nathalie.ie | photos and finds for the creative and curious

Wise Words

This is an exciting week for me. As peeps on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram may already know, this is my first official week in my new post – editor of Image Interiors & Living Magazine. I can’t quite believe it. I feel very lucky to get work and learn alongside the incredible team that’s here, who have made the last year such a brilliant one. Of course, it feels exciting and terrifying, in equal measures.

To psych myself up, I spent a while pursuing Pinterest’s near-bottomless pit of inspirational quotes, but really, it’s my college lecturer’s words of wisdom that echo in my ears, this week, and every week if I’m honest. Prof Aidan Moran lectured us in cognitive psychology, and it was one of my favourite classes. Years later, when editing KISS magazine, I interviewed him for a feature on preparing for exams and for college, as he had released an audio study guide. His words stuck with me so much, that I wrote them out on a post-it and kept it on my computer. To paraphrase, he said:

Passion is more important that intellect. Don’t ask yourself, “Am I smart enough?”, but ask, “Am I interested enough?”

That post-it served as a constant reminder to follow my gut, and put what I loved doing out there – to, as Steve Jobs said, “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition”. Sometimes, that meant small, kinda scary steps, like re-jigging this blog a year and a half ago to better accommodate posts on all things interiors, a growing passion at the time. Sometimes, it’s giant scary steps, like leaving KISS, and being an editor, to work on Image Interiors & Living three days a week and spend the other two stepping into the world of being a freelance photographer and writer.

I feel very lucky to get to do what I love. But as with all creative pursuits, it can come with a fair whack of insecurity about being enough – creative enough, knowledgeable enough, organised enough. The above quote serves a reminder that loving what you do and being passionate about it is half the battle. Wish me luck!

Top pic: Unraveled Design on Etsy

Shoot with Appassionata for Bash Magazine

Appassionata in Bash Magazine | Photography by Nathalie Marquez Courtney

There’s a lovely feature in the new issue of Bash on Appassionata, that treasure-trove of a florist on Drury Street, and I had lots of fun shooting the pics to accompany it (as well as ogling everything on offer). Some shots below – pick up the mag for more, and for a great interview with Ruth about all things floral.

Appassionata in Bash Magazine | Photography by Nathalie Marquez Courtney

Ellie x Kodaline

You may have heard this doing the rounds already, but a friend sent this to me last week and I can’t get enough of it. Ellie Goulding, covering Kodaline‘s All I Want.

Her cover of Alt J‘s Tessellate is also pretty awesome.

// Graphic above by me – a lil’ faux double exposure of both of their artwork.

Streets Portraits by Vivian Maier

Browse a great collection of some of Vivian Maier’s beautiful black and white street portraits here.

A Smooth Sea

No better words to read after a hectic press week! The print above is from the new Shore Shot collection of sea-inspired prints from the guys at Dublin-based Damn Fine Print. I especially love this one by Emma Jackson.

Going to press can be stressful and exhausting, but, whenever I feel like a moan, I’m reminded of this chart, from Tina Fey’s Bossypants, and it quickly puts things back into perspective, where they belong. I also love this quote of hers: “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11.30.” Which really echoes Pixar’s Pete Docter’s comment: “As John Lasseter likes to say, our films don’t get finished, they just get released.”

The magazine isn’t finished when every single page is perfect. It’s finished when you have done the absolute best you can with the time you have. Which, when you’re kicking yourself after thinking up a brilliant headline or coverline hours after the page has been sent, can be quite a comfort.

Link Love

Above: Great shot by Sabino Aguad.

Meaty read: Why these are the ‘Ten Best Sentences’

Love the free-association Instagram game Victoria played to source these gorgeous kitchen pics.

The internet seems pretty obsessed with all things marble right now. I can’t make up my mind.

Love this: The lost art of the unsent angry letter.

8 tips for balcony gardeners.

And below – how insanely awesome is the new Sharkpig studio? See it all here.

Have a great weekend!

Kemi Mai

I’ve become a little obsessed with the portrait illustrations that Kemi Mai creates – and she’s just 18 years old! The one above is a big fave. (via Miss Moss)

Our New Place (And New Plants!)

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll no doubt already know that, after a lorra, lorra searching, Ben and I finally found a place to rent! We moved in at the end of January, and are still very much in the “settling in” phase (we spent most of yesterday re-organising furniture and laying out possible art combinations on the floor!). We were lucky to find an unfurnished house (a tough ask in Dublin), and begged, borrowed and thrifted to cobble together some pieces to tide us over while we save up for furniture. Freecycle, Free Trade, and Adverts all proved brilliant, as did the generosity of friends and family. We scored a gorgeous two-seater leather couch completely for free, this sweet Ikea plant stand for near half price, a coffee table and some lovely Spanish terracotta that’s going to come in handy on tapas nights.

So while we still figure out where things are going, I’m getting my nesting fix through plants. My old apartment, though brilliantly located at the end of Camden Street, received little to no natural light, so I still get giddy when I see the sun streaming in, or plants lasting for more than a week. Our back garden boasts a rosemary and thyme, the upstairs study (the sunniest spot in the house) currently houses basil and oregano, and we have mint, coriander as well as some hardy cacti and an aloe plant in the kitchen. I can’t wait to hit up a The Garden for some more indoor goodies – as you can see from my Pinterest board, I’ve got quite a few on my wish list.

But loving indoor plants doesn’t always mean I’m great at looking after them. I forgot all about this poor basil plant in the study, but, luckily, Ben was on hand to bring it back to life – and shoot a time-lapse of it too. Yes, we are just that geeky.

12 March

Barbershop Shoot

This post from Ciara reminded me that I never posted about our barber shop shoot! We were shooting for a magazine campaign that Knights were planning. It took us both out of our comfort zone, but we loved the vintage feel of the packaging and Ciara, with her incredible eye, picked some fab props to really bring the story to life.

Knights Barbers shoot | nathalie.ie

Styling: Ciara O’Halloran, Style Serendipity / Photography: Nathalie Marquez Courtney

At Kate’s Place

071213_KOD_-10

Some pics and overs from my shoot at Bash Editor Kate’s house, as featured in a recent issue of Image.

I fell in love with her home – a gorgeous, well curated collection of art and cool prints, some beautiful upcycled bits, a fab Bo Concept sofa, great pops of colour and a pretty gorgeous curved credenza.