Read the latest blog from celebrated illustrator and Children's Laureate PJ Lynch...
I am just starting off my second year as Laureate na nÓg and, after a very busy first twelve months, June was relatively quiet.
The month kicks off with a visit to Listowel Writers’ Week. This year I am not here strictly as Laureate but to promote the book I have done with Ryan Tubridy, however, given that Ryan is one of Ireland’s biggest advocates of reading for pleasure, every event we do ends up with the pair of us encouraging children to get lost in books.
It is a lovely balmy afternoon when I arrive at the Listowel Arms Hotel. During Writers’ Week it is hard to go ten steps without bumping into an author or illustrator, and sure enough there is a bunch, including Ryan, mingling on the square. We agree to meet for a drink… where else, but John B Keane’s Bar.
Billy Keane is a convivial host and takes a few of us upstairs to see the little room where his father wrote his wonderful plays. I try out John B’s typewriter in the hope that some of his writing genius might rub off on me. Back at the hotel the session looks set to go on till the early hours but I remember that I have an early start for my first event, a live portrait demonstration with Ryan as my model. So I leave the revelers and get a few hours sleep.
Great shot of Ryan posing for me in Listowel.
— PJ Lynch (@PJLynchArt) June 21, 2017
https://t.co/LkM2AfWhAK pic.twitter.com/ySRBGNfbg1
In the morning as the room starts to fill up I wonder what I have got myself into. I try to settle Ryan into a good pose and I realise my fatal mistake. I have put the consummate performer in front of a big enthusiastic audience and I am asking him to sit still and say nothing. Of course it doesn’t work! Questions are thrown up from the audience and Ryan jokes and mugs for the crowd. I surrender, and try to snatch a few minutes painting here and there. My portrait is looking more like Prince Charles than Ryan and I am getting seriously worried, but with a few minutes to go I manage to pull it together into a half decent likeness. What a relief! And the audience loved the event…it was certainly something different.
After Listowel, I snatch a few days at home with the family and then it’s up North to George Best Airport in Belfast to meet the Australian Laureate, Leigh Hobbs. I first met Leigh at the Bologna Book Fair and he mentioned that he had received letters from a primary school in Ireland. Turned out to be Ballyholme Primary in Bangor where my nephew, Luke, had been a student and, as I know Bangor well, we invited Leigh to come and visit the children who loved his Mr Chicken books so much.
It’s great to see Leigh again and we show him around Bangor and the lovely Ballyholme Bay….no time to see Belfast on this trip, but it’s great that I get to visit with my sister Katrina, her husband Stephen and Luke.
In the morning we get a wonderful warm welcome from Miss Ferguson and the staff and children of Ballyholme Primary and we all have great fun learning to draw Leigh’s Old Tom and Mr Chicken. All followed up with tea and pastries. Yummy!
During the drive down to Dun Laoghaire for our next event, Leigh and I have a chance to chat and gossip about books and life Down Under. The three-hour journey flies in and soon we are meeting former Irish Laureates, Siobhán Parkinson and Niamh Sharkey, in the magnificent LexIcon library for an event aptly entitled From Australia with Love. It is a fun and thought-provoking evening.
Next morning Leigh and I meet a super group of children in the LexIcon for more drawing and I even manage to film Leigh in action for one of my Big Picture video podcasts.
Leigh’s visit is over all too soon and I get a bit of time to catch up on some work in the studio.
Then, out of the blue, I am asked to put on a reduced version of my touring exhibition, Pilgrims, Princesses and Beardy Old Men at Áras an Uachtaráin during this year’s Bloomsday Garden Party, and, best of all, my wife Barbara, and the kids and I are invited along too.
I rope my eldest son Ben into picture-hanging and easel-carrying duty and we are both thrilled with our first visit to the Áras. I confess I am a bit flustered when Mrs Sabina Higgins, joins us to oversee the preparations for the garden party. Ben is as cool as a cucumber!
Then the day of the garden party itself comes and it is one of the hottest days of the year. I am trussed up in a jacket and tie and proudly wearing my Laureate medal and hovering by my exhibition to chat to anyone who is interested. Lots of people are in Bloomsday costume which is a good talking point, and it’s great to see several authors whom I know as well.
First picture in my mini exhibition is the cover painting for The Names Upon The Harp by Marie Heaney, and I am surprised and thrilled when Marie and her daughter Catherine arrive and we have a good old catch-up.
The day continues with readings and recitals, and sambos and tea. The Stunning give a brilliant performance in the marquee and President Higgins recites one of his poems to a cool accompaniment from the band. It works stunningly well!
Then things start to wind down and the party-goers head home but there is one last treat for me and my family, when our son Sam, gets to play on the President’s piano with special permission from Mrs Higgins. Sam rises to the occasion and plays his heart out.
It’s a wonderful end to a perfect day.
We need your consent to load this Vimeo contentWe use Vimeo to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
