I’m often asked about the name “Stirabout.”It came to me while I was reading C.S. Lewis’ “Surprised by Joy”— I had always sort of felt misunderstood as a child, and had never read a passage that so perfectly described it: I’m including it here. If you get to reading it, may it be an encouragement to you as it was to me-- to listen and not just hear, to look and not just see. In addition to the significance of the story mentioned, I also felt that the term “Stirabout” was a good one for hinting at the wonder that I hoped my artwork would “stir” up in others, and through which people might be able to stir up joy in their homes and workplaces. I’m moving into a new season where I’m hoping to produce a lot more artwork, and I’m excited to share it with you. I hope it does stir up some wonder. ❤️ My logo is a bowl of “stir-about” (An Irish word for porridge) with a ship floating atop its waves.
“I am here struck by the curious mixture of justice and injustice in our lives. We are blamed for our real faults but usually not on the right occasions. I was, no doubt, and was blamed for being, a conceited boy; but the blame was usually attached to something in which no conceit was present. Adults often accuse a child of vanity without pausing to discover on what points children in general, or that child in particular, are likely to be vain. Thus it was for years a complete mystery to me that my father should stigmatise as "affectation" my complaints about the itching and tickling of new underclothes. I see it all now; he had in mind a social legend associating delicacy of skin with refinement and supposed that I was claiming to be unusually refined. In reality I was in simple ignorance of that social legend, and if vanity had come into the matter would have been much prouder of having a skin like a sailor. I was being accused of an offence which I lacked resources to commit. I was on another occasion called "affected" for asking what "stirabout" was. It is, in fact, a "low" Irish word for porridge. To certain adults it seems obvious that he who claims not to know the Low must be pretending to be High. Yet the real reason why I asked was that I had never happened to hear the word; had I done so I should have piqued myself on using it.” -CS Lewis, Surprised by Joy
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Mary-Moore