SHINE YOUR LIGHT 23

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Erin Macairt

 

Dancing between Worlds

New Art shop and website coming soon...

ERIN MACAIRT

blog

 HELLO! if this blog was a book ...I'd be blowing the dust off...  

Please find me elsewhere with new Art and exciting projects....solo exhibition in the pipeline.

INSTAGRAM @ERINMACAIRT

WEBSITE WWW.LANDOFERIN.NET (currently working on a new site)

2022 MOON Calendar ART

The Original Illustrated Moon Calendar 2022 was inspired by the landscape in West Wales where i am living and loving. I made paint and ink from the earth, slate and acorn caps and oak galls from this land to create the colour palette. Using natural processes like this makes my heart sing and becomes part of the process of creating. 

I hope you like this years offering. If you'd like to purchase one or some please go to my Etsy shop where you can find the prints listed individually or in special bundle offers. This year I have also had a few huge A1 posters made that are the same size as the original artwork.

happy gift giving season 

SHOP HERE

 

SAMHAIN

Light a fire, bake a cake, don't forget to honour the Dead.

 

newsletter ~ 30% off promo offer

sign up to my quarterly newsletter and get 30% off with my promotional offer for the 2022 MOON Calendars

 

2022 MOON UNIQUE ORIGINAL MOON CALENDAR ART

 The 2022 Moon Calendar is here and available to buy! I'm really enjoying adding more Art and illustration each year as they become as much a calendar as a piece of Art to enjoy and use throughout the year. I've had them printed in two sizes this year A3 (the original) and an epic A1 poster for those of you with big walls!

Inspired by my relocation to Wales (I spent the last 5 years living on a narrow boat outside Bristol), the 2022 is about community, food sovereignty, finding beauty in the present moment and trusting your gut instinct. There are clear dates to celebrate the eight annual festivals that connect us to the natural cycles and seasons from Samhain all the way to Mabon. 

The 2022 Moon Calendar is about activating our role as guardians of this planet and creating stronger resilient communities, it's about getting deeper and intimate with all our relationships whether human or landscape.

If you don’t follow the cycles of there Moon already - why start? There are numerous benefits in this age old practice, the main one for me is that it’s the easiest and most profound way of creating ritual in my life. Following the cycles by honouring and marking phases like the Full Moon and Dark Moon gives me a sense of grounding and connection to my body and the World. You can even optimise the potential of your garden whether you’re growing vegetables or flowers by planting by the phase of the moon.

Wisdom of Trauma

 Extremely interesting talk about climate change and how we relate to each other. Fascinating and well worth listening to. Climate change isn't global warming its colonisation. 

thoughts on PORN

 men make better lovers when they aren't watchers of porn 

 

I Flow - an illustrated guide to the menarche

I Flow is an illustrated guide to the menarche created to assist young people aged 8 - 14 on the subject of the menstrual cycle . It's especially for those who haven't yet started and want to learn more but also for those who won't be menstruating so that the ins and outs of this natural cycle aren't a mystery! The main aim is to empower and educate, providing useful information that isn't currently taught in schools.

All the illustrations and content have been created by me and curated into a small recycled paper booklet.

They are now available to buy here: Etsy - LANDofERIN

 

what is your truth?

 

FOUR SEASONS

 I offer you beautifully illustrated, unique and mysterious art greeting cards. Now available in my Etsy shop. If you're accustomed to the shadow aspects of the psyche then autumn won't phase you ;) Can you guess the Seasons?

secret stone

a secret ancient stone with neolithic carvings only known to the locals

on closer inspection it looks like a figure not too dissimilar to the one at Nazca

 

put your gender in the blender

GOD/DESS OF ANDROGENY 

ELDER/BABY

Seaweed Fertiliser

Living in Bristol the beach was too far away to collect seaweed to make fertilser for the allotment so instead we made up vats of nettle and comfrey (add to water and leave to stink, it reeeeeks, then dilute down when watering the plants).

 Seaweed is abundant on the Welsh coast. Full of nutrients the veg plants are gonna love this. You can buy ready made liquid seaweed but as it's pretty much on the doorstep I wanted to gather some and make my own....plus its a good excuse to go to the beach

I gathered the tide line seaweed which was a mix of pepper dulce, bladderwrack, kelp and probably many more...looking forward to learning more and drying some for eating.

I left the seaweed out in the rain to remove the salt water, and gave it a quick rinse off. 

To make the liquid fertilser I've left some in a bucket with water, partially covered with a lid. That will be left for two months or more, then strained and diluted when watering the plants.

The rest I'll mulch down in the compost pile. You can put seaweed directly onto the beds but i should have done this in the Autumn so that it had a good amount of time to mulch down over winter.

I'll keep the blog updated on the growing season here....so watch this space to follow the journey.

 

sea beet 

Alder Cone Ink

Alder Tree growing by a stream

Alder trees usually grow by rivers and streams and during the Winter after a storm you'll find loads of the 'cones' that have fallen to the floor, it's good to collect them when they're dry.

The Alder is part of the Birch family.

I always experiment with my ink making and don't follow any particular recipe, but here is a guide.

Alder Ink

Gather the Alder cones and remove the sticks. 

Soak in hot water for a few weeks or boil in a pan on the stove for 30 - 40 mins

Optional: Add Iron sulphate/iron water to create a darker blacker ink

*to make iron water you'll need some rusty metal. Add the metal to a jar of water and leave until the water is orange. the more iron you add the darker the ink. You could soak the cones at the same time as making the iron water. For a quicker method use iron sulphate and boil the cones.

This rough recipe is exactly how I make oak gall and acorn cap ink, so if you can't find an Alder tree there are other options. Oak Galls create a brown black,  Acorn Caps create a grey black. Alder has a blue tinge. 

Making your own adds extra magic to your artwork. The process connects your artwork with the land physically becoming part of your work.

Alder ink.  The iron creates a black ink without it’s like a tea stain colour

 

Wood Ears

To Eat or Not to Eat. Food and Medicine from the Elder.

So it's true, the trees are listening.

wood ears

Wood Ears grow on Elder trees. They're a dusty brown colour, shaped like a human ear and are gooey jelly inside. After a walk with a friend who told me they're great cooked in a stew I've been keeping an eye out for them, so when i saw loads today i gathered a few, not too many as I was pretty sure i wouldn't want to eat more than a handful. I wasn't overly excited about eating them with their unusual texture. They're really good for you though-- full of powerful antioxidants and immune boosting.. and they grow locally throughout the winter unaffected by frost.

I love that Wood Ears grow on Elder Trees - a tree of spiritual significance with strong connections to the faery world.... it makes them mysterious. 

How to prepare:

Wash. Slice into strips and marinade. I used bouillon, but i think soy sauce mixed with ginger and garlic would work well if you're adding to a stirfry.

Cooking: I fried in a little oil and added to the rest of rice and veg. BECAREFUL!! The Wood Ears have a tendency to explode out of the pan! I used a bread board as a shield!

Result:

Well--- they're edible and took on the flavour of the bouillon. A crunchy texture, some more slimy than others, mushroom-like a little. Once I got the idea that they looked and felt like slugs it was hard not to think I was chomping on a slimy mollusc - gah! Maybe they're one of those delicacy kind of foods, a bit gross like oysters and caviar... once you're used to the idea + texture you might get a craving for them!? 

I'd definitely recommend trying them at least once ---- you might love Wood Ears!! And if ever I'm lost in the woods with a fire strike and a pan, I'm pretty sure you can find these all year round.

Eating wild food makes me feel connected to the landscape and I'm grateful for the gift, i'm sure my body will be too. But I wont be offering this to my friends for dinner if they can ever come and visit --- hashtag lockdown. 

So get out there and keep your eyes peeled for wood ears. 

cleavers are arriving 

pennywort

yew

Herbert

 

My friend George took me here today and didn't let on where we were going or what we'd see, just a walk around the village...so I was blown away when we entered into these woods from a snow covered field after a walk up the frosty hill, blades of crunchy grass twinkling in the sunshine. Beneath the ground are a series of caves and some have collapsed leaving sink holes that fall deep into darkness awesome and equally frightening. If there was a place to throw all those unwanted thoughts and negative patterns this is it...A gift to Mother Earth to reuse and regenerate. The Ancient Yew Trees grow around huge boulders of limestone rock creating what are called scowles. 

A Divine Union of Rock & Yew 

A perfect end to the year.