O is for Orla |

Orla – from ‘Artistic Temperament’

Orla had little option but to be an artist. Her father was a ‘tortured writer’. He wrote during the night mostly and dozed on and off during the day. His books were deep and dark; and though they were niche, they sold well enough that he could live a life where he did not have to do anything else to provide well for his family.

Orla’s mother was a poet and artist. She was not interested in money; and it was a good thing that she didn’t need to be, as her work had a loyal but very small following.

So how could Orla escape the arts? She was the only child of these two creative geniuses; and an unplanned one at that. They were both shocked to find themselves expecting a baby; as if no one had told them how these things came to be. They doted on Orla from the moment she arrived but determined not to ‘make that mistake again…’ Their parenting style was interesting to say the least and consisted mostly of various ways of making sure their daughter knew the importance of art.

Orla could create any idea from her head but it was a frustration to her that she could not draw what she saw in front of her. So she regularly attended life drawing classes.

Somehow she managed to end up with a ‘practical’ gene and knew that she would need a ‘real’ job to pay the bills, while she waited for artistic success. So she went down the route of graphic design. The zany thing she got from her parents gave her an edge in the business and in this story we find her in an interview for a high level job in a big firm.

But she gets a bit of a shock when she sees who is on the interview panel…

You’ll find Orla in ‘Artistic Temperament’ from ‘The Long & The Short of it’