Christmas Card 2023 for President of Ireland
Brief: To illustrate the front of the official Christmas card of the president of Ireland around the theme of Peace on Earth.
The finalised selection of imagery were to include imagery for peace. A dove, palms, olive branches, Christmas wreaths, the world, all focused around a composition which involved the Peace Bell monument at the presidential residence, Áras an Uachtaráin in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland. The bell is rung for peace by visitors at the invitation of the president and first lady.
The wording, 'Peace on Earth', is written in the snow, a nod to the playfulness of Christmas and hope for our future, in a world suffering a lot of strife this Christmas.
The wording, 'Peace on Earth', is written in the snow, a nod to the playfulness of Christmas and hope for our future, in a world suffering a lot of strife this Christmas.
The outlines | Colouring the lines and lettering | The flat colouring shapes
The finished piece
Honoured to have my work going out to the world on behalf of President Michael D. Higgins. Pictured with the First Lady, Sabina Higgins above.
The illustration features the Peace Bell from Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the Ireland's President.
Inside is a poem by President Higgins, entitled ‘Making a New Season’:
“To stretch,
That was always the issue,
Beyond the limit
of the prescribed
Inevitable.
To draw the spirit breath,
That was the challenge,
That made the big questions.
The children with swollen Stomachs.
The women excluded,
The science distorted,
For war.
The bombs preferred to
bread,
Are not inevitable.
The child made homeless
Learned from his mother,
His father and a donkey
That this was so.”
The back page displays the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
As the president says in his message inside the card: “Every good wish for a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year.”
Thank you for visiting, and any comments, follows or appreciations.
