Strange creatures inhabit Danielle O’Malley’s head. They are wild and messy, sociable, scary yet gentle. And above all else, they love music.

Principally an illustrator and printmaker, Danielle’s work straddles a variety of mediums and scales; she is also a sculptor, puppet maker, painter, and maker of fabulous dioramas. It is these dioramas that first grabbed my attention when I spotted them on Etsy – detailed and elaborate, I felt like I was spying through a looking glass into another secret world.

 

Danielle’s inventiveness is beguiling; her stories of these odd folk sit somewhere between children’s tales, folklore, and the surreal underbelly of nightmares. Her inventiveness is not restricted to the ideas; she is also a gifted maker, using a mix of old and new materials to create her creatures and their world. Paper, sticks, cardboard, old barbecues, and dental floss – anything that fits. And it is all handled so very beautifully – intricate papercuts frame whimsical scenes of mandolin-playing angels, a carpet of sticks are elaborately bound together to form a path.

They are so, so good!

I’ll let Danielle tell her own story.

 

 

My favorite artists are Margaret Kilgallen and Mark  Ryden. They have both created these strange worlds with their  artwork that I feel happy and comfortable in.

I’ve been making art since I was very young, and I’ve been trying to sell it here and there for the past 6 years or so. I haven’t ever  thought about having some other career, and all other odd jobs I have ever had just seem to support my art. While I was in college, I worked at a middle school as an art teacher’s assistant for three years. It was probably the most important, meaningful job I’ve ever had.

 

For several years when I was little, I would take art classes that were held in the back of a shop. The woman who ran them was the mother of  one of my classmates, and she sold her own artwork in the shop. I would go there once a week and she would always have new activities for  us to do. It was such an important part of my childhood – without those art classes, I don’t think I’d  have my creativity.

Several of my aunts are artists. One of my aunts particularly inspires me. She seems to always be travelling and has worked on  numerous different projects. Her life has helped me to understand that as an artist your life becomes a series of different projects in different places. My dad and grandfather were pretty creative as well, though they never did anything with it. I remember my grandfather drawing cartoons, and my dad has always given me handmade birthday cards.

The worst part of being a craft/designer is uncertainty, of not  knowing what your next project is, or how you will be able to make money – just feeling like you don’t have any opportunities in  sight, which is something I don’t think I will ever overcome. But  maybe you just have to invent your own projects, instead of looking  for opportunities.

There are also the periods of inactivity, where I  don’t even want to think about creating anything. I usually feel  pretty lost during those times, but I think it’s just a part of the  process. At that point, you have to let yourself become inactive, and  try to search for new inspiration.

 

 

There is no greater feeling than working non-stop on a project, and  being really happy with the end results – that feeling of  accomplishment. I also love being able to create this world I feel I can  hide in, and I feel comfortable in. It’s an escape from certain  realities.

I recently read Jenny Holzer’s piece, “Truisms”. It changed the way I  thought about a lot of things, and how I deal with my art practice.  There were two quotes that I particularly liked.

“At times, inactivity is preferable to mindless functioning.”

“Planning for the future is escapism”

 

You can find more of Danielle’s wonderful worlds on her site http://www.danielleardenomalley.net/; and you can find some of her artwork in her Etsy  shop 

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I would like to thank Danielle for her help, and for her generosity in sharing her words and her images