Lovely flowers

Some beautiful lilies which my boyfriend bought…I just had to share them with you! They smell absolutely amazing, but unfortunately I can’t share that with you too.

Incredible Creatives – Eveleen Murphy

Broken Flamingo by Eveleen Murphy

This is the wonderful work of artist Eveleen Murphy, who I used to share a studio with in the Backwater Artists Group, and who I collaborated with in the Half and Half Opposites exhibition. Her exhibition I heart, he hearts was one of the most magnificent exhibitions I have ever seen. I love the vitality in Eveleen’s work, and her bold sense of colour – some colours shouldn’t work, but they do, and this gives them an offbeat uniqueness which is fascinating.

My boyfriend once gave me a gift of the picture above – a complete surprise, and he selected my favourite painting from the series! Some time after this I discovered it was called ‘Broken Flamingo’, which proved it was meant to be!

Exploding Beetroot Storm by Eveleen Murphy

Eveleen is currently completing a masters in Painting in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. More work can be seen on her website, or keep up to date with her latest work on her Facebook Page.

Postcard from Ethiopia

What makes a warm, sunny day in Cork even better? Well, a postcard from Ethiopia of course! This was my first postcard from Africa, a lovely surprise from a friend who works there for part of the year. The artwork is by Ethiopian artist Zerihun Seyoum.

New work - Luna Series 'One'

The  'Luna' series has had a break of a few years, but it is finally back with a new picture! This is an ethereal and otherworldly collection of pictures inspired by the moon. The dreamlike characters exist in a twilight world, which sparkles full of magic and love. This image is called 'One'. As always, products are available in my Society6 Shop.

Cork Bus Tour

Recently I went on the Cork Bus Tour. It is interesting seeing your city from another perspective, but it wasn't the most exciting city tour I’ve been on (I’m thinking of you, Barcelona!); maybe I should have done this when I first moved to Cork. It took us around the main sights of Cork, which are (apart from the Gaol) mainly walkable. The highlight was when it stopped in front of the historic Fenn’s Quay terrace, where I used to live! My advice: wrap up even if it is a sunny day, and remember boyfriends may not be able to control a packet of crisps when the bus is turning sharp corners.

Liberty Grill breakfast

Here's my vegetarian breakfast from Liberty Grill in Cork City. The queues out the door on the weekend will give you an indication of how popular this place is, and the reason is that it’s friendly, efficient, and they know how to perfectly poach an egg! Make your mouth water with their menu here.

The Man in the Hat exhibition at Cork Coffee Roasters

The Man in the Hat - aka talented artist and musician Antonio Bernal – has an exhibition at Cork Coffee Roasters for the month of April, where he showcases his watercolour series of the travels of the enigmatic Man in the Hat.

Drop in to pick up a framed Giclée Man in the Hat Art Print at only €65 (small) or €85 (large) and sample some of the best coffee in Cork (although be warned, their espressos are only for serious coffee drinkers!)

Incredible Creatives – Petal to Petal

A selection of designs by Petal to Petal

Here is the work of my sister Lily, a surface pattern designer living in Berlin. As her pseudonym Petal to Petal, she creates highly detailed designs, most of which are painstakingly drawn with a very very fine-tipped pen. 

I love her delicate and distinctive designs, and look forward to seeing them prettifying some surfaces near me in the near future! See more on Lily’s website or Facebook page.

Textile design on canvas shoes...pretty!

One of my favourite pieces - so delicate.

Hay House Radio

I am more than a little enthusiastic about Hay House Radio, an absolutely fabulous free online talk radio streaming service from Hay House which I discovered about a year ago.

I used to spend a good bit of time trying to find free positive or new thought talk podcasts online. It had never occurred to me that something this excellent was available – for free! – so I had never even looked for it.

Hay House Radio hosts some of the world’s leading new thought writers and thinkers, with weekly slots on the radio covering a huge range of topics. You can listen to amazing people such as Kris Carr, Eldon Taylor, Dr. Darren Weissman, Gabrielle Bernstein and my favourite lady of all, Denise Linn.

