One of my greatest inspirations are my little nieces & nephews. They look at the world with new & fresh eyes. I think that’s how artists should be & I love sitting with them & chatting about what they see. Here’s one of my nieces & myself after a busy day exchanging ideas!
I love creating art. I think you can see that joy in the works. It’s fantastic that my drawings make people happy & a great pleasure when I’m sent photos of the framed drawings in new homes! I’m really grateful for that!
It’s important to me that art is accessible. I think it’s a good thing that kids live with original art in their home - & that they are inspired by it. A surprising number of people (to me) buy my work for their kids
Dreaming was a key part of storytelling in early medieval Ireland. In dreaming one had access to the Otherworld (or as I would call it, the imagination). The Otherworld was the land of the gods or lucht na Sidhe
Here the inspiration was the manuscripts of the later Middle Ages. Inspiration comes from the Hiberno Norman manuscripts. My mother is a FitzGerald after all 
I’ve been doing commissions this month. Usually people see an idea they like & then add a question about how I might approach a subject. This is a present for a friend of a friend
Another commission where I worked with the client to express emotion through their favourite animals - swans! One is about metamorphosis & freedom. The other has humour & is down to earth.
Hares have a big part in Celtic lore & mythology. They are animals that transform into a Celtic goddess. As you can see here I’ve added in ideas of Earth, sky, constellations & biology.
Woodland was rare, even in the Early Medieval Period, so was imbued with magical qualities or being put under a spell. Here a woman has fallen into a floating sleep below some ornate & ancient trees.
Thread: For many this Pride is one of the scariest of modern times. Criminalisation of Trans kids & adults, banning of Pride, media campaigns against LGBT+ ppl, violence & persecution are found from the EU, thru the UK to the US.
I want to show how LGBT+ ppl are heroic.
Willem Arondeus (1894-1943) was a Dutch artist & writer, a proud gay man, a founder member of the Dutch Resistance & Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jewish lives.
He demonstrated that LGBT+ ppl are not cowards & will not be cowed.
He grew up in Amsterdam. When he was 17 he told his parents that he was gay & they later kicked him out for refusing to hide it (aged 18). To eke out a living he painted, created illustrations & wrote. He discovered in himself a fierce independence.
It amazes me the number of ppl with ‘Christian’ in their bios who seem to be completely unaware of Jesus being Gay. There are gonna be some awkward conversations at the Pearly Gates [John 13:23]*
Happy Pride!
*given that entire ‘churches’ are based on Leviticus & a disputed version of who can shag who, it’s amazing that Christianity overlooks how often JC is shown as Gay for Jonno. Leviticus, BTW, also says it’s AOK to own slaves, sinful to wear cotton-Lycra jocks & eat surf & turf…
Matthew 7:5 has some relevant side-eye
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
The stupidity of ethnic English nationalism really is breathtaking. Europe is not miles away -
the British border is in Ireland [no wonder these tulips tied themselves in knots over it!]. In light of that ignorance, not knowing that GBS is Irish, is relatively minor!
I think that colonial history should be compulsory in English schools. Being a nationalist is the norm in most of Europe. However being an ethnic nationalist, with its emphasis on exclusion, is [to put it mildly] problematic. Ask anyone who has studied the period 1939-45.
Just to be clear Matthew was being humorous & I was agreeing with him. Today I’ve really realised how few ppl actually read threads & jump on the first Tweet with their opinion. Having said that I doubt anyone will read this 😉 .@DrMatthewSweet
Thread: To celebrate Pride Month I put together a celebration of LGBT+ artists & writers who have been central to Irish culture & our sense of who we are. Given past persecution it’s impressive how important they have been or are presently!
Mary Dorcey (b 1950) is a poet, writer & member of Aosdána. Her work is critically acclaimed & moving. She has campaigned for LGBTQI & has provided a voice for the community through activism & words
‘I have seen mad women in my time
- I have never seen them mad enough.’ (1991)
Here’s an overview of my own art. It’s all about love, hope & happiness.
Thread: I love using bold vibrant colours, pattern & clarity of line in my ink on paper drawings. Sometimes they look deceptively simple, but if you zoom in you can see why they can take up to eight hours to draw. Here’s some more drawings
Visit Etsy to see all my available drawings that you can purchase right now: etsy.com/ie/shop/robboh…
Wild Orchids (2021) | Original ink on paper drawing by Robert Bohan
Buy here: etsy.me/3MJHx9H
Japanese Ground Orchids (2021) | Original ink on paper drawing by Robert Bohan
Buy here: etsy.me/3piLysf