As some of you probably have noticed we have not been publishing as many posts as usual over the last couple of months. This is due to some exciting developments and we would like to tell you all about them now.
For the last seven years we have been very busy planning and creating our forest garden, building our sustainable home and supporting our four teenagers navigating their way through secondary school. This year two of them are in college, one in adult services and the last one just finishing up his second level education. The forest garden is pretty established and the house needs some maintenance but is at a nice comfortable stage. We are both creative individuals and have put our skills to use in practical ways over these past few years, building bottle and tyre walls, designing and making mosaics and creating a green haven for plants, wildlife and people. We love sharing our space and this blog is part of that process. In future we are hoping to hold courses, open days and events in many different creative areas.
I never got a chance to go to college when I was younger and the last twenty years I have been a carer for my autistic daughter. It has been an interesting journey but at the back of my mind was always the dream of educating myself further. One of our daughters went to college this year to study for a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Animation and Illustration and I was to say the least, green with envy. I kept saying to people; imagine if I could do that!
Then, in October I woke up suddenly one night to a revelation. I probably could! I was so excited and lay there for hours turning ideas over in my mind as darkness turned to dawn outside the window.
Since then plans have been drawn up, applications made and many happy hours spent on preparing a portfolio. I have always had a passion for drawing and the course I have applied to combines illustration with animation, another one of my favourite art forms. I love stop motion animation in particular.
I now have a busy time in front of me up until March when my portfolio will need to be ready for submission. After that the land and house will need a lot of work over the spring and summer and then, hopefully I will start college next year in September. I will still come back home every weekend, some nights of the week and all the school holidays, but I imagine this blog will be suffering quite a lot during the four years I intend to study. I am planning to write at least one garden update a month and a few other posts on anything in particular that catches my attention as well.
I think it is very important to realize that it is never too late to follow your dreams. I will meet the age criteria for a mature student (23) more than twice over but it does not matter. I am planning to work hard, have fun and learn a lot of new things. I am very grateful for this chance and please wish me luck on getting accepted to the course.
thegreenerdream 
Good luck with your portfolio submission and hopefully you will get into the course. It will be very exciting for you to get the chance to go to college. While you are studying in college I will work on becoming more independent.
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Yes it will be great for both of us Josie, and I will still be at home a lot too so we can keep on doing fun things together. 🙂 x
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Great news Maria .
where will you be studying ?I believe there is a very good animation course in Dublin . To me you are already one of the most creative , original artists I know so god knows what you will be like after 4 years intensive study…??
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Your news about college is brilliant Maria. I agree its never too late!
Jill x
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Thank you Jill. I’m so looking forward to it! x
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Best of luck. You’re so creative, I’m sure you’ll have lots to teach your teachers 😉
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Thanks Lorna! I have heard that teachers rarely listen to students though… 😂
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Good luck, Maria, I have my fingers crossed for you being accepted onto the course! Being a mature student is an amazing thing, you have so much experience to draw on as well as your creative flair. Enjoy it! (Don’t forget to post a few photos if you have time!) 🙂
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Yes I think being a mature student can have many benefits. One of my daughters is doing first year of the same course now and she will be able to help me out if I get stuck as I don’t know too much about digital drawing and animation. I might post a few pieces that will go in the portfolio here in a few weeks. It is amazing to take the time to draw and paint every day. I did not realize how much I had missed it. I bet you are still enjoying the Garden Awakening book. 💖
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Well, I am completely hopeless at drawing and painting but I do understand your pleasure in being able to do it every day. I feel the same way about gardening, knitting, spinning, etc – time to be creative is a true blessing. Yes, I am really enjoying the book, in fact I’ve almost finished reading it for the second time! It’s so inspiring, a forest garden is definitely in the pipeline! 🙂
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I think that all creative avenues are worth exploring and some are more fun than others. Gardening is just another form of painting, nudging the shapes and colours of the plants into pleasing combinations and enjoying the wildlife that makes the “painting” come alive! I would like to learn how to spin as I have my grandmothers old spinning wheel here but so far I have not found the time. Hopefully one day… 🙂
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