If you want to join in the discussion you can phone in (it’s free from the US and Canada). What’s more, you can listen to recent shows anytime for free in the Listen Again Archive, or have access to the entire back catalogue for a fee.

A great feature is that Hay House Radio doesn’t have news bulletins. If you’re a bit fed up with the gloomfest of your usual talk radio, this is the place for you.

What to say about me

I am in the process of creating a new website which will be more true to me than any previous incarnations of my online self. I have been stressing over what to say in the ‘about’ section. Do I put the usual education/work experience blurb that makes my website a glorified CV? Or could I try to be a little truer to myself?

I chose to write something true, and here it is:

My aim is to create honest work that makes you feel good.

I believe that like attracts like, so I have chosen to make only positive art. I try to make it beautiful, or fun, or both and I hope this comes across in my work.

I was lucky to grow up in a creative household.

One of my first memories is attending a basket-making workshop with my Mum. I constantly had art projects on the go, with the highlight being homemade paper shoes - my sister and I were gutted that our Mum wouldn’t let us wear them outside.

I have always liked to make small, detailed things.

I especially enjoyed making tiny belongings like toys, cakes and cheeseboards for my Sylvanian Family house, and having clandestine tea parties with their tea sets using real fruit juice and cake crumbs (my sister can confirm this).

My family immigrated to Ireland from England when I was ten.

It was nothing like the only countryside I knew, the one I had read about in my Enid Blyton books. Being so different to everyone else made a quiet girl like me even more shy.

As a teenager I sold crafts in local gift shops…

…as we lived too far from a town for me to get a part-time job. Among other things I sold paintings, friendship bracelets, greetings cards, corsages and genuine leprechaun hats (thankfully no one sued me for that!).

I grew up with a deep awareness of astrology.

My parents are interested in this and other esoteric subjects, and these things always seemed intrinsic and natural to me.

I wanted to be an illustrator and graphic designer.

I attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. At the end of my core year I was torn between fine art and graphic design. My head won over my heart and I chose the latter, as back then I was trying to be a ‘proper’ grown up.

When I graduated I began my long search for ‘proper’.I donated my collection of pretty dresses to a charity shop, as I carried the smart/casual conservative dress code of my new workplace into my personal life.

I worked as an in-house graphic designer for a number of years.Although I worked on some exciting projects, it wasn’t where my heart was.

I spent most of my twenties lost.

I was trying to be someone I wasn’t, around people who weren’t for me. It was a lonely time – square peg in a round hole doesn’t even begin to describe it. I always felt there was something more to life than what I was experiencing, and I felt guilty about not living life to the full. I was convinced there was something out there for me that was just…more.

I repeatedly found myself in crazy situations…

…with deceptive characters in my life, or accidentally offending people when strange twists of fate made them interpret my innocuous actions in the wrong way (this still happens sometimes – a great reminder that I’ve gone a little off-course!).

Then my Mum told me ‘you’ve tried being ordinary and you’re not – now be extraordinary.’

I thought about it. I cried. I realised to do this I had to trust myself more, to love myself more. And I realised loving myself was essentially just being true to myself, and allowing myself to do what I loved. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I began to open myself up to change.

When I started to trust, I began to find me.

Perfectly-timed coincidences began to happen. I met a new friend for coffee, and she asked me if I knew about affirmations (she told me later that she had no idea why she brought that up, she had never talked to anyone about it before!). I began a new job in a small company, and the only other girl working there taught Louise L. Hay workshops. After attending one of her classes I realised that this was the world that felt comfortable and uplifting – that felt ‘right’ – to me.

The affirmation card I pulled at the beginning of that Louise L. Hay class was ‘I am flexible and flowing’.

At the time I was disappointed to pull this relatively mundane card when some of the other participants selected such exciting ones. I felt I was already pretty adaptable and open-minded. But that important sentence stayed with me, and often pops into my head.

I began to explore new worlds.

I revisited astrology and tarot, and looked into Buddhism, clutter clearing and minimalism, vision boards, meditation, tapping and dowsing among many others. Some of these were for me and some weren’t. Just because something has changed someone else’s life doesn’t mean it will change yours – you are not them.

I started to incorporate some of these philosophies into my art and design.

To me, the two worlds complement and inform each other, so combining them seemed totally natural to me. I began to create images informed by my interest and understanding of esoteric energies, and without the use of recycled, clichéd motifs.

As I embraced these new ideas, I felt compelled to let go of old ones.

I embraced the idea of new minimalism, the idea of having ‘enough’. I donated about 2/3 of my wardrobe, books and other belongings to charity (this time I donated the things that weren’t me, rather than the things that were!) and recycled or dumped lots of sentimental items that served no purpose.

With this change in my outer reality, other things began to shift to align with my new philosophy.

The people that made me feel bad left my life. The deceptive characters just stayed away from me. Disrupting individuals pop up now and then, but I’m learning to deal with them.

I am learning to not let other people’s opinions matter so much.

It’s sometimes hard to be authentically yourself in a society which is so critical. I have been shocked by the meanness of some (almost always anonymous!) people on the Internet, but I believe in karma and balance, that our souls are here to learn, and that everything happens for a reason (including you reading this!)

That was my story…

…and I wouldn’t change a second, because who knows who and where I’d be now if things had gone any differently?

However, as Oprah says, ‘you are not your past.’

The past and future are important…but now is what is most significant.  And being alive on this planet right now is pretty darn good. We are so lucky to have a choice in how we want to live our lives, to have a chance to live life to the full when so many others have not.

At the present I’m enormously grateful…

…to be living in my cosy home in such a friendly city, with lovely friends and such an extraordinary love in my life.

As the Dalai Lama said, ‘Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.’

Anyone that contributes to positivity and love by helping or inspiring others is a treasure, so that’s what I will try to be.

I don’t believe we ever stop searching, growing or changing…

…and that’s a very exciting concept. There is so much more to learn, do and see, so many more strangers to make into friends and places to make our homes.

I feel that I am finally on the right path.

In a recent visualisation I met my angel of healing. I was astonished to discover that she was very similar to the dark-eyed angel I have been repeatedly making in paper collages.

I would like to work with positive, well-meaning people…

…as I believe that what we focus on and create multiplies. If feel my services can be of benefit to you, please get in touch, or if you like my work please check out my Etsy and Society6 Shops.

So here I am.

This is my honest and authentic, unvarnished self, doing what I love and wearing pretty dresses again. Welcome to my world, I’m very pleased to meet you!

Irish Breakfast Brooches

This is an idea I have had in mind for about 3 years, and finally completed last week. I have been making 'wearable art' jewellery in the form of an Irish Breakfast. Each piece of food is constructed carefully by hand from paper, card, clay and other mixed media, then hand-painted in acrylic, assembled on the plate then varnished for protection. They are for sale on my Etsy Shop, where I will be adding new items soon. They take me aaaages to make, but I absolutely love making them!

Polish Easter Feast

My friend Gosia told me that Easter in Poland is a big deal, and when I was invited for Easter dinner at her house last Sunday I could see she wasn’t kidding. Stuffed eggs, cold meats and cheese, Russian salad, horseradish, homemade bread (which had been blessed in church) was followed by chicken, sausages and cabbage, then three (yes, three!) types of cake. The table was decorated with pretty painted eggs. Her boyfriend was a bit exhausted from 3 days of cooking to prepare the feast. I find trying foods from other cultures very exciting, and it’s part of the reason I became un-vegetarian. It helps when it’s delicious too!


When I got home I was in a bit of a food coma, but couldn’t resist opening my Easter egg. It’s a good thing I was recently given an exercise bike!


Eleanor xx

♥ Welcome to my blog! ♥

♥ Welcome to my blog! ♥ Jupiter in Love is Eleanor Reilly, a positive artist from Cork, Ireland (here is a picture of me posing by the River Lee in Fitzgerald’s Park). I believe that like attracts like, so I have chosen to make only positive art and I try to make it beautiful, or fun, or both. On this blog I plan to post pictures and writings about the things I love. I hope you like them too. e xx