When I began my residency at HydeBridge Gallery, the project was always going to be about Susan (Lily) and Elizabeth (Lolly) Yeats. I wanted to emphasise their contribution to art and culture in Ireland as so little is known about them. But how to translate that contribution with my own creativity was a challenge. I work with water based medium; acrylic and collage but primarily with watercolour. Also digital art and pattern design. How do I correlate the two???

THE IDEA
I set to work, gathering all the information I could on Elizabeth & Lily. After some time figuring out how to blend their story with my own form of art making, it soon became clear to base this project on a book. Their first published book, as this was a moment in their story that fills me with aww. 
It’s the turn of the 20th Century, a time when women “have their place” and they decide to set up their own “kelmscott press” but call it Dun Emer Press, named after the heroine Emer, known in Celtic mythology for her artistic skills. It was all new and exciting and possibly a little scary. These three women boldly took the first steps into something unknown.  This is why I chose their first published book, it was an adventure.
The first published book with Dun Emer Press was In The Seven Woods: Being Poems Chiefly of the Irish Heroic Age – by WB Yeats, their brother. I wanted my own book to reflect the spirit of their craftsmanship and the ethos of Dun Emer Press…

“A wish to find work for Irish hands in the making of beautiful things”…

“The idea is to make beautiful things: this, of course, means materials honest and true & the application to them of deftness of hand, brightness of colour, and cleverness of design”.

– excerpts taken from Dun Emer Press Prospectus written by Elizabeth Yeats

THE ARTWORK
Here’s the twist, rather than reprint the poems in text, each poem will be interpreted visually through hand-painted pattern designs. Made in the style of the Art and Craft Movement, these patterns will be rich in colour and in intricate detail.
Painted in watercolour, the very medium Elizabeth herself is proficient in. Each pattern for every literary work from the book, is designed to evoke its tone and mood. I’ve drawn on floriography, the language of flowers, to create motifs that translate poetic feeling into visual form.

THE WORDS
I don’t just want to make a book with pretty patterns, I want to create a book of substance and my original objective, to emphasise the sisters’ contribution to art and culture in Ireland. That is why I’m including a small background into their story. 
However during the process of hashing out the manuscript, it was pointed out to me by Susan (O’Keeffe), Director of the Yeats Building, that my project is focused more on Elizabeth and less so toward Lily. 
And she was absolutely right, it has been a tribute to Elizabeth not the Yeats sisters and it was glaring me in the face.
It was Elizabeth who felt inspired to emulate what Morris did with Kelmscott Press and it was Elizabeth who worked on creating the books; letterpress, bookbinding and who was proficient in watercolour, while Lily solely worked on embroidery, which is a skill I’ve not yet explored.  
The more I pondered on what Susan pointed out to me, the more it made sense to lean in and make this project about Elizabeth. Which is the right thing to do I feel, Elizabeth was a force of nature in her own right, and like many women in history that were audacious and had moxy need to be acknowledged.

THE BOOK
In the spirit and reflection of a Dun Emer book, mine will be hand-bound and crafted with the same craftsmanship and care, with the help of Hubert Bookbindery in Co. Cork. It will also be printed in Caslon font, in black ink with red titles.
Though the cover of a Dun Emer Press book is in white linen, mine will be a beautiful deep evergreen linen, simple and elegant with a nod to the Irish landscape with off-white archival paper chosen for its texture and softness.
At the end of the book there will be a colophon. A short note that was popular during the Arts & Craft movement. Traditionally it celebrated and acknowledging the people, materials, and methods involved in producing the book.
And finally just like a Dun Emer book this will be a limited run. Each copy will be assembled slowly, by hand; not mass-produced but crafted. They will also be numbered and stamped for authenticity.