This piece is reminiscent of images of the Arts & Crafts movement from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. William Morris (1834-1896), artist/designer, poet and political activist, is credited with being the innovative pioneer of the Arts & Crafts movement in Britain. Thanks to his influence, medieval themes are the most familiar images of the style (In America, plein-air paintings of the California landscapists are probably the most common.). Morris and his circle despised the vulgarity of 19th century industrialism. It yielded a modern lifestyle which was fragmented in purpose and disconnected from meaning. Morris looked to the medieval guilds and the honesty of hand-craftsmanship for his inspiration. His ideal was to create a world in which life and work were integrated, and both would give meaning and substance to the other. Among Morris' friends was the poet William Butler Yeats, who was a collector of Irish folklore. For Yeats, Irish lore was the literary counterpart to the artistic endeavors of Morris and his followers. On one hand, folklore was an oral tradition which extended back to the Middle Ages and beyond. Secondly, Irish stories were daily accounts of rural life where life, work and the spiritual were bound together. Storytelling, also as a participatory event, was an integral part of existence - it provided entertainment while supplying meaning for daily events. In lieu of these insights, the marriage of Irish folklore with the Arts & Crafts style is naturally one of the most complete expressions of the Arts & Crafts philosophy.
I arrived at a synthesis of these ideas in my work by combining two cherished interests: the love of Irish culture and of the Arts & Crafts aesthetic. It seemed to me to be a perfect union, for at the heart of both is a fully developed sense of community. The Arts & Crafts ideal was to create a community wherein cooperation fostered a good quality of life. Likewise, the rural Irish were farmers who formed tight-knit communities out of necessity. Against relentlessly harsh elements, they shared intimately in one another's successes and failures. Consequently, living in its fullest sense became dear to the Irish countryfolk.
I have drawn inspiration from their magical folk tales. They serve as an entertaining, if not poetic, explanation of the mysterious forces of nature which routinely beset the Irish. My title, Pisreoga, alludes to this. It is a gaelic word for a superstition which involves magical charms or spells. My image deals with a popular narrative that explains what happens when the farmer's most valued commodity goes awry. The antagonist is a solitary individual, usually a woman and often represented red-haired as a symbol of her magical powers. Her intent is to jeopardize the labors of others for reasons of profit or retaliation. She is said to change shape under the cloak of night by assuming the form of a hare in order to suckle the milk from neighboring cow herds. Good milk and butter are emblematic of prosperity. To steal these, or exploit another, is the ultimate affront to the community.
It has not been my intent to illustrate any one particular story. Rather, I wish to capture the essence of the narrative with subtle inference. A female figure departs from a pasture of agitated cows in the dawn. She is bordered below by a row of red hares: reminders of her dual identity. Above, two lovely lines from a poem entitled "Into the Twilight," by Yeats, echo the purpose of the hares. They speak to the transient nature of the shape-changing character, as well as, her ambiguous relationship to the community. The main decorative border, in Arts & Crafts fashion, is comprised of stylized marsh marigolds, the plant most sought after to protect against enchantment. My use of color is deliberate. The original colors, which were much more ominous in tone, have been replaced with a palette which is sympathetic with Arts & Crafts sensibilities in order to enhance the ornamental aesthetic. I believe, in this case, it is better to arrest the eye with an appealing design than create a disturbing image.
My hope is, with thoughtful consideration of both design and content, that this work will continue to appeal to those who wish to incorporate in their home or work environments those things which purely express the goals of the Arts & Crafts movement. Though the value of a work depends upon the viewer's personal interpretation, I hope this explanation will enhance your appreciation for my print. For further insight, you may enjoy reading an anthology of stories compiled by Yeats entitled "Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry," of which I recommend two for the context of this image: "Bewitched Butter (Donegal)," and "Bewitched Butter (Queens County)."
Dale explains how the print was made
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