by private collectors. He has a knack for capturing light, mood and emotion. Some of his most recent commissions have centered around romantic themes in a Pre Raphaelite style. I leave you with these images --may they bless, inspire and bring more magic to your life, as Marc does to mine.