A few years ago I started calling my work ‘The Art of Calm’.

There were two reasons. Working with ink needs me to be calm. The ink knows when I’m rushing, distracted, or disturbed. It reflects my tensions back to me.

The second reason …

The project I just finished was in a very diverse, multicultural school, working with 11-year olds. Some were recent arrivals in Ireland, some from disrupted or traumatic backgrounds. Others carried the complex experience of living in relative poverty in an affluent culture.

It had the potential to be difficult, disruptive and confrontational. This risk was enhanced by the continuing thrum of racist rhetoric from flag-waving hypocrites at the national and social media levels - a thrum that recently burst into violent flames in Belfast, with Musk-inspired racists trying to burn ‘foreigners’ out of their homes.

Yet the classroom was calm, joyous and beautiful.

Perfection is a myth.

Practice is about putting in place the foundations.

Time I borrow from myself can never be paid back…..

I stepped into the world of the corporate elite.

Here’s why it did not worry me, being there…..