This is the monthly cultural feast that’s part of The Gaelic Effect, featuring poetry, music, art and/or video. As a support for Irish learners, focail as Gaeilge(words in Irish) are hyperlinked to their pronunciation.
For this month’s Poetry Sundae I am delighted to feature an interview with the artist and Irish speaker Effie Brush. Effie’s book, We Will Never Be Together, combines graphics made from found objects with captions that read like a prose-poem.
In this interview, Effie discusses her creative process and why she loves Irish and shares her favorite things to say as Gaeilge, including when speaking Irish with her cat, Mango.
I am delighted to be gifting three hard copies of her book to paid subscribers of The Gaelic Effect. Drawing takes place June 21st. All readers can also download a free digital copy on Kindle between now and Tuesday.
The art in this issue of Poetry Sundae is from her book.
Gaelic Effect: When creating a piece, do you start with a particular idea or impulse or just let the materials speak to you?
Effie Brush: “It’s a mix. Sometimes, I have something very specific in mind, but even then, of course, the materials always speak to me and guide the specific thing sometimes into something very different. Other times, I see what’s on the table in a heap of papers and pick something from that, whatever seems to go together. I keep a list of ideas that I may or may not work from. I’m a firm believer in not having to do every idea I come up with, so sometimes, the list item is only crossed off later.”
Gaelic Effect: Do you collect materials as you find them or do you ever go looking for a particular image, texture or color?
Effie Brush: “I collect papers wherever I go because they might work out for a collage, but I do also search for particular images online when I have a specific collage in mind. I use copyright free image websites for that like Unsplash.”
Gaelic Effect: You use paper or at least one dimensional materials. Can you say more about that–how do you relate to the project as found objects?
Effie Brush: I used to call what I do collage, but that confused people. Maybe found paper art is also confusing, but then they ask what that is versus assuming they know. They seem to think my collages were maybe something like Matisse. Of course, those are interesting and wonderful in their own right, but it’s not what I do.
Gaelic Effect: For me, even though each caption is stand alone, it reads like a prose-poem—with each caption adding to the previous one and expanding on an idea. Were you conscious of doing that or did that just happen organically?
Effie Brush: It was very organic. I organized it by nothing at first and then I decided to do it by color, then kept rearranging within the colors until it seemed “right.”
Gaelic Effect: I’m curious too about the book title, We Will Never Be Together. The book is about your inner development. Does the title refer to your inner parts not being able to reconcile?
Effie Brush: Ah, the title. Well, that came from this muse I have, a person I don’t even know, and that’s a long story, like so many things with me! We will never be together, and that’s really quite fine and natural to me at this point. But it is an interesting point you make because there are things I feel like I can’t fully connect and it all comes together nicely in a book, anyway.
Gaelic Effect: I’m also wondering about your nom de plume. How did you come up with that and what does it mean to you—-when I think of “brush” I think more about painting.
Effie Brush: I found out that Rudyard Kipling’s daughter was named Josephine, but her knick name was Effie, and I loved that. As for Brush, my real last name is Bush, so I added one letter and it seemed fitting what with the art component!
Gaelic Effect: There are so many images that I love in this book that are fun, insightful, and sometimes intense. Which one is your favorite and why?
Effie Brush: The one I use as my author photo. That’s probably my favorite one. Also, the ones with Irish in them because I have a great fondness for learning Irish. I’m currently making another collage book and maybe I include even more Irish in that one.
Gaelic Effect: OK now that we’ve talked about the book I’m also curious about your learning Irish. How did that happen—why did you start? And how are you learning? I think you live in Boulder, CO. No Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) there?
Effie Brush: Well, it’s a long-ish story with the Irish journey. I’m not Irish. Actually, there is a very little bit mixed in with my British Isles ancestry, but my family is mostly from France and Belgium originally, so I don’t have an ancestry component for why I learn Irish. One day, a friend and I were looking up German words on YouTube (that’s a whole long story in an of itself as neither of us speak German), and YouTube recommended an Irish language video to me. I was captivated and started taking lessons on Italki as my first course of action because I knew that I wanted to do this in earnest, not dabble in Duolingo. That was three years ago, and I’ve been learning far more in earnest this past year. I do live in Boulder, CO, and I don’t know of any Irish speakers around here, so I do any Irish speaking with people online. It would be so amazing if there was a Gaeltacht right here!
Gaelic Effect: As you know, I love Irish and consider it my greatest teacher. How has learning Irish impacted you? Has it changed you? What have you learned?
Effie Brush: Irish is such an amazing teacher. It makes me think so much more about so many things. For example, why is this a certain way in English? And for a while, I quit learning Irish because...I honestly don’t know why, but all the time I kept thinking ‘How would I say this in Irish?’ so I went back to Italki. My teacher on there is amazing and we talk about everything under the sun, a lot of times in Irish now! I love how it’s much more lyrical feeling and sounding to me than English. I keep Irish books and my dictionary on the dining room table now so I can sit down at a moment’s notice to learn more. I really love it!
Gaelic Effect: Any recommendations for those learning Irish or thinking about starting?
Effie Brush: I suppose it depends on your goals. My goal was to be able to read, write, speak, and listen in Irish. A “go all the way” mentality. Become fluent, or something like that, and for that I recommend private lessons on Italki. It’s the best way to learn. I made so much more progress than I could have otherwise. But I do also use other materials on top of that so that I’m doing more than the homework assigned to me by my private teacher. Irish with Mollie is amazing and I also really like the materials from All About Irish. I do dabble in Duolingo mainly because I learn a new word here and there with it. And here’s something I do to make my life easier and harder at the same time. I have a 4x6 notebook with a lovely Celtic cross design on the front and back covers, and I used some page flags to make divisions for letters. Inside those divisions, I write new words I learn starting with that specific letter in random order within that letter, so every time I learn a new word, I have to look through all the words in that letter I already wrote before I write the new one. Sometimes, it’s already there and sometimes I find it written in two different places. It’s a great and messy way for me to learn!
Gaelic Effect: What is your favorite word in Irish? Or what's surprised you the most?
Effie Brush: My favorite Irish words are: fadhbanna, diongbháilte, and achoimre. Totally random words: problems, determined, and summary. I like them because of the sound of them, not because of what they mean. I walk around the house saying them randomly out loud. I love that Irish doesn’t have verbs for want, need, have, and should. I realized how needy and demanding English is. Also, I talk to my cat, Mango, as much as possible in Irish, and his favorite word is réidh! An bhfuil tú réidh?I say excitedly to him and then say réidh over and over and he gets excited, too!
GRMA (thank you) Effie for sharing your work and ideas with The Gaelic Effect!
Want to learn more about Effie and her work? Check our her Substack which includes art and commentary about the Irish language.
And become a paid subscriber to The Gaelic Effect to get a chance to win a copy of her book! (Plus you also support The Gaelic Effect!) All paid subscribers will be entered to win on June 21st!
Keep the flame burning by subscribing or (even more magic!) by becoming a paid subscriber.
