• Blog

    November Review Cavewoman Blog

    November Review Setting monthly targets has turned out to be one of my better ideas. It has helped me stay more organised and focused than usual and there is a certain satisfaction in achieving the targets. So how did I get on with my ten November targets? Well, I had mixed success, really. I seemed to achieve better in overall goals, rather than specifics, but that’s okay too. I think I was over-ambitious in some areas, while not challenging myself enough in others. Here is my November Review, see what you think.   Organization My November review tells me that this area still needs a lot of work, but at least…

  • Blog

    Ten Favourite Inspirational Quotes

    Inspirational Quotes Coming across a great quote can be very therapeutic, at least that’s been my experience. Sometimes it’s all I need to jolt me out of a creative slump or help me put things into perspective. Everyone probably has their own favourite inspirational quotes, words they reach for when the going gets tough.  The following is a list of my ten favourite inspirational quotes. They range from the whacky to the deeply philosophical and probably reflect the wanderings of my mind! I hope that you enjoy reading them and perhaps come across an interesting one that you haven’t read before.   Ten Favourite Inspirational Quotes  “The two most important days in…

  • Photography

    Happy Snappers Award

    Happy Snappers Judges Choice Award I was delighted to take part in this year’s photography exhibition by Happy Snappers Camera Club and really thrilled to receive the Judges Choice award. There was a fabulous array of photographs on display and it was a great honour to have my picture chosen for this award. The image is titled “Balance” and I shot it at a beach in the UK, not Asia as a lot of people seem to think!   The Happy Snappers award looks stunning and is a testament to the club’s attention to detail and artistic appreciation. The plaque will certainly have pride of place in my home. It’s always exciting to…

  • A Creative Journey

    Noelle and Rosamund Ffrench, Photograph c 1903

    Noelle and Rosamund Ffrench Photograph This photograph of Noelle and Rosamund Ffrench was taken at Hill’s Studio in Galway city around 1903. It is a fairly typical child portrait of the times, though a little more relaxed than most. I love the way that they added a country feel by the use of props, like the gate and spade. Props were very important in those days and helped to convey the story behind the image. Indeed photographers often used them to distinguish between girls and boys at a time when very young children of both genders wore dresses. That is why so many vintage photographs of girls include dolls, while…

  • Creative Writing

    Anchored to the Past: Poem

      Anchored to the Past Anchored to the past, Where shadow hunters stalk the air and sea, There is no escape , no sanctuary. Squawking seabirds, stinging jellyfish, A lone shark looming large Baiting its’ next blood-soaked feast, All await in the ocean of yesterday. Fight or flight to freedom? The mind is trapped in sunken time, Its’ anchor well secured. Free? How can one be free When the captors are shadows And the rusting chains of yesterday Shackle victims below.   ©Bernie Delaney   Notes: This is an updated version of a poem, based on a picture of an anchored shipwreck, Donegal , that I’ve been working on recently.…

  • A Creative Journey

    Bushy Park House: Ivy Clad

    Bushy Park House: Ivy Clad Thank you so much to my mother, Helga Weiss Mullins, for supplying me with this picture of Bushy Park House.  The photograph of the house, covered in ivy, comes from her own personal collection.  This is what the house would have looked like when she arrived from Germany in 1946 and, indeed, it retained that facade well into the 1960’s.  Eventually my father , Larry, decided that the ivy had to go because it could cause structural problems with the building. Tractor Pulling My mother once told me the hilarious story about the day the ivy met its’ end. Larry, on the tractor, tugging at…

  • Photography

    Homeward Bound Photograph

    Homeward Bound Do you ever observe people on the street, watch them  walk by and wonder about them?  Maybe imagine what their life is like and where they are going?  When I spotted this man, walking along by the river, he just gave me the impression that he was homeward bound. I’m not sure why, it was just a feeling. And, of course, the Simon & Garfunkel song immediately jumped into my mind. There was nothing for it, I had to take the shot! And that’s how the Homeward Bound photograph began. The Photograph The photograph was taken in Westport, Co. Mayo.  It’s a lovely spot to visit and it…

  • Photography

    Trapped Photography

     Trapped “Men are not prisoners of fate, but  prisoners of their own minds.”   Franklin D. Roosevelt I love this quote by Roosevelt about feeling trapped. The first time I read it, I had one of those ” light bulb ” moments and it made me stop and reassess things. I realised that, for much of my life, I had been trapped in a cell of my own making. Trapped by a numbing fear of failure that made me question my abilities in so many different areas of life. Therefore, it’s no surprise that this fear affected me creatively. Whether posting images online, or presenting them at clubs and other venues,…