BLOOM GARDEN SHOW 2013
In 2013 I was commissioned to create a sculpture for The Hospice Garden ‘Journey on Earth’ The team that designed the garden were Eileen Nolan (Head Gardener, Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services), Dr Mary Toomey (Botanist, Gardener, Author and Lecturer) & