Malú Colorín (she/her)

The hand-drawn profiles of two men with closed eyes facing one another. The man on the left has dark skin and black hair, the man on the left has grey hair and light skin. They both have beards and moustaches.

The shape for day 17 of #AbstractAdvent2025 looks like a squiggly arrow pointing down.

Day 17 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025 are two bearded men facing each other. Are they lovers? Close friends? Mortal enemies? Who knows… ⚡️

Yesterday I visited a friend and was so inspired by her cosy home. As always, this also brought up sadness because, like so many people in this country, I still don’t have a home of my own. So, here’s a cosy homely scene looking out to the low winter sun 🫖🌞🪴📚

A hand-drawn kitchen counter with a striped teapot, a potted plant sitting on top of 3 stacked books, and a window looking out to the low winter sun.

Ok, I’ve missed the past 4 days of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025, so today I made up for them all by making a drawing that encompasses all those shapes alongside today’s!

A hand-drawn woman blowing a colourful part horn. She has pink hair and a purple dress. There is multicoloured confetti around her.

The shape for day 11 of #AbstractAdvent2025 is a zigzagy shape laid out vertically on the space.

Day 11 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025 is a pink-haired woman blowing a party horn 🥳

I really struggled with the shape! But seriously enjoyed colouring in the hair. Hair has always been my favourite part of a drawing, ever since I was a wee pre-teen making Harry Potter fanart.

The hand-drawn face of a reptile with bright yellow and green eyes covers the whole page.

The shape of #AbstractAdvent2025 day 10 is made up of an irregular vertical line with two smaller staggering irregular horizontal lines sticking out of it on each side.

Day 10 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025 is the giant face of a fantastical reptile! A dragon, perhaps? 🐉

A hand-drawn scene of a colourful fish swimming above a big rock and a patch of seaweed.

The shapes for day 8 of #AbstractAdvent2025 are four squiggly lines laying vertically next to each other.

The shape for day 9 of #AbstractAdvent2025 is an irregular rounded shape with the right side taller than the left side.

I missed yesterday’s #AbstractAdvent2025, so today I made a drawing that incorporates the shapes of both day 8 and day 9! An underwater scene 🐠🪨

Awww thanks so much! 🥰

A hand-drawn image of a white bunny rabbit wearing oversized pijamas and a woolly hat. They are standing in front of a bed.

The shape of day 6 of #AbstracAdvent2025 are two wobbly lines joined at the top, like a pair of wiggly trousers.

Day 6 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025 is a wee bunny rabbit wearing oversized pijamas and a woolly hat 🐰

I think I immediately gave the bunny pijamas because I used to have Peter Rabbit bedsheets as a child and I LOVED them! 🥰

That's him. This year's GOAT, Aryan #ToyShow #LateLateToyShow

It's just not the #LateLateToyShow if a 9 year old doesn't sing with the voice of a 94 year old pub singer who looks like they're made out of turf.

✨ Flax zines/posters! ✨

The last pieces I want to show you from the InterWOVEN exhibition are this series of zines/posters. Each of them represents relationships, knowledge, and invitations related to the history and resurgence of flax in Ireland.

A hand-drawn fly with bright green eyes licks a spill of bright red jam.

The shape of day 5 of #AbstractAdvent is an oval shape with radiating lines inside it, like the spokes of a bike.

Day 5 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025 is a funky fly licking a yummy jam spill 🪰

A drawing of two young friends in black ushanka hats and mittens chatting animatedly on a snowy day. The one on the left has brown hair and two braids, a blue jumper with geometric colourwork on the chest and a red long skirt. The one on the right has short black hair, a green jumper with geometric colourwork in the yoke and cuffs and jeans.

The shape for #AbstractAdvent2025 are two oval-ish shapes next to each other, with a gap in between them.

Day 4 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025 is a pair of young friends in ushankas having a lively chat on a snowy day ❄️

It was fun to do the designs on their woolly jumpers! And lovely to draw while sipping on my capuccino at my favourite local coffee shop ☕️✏️

The hand-drawn face of angry man covers the whole page. His nose is blue and his round cheeks pink and shiny. His angry forehead is the bottom part of a semi circle.

Day 3 shape of #AbstractAdvent2025 is the bottom part of a semi circle standing on top of a tall and thin rectangle.

Day 3 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025 is an angry geometric man 🤷🏽‍♀️

I had to finish colouring the forehead using my left hand, because my tennis elbow has flared up these days and colouring becomes painful 😫 There may be more left-handed drawings in the coming days.

YouTube video by Talú Being pulled gently, but firmly

Another piece I had the privilege to make for and exhibit at the ‘InterWOVEN’ group show. This is made of wild clay from the Poulaphouca reservoir and flax from my garden and from Mallon Linen farm. It shows the interconnected relationship us humans have with the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum 🩵

A hand-drawn illustration of a red-haired girl with freckles and green eyes. She’s wearing a ridiculous headdress that looks like an upside down red basket with golden details and an emerald stone. Her braided hair sticks out at either side. She’s wearing a purple long-sleeved dress with what looks like a dagger sticking out of her green pocket.

Day 2 shape for #abstractadvent2025 looks like the silhouette of an upside down basket

Day 2 of @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025: a sort of Little My wearing a ridiculously regal headdress 😂🫶🏽

I’m thinking I’ll make a little hand-bound book with all of these at the end of advent! ✨

A hand-drawn illustration of a tall, curvy pink vase with a selection of flowers and leaves.

Day 1 shape of #abstractadvent2025: a tall curvy sillhouette of what looks like a pile of round shapes on top of one another.

My friend Ione invited me to participate in @artpedagogy.bsky.social’s #AbstractAdvent2025, so here’s my interpretation of the first shape! 🌼

Love a fun excuse to do a bit of quick illustration, especially in December, as I start to wind down after the flurry of summer and autumn 😌

If you want the text-only version of the recipe DM me :)

The final page of the concertina birthday card/recipe booklet shows how to assemble the “Tacos Habsburgos”, finishing off with “¡Disfruta mucho!” The front page of the birthday card/recipe booklet is also visible.

For me, it was a lovely opportunity to remember some of my bookbinding lessons from college, by making a concertina birthday card/recipe booklet. And, of course, always fun to make lettering and illustrations inspired by the ubiquitous hand-drawn Mexican signage! 🖌️

The sixth and seventh pages of the concertina birthday card/recipe booklet show the steps to correctly heat the blue corn tortillas.

Ben’s adaptation turns the crêpes into tacos, using blue corn tortillas – the superior envelope for any foodstuff 😜 It also uses tinned ingredients that can easily be found in Picado Mexican Pantry, Dublin.

The third and fourth pages of the concertina birthday card/recipe booklet. The steps of the recipe are broken down, starting with the salsa.

The firth and sixth pages of the concertina birthday card/recipe booklet. The steps of the recipe are broken down, continuing with el relleno (the stuffing) and the tortillas.

As you can imagine, that didn’t end well for him, but his entourage –which included European chefs– stayed in the country and developed recipes like this one, using European techniques with Mexican ingredients.

The first two pages of this concertina birthday card/recipe booklet. It has a birthday message and lists the ingredients to make “Tacos Habsburgos”. There is an illustration of two Poblano chilies with crème fraîche, coriander seeds and ground nutmeg flecks.

The second and third pages of the concertina birthday card/recipe booklet. The list of ingredients to make “Tacos Habsburgos” continues. There is an illustration of two Poblano chilies with crème fraîche, coriander seeds and ground nutmeg flecks. There are also illustrations of huitlacoche (corn truffle) growing on a corn cob and two courgette flowers.

Ben adapted a crêpe recipe that can trace its origins back to the 19th century, when the conservatives in the newly formed independent state of Mexico invited one of the Habsburgs to be emperor.

A hand-drawn birthday card with colourful letters saying “¡Feliz Cumpleaños Eithne!”. The letters are drawn emulating the ubiquitous Mexican lettering that adorns shop fronts, street markets and taco stalls. There is a piñata next to the letters, as well as colourful confetti falling.

@ingoldsbyben.bsky.social’s auntie celebrated a big birthday on Saturday, and she asked us to gift her a Mexican recipe 🌮

YouTube video by Talú I'm an ecosystem made up of all the places and beings that have nourished me

Now that the ‘InterWOVEN’ exhibition has finished, here’s a walkthrough of one of the pieces I had on display. This is a very personal piece that I think of as a self-portrait of sorts. It will surely keep changing and evolving if and when it’s shown again ✨

youtu.be/x38jPf3RUtc?...

Surrealing in the Years: Sorry Simon, maybe Ireland doesn't want to be a 'centrist' country Hey, I didn’t make the rules.

“Ireland’s proud history of better-things-aren’t-possible centrism” cracked me up 😂

www.thejournal.ie/readme/surre...

It kinda *is* a finger trampoline, I guess 😂

Looks great in there!

Glad you liked it, a chara! 💖

WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY SCRATCH DISKS ARE FULL?!?

I have 50GB free space and I’m trying to open a 1GB file. I cannot, #Adobe.

I don’t even use all the new AI features that make the apps unnecessarily heavy.

Will definitely be cancelling my Cloud subscription afted this job.

Fear, flags and flights Tricolours aren't the only expression of hostility in Ireland

🇮🇪 new substack looking at flagmania in ireland and why it's complete hypocrisy for the government to condemn this, while simultaneously choosing to spend €5 million on a deportation contract that exists solely for optics

Guess which plant makes what colour?

Let’s play a little game! 🎉

As you know, I’m doing a FREE call this Monday 15 September at 6:30pm Irish time to give you my best tips to identify dye plants in the wild and help you guess the shades they could make.

In advance of this, I thought it would be fun to do a little guessing game! 🧵