About the Artist

Hi there! I’m Natalie Forrester, I’m an Irish artist living in rural Hungary with my husband, László, and our son, Wolfe. If you have heard that I am dedicating the next 20 years of my life on a Ulysses art project, you heard correctly!

I am creating one original artwork per page of James Joyce’s book Ulysses (Penguin edition which has 933 pages). Being a colour fanatic, I draw my inspiration from the colours on each page. The two-decade series ‘Colour of Ulysses’ will be in 18 parts, representing the 18 Episodes (chapters). View the latest Ulysses artworks here:

View latest Ulysses Art

view all Ulysses art

A 20-year project on Ulysses, why?

Did you know that one of the main characters of Ulysses is half Irish, half Hungarian?

Just like my son, Wolfe. Yes! I’m Irish, born in Dublin, and my husband (and Wolfie’s Dad), László, is Hungarian. We met in Dublin and we now live in the leafy village of Sóstóhegy, north of the city, Nyíregyháza, in north-eastern Hungary.

I started reading Ulysses in 2022, but I didn’t expect to get far! Don’t get me wrong, I love books, but, as you probably know, Ulysses has a reputation for being notoriously hard to read.

After 3 pages I stopped reading…

I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to stop and find a pen, pencil, any mark-making object to underline the colours that were popping off the page at me. The more I read, the more colours kept bouncing up towards me. Like they had something to say. A story of their own to be told. A colour story. The Colours of Ulysses Series was born.

Bloomsday Exhibition, June 2023, Budapest.

I am very grateful to former Ambassador to Ireland Ronan Gargan and his wife, Michelle, for having my first 27 artworks exhibited at their residence in Budapest as part of their 2023 Bloomsday celebrations.

It was the first and last time all 27 artworks of Episode 1 of Ulysses (Pages #001 – #027) were exhibited together as many of them went home with their new owners.