Maeve O’Sullivan

Transformation

Our big sister Jean always has a project on the go. This summer she is presiding over the dining-room, converted into an arts and crafts studio. She’s running workshops for small groups of bored schoolchildren on holidays, to help pay for an open-ended trip to the U.S. She has done a deal with Mum, who is allowing Jean to host them in the house, as long as she lets us three young ones sit in. Wearing multi-coloured bell-bottoms, a cheesecloth blouse and her signature red Afro hairstyle, Jean offers clear instructions and occasional praise. We do the messier work in the back garden, outside the French windows, our yellow rubber gloves darkening in the basins. We learn how to tie-dye white tee-shirts using elastic bands; how to create interesting shapes with halved potatoes dipped in paint; how to experiment with marbling, and how to make small artworks on cotton squares using a series of different coloured dyes, with the application of hot wax in between the dyeing. She tells us that this ancient technique has roots in Egypt, where a wax-covered cloth was found in a 5^th Century Pharoah’s tomb.

after her death
I frame my sister’s gift:
a red and green batik

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About the Author

Maeve O’Sullivan’s poetry and haikai have been widely published, anthologized, and translated. She is the author of six collections from Alba Publishing, the latest of which, Where All Ladders Start (2024), received funding from the Arts Council of Ireland. A professional member of the British Haiku Society and the Irish Writers’ Centre, she leads workshops in haiku. www.maeveosullivan.com

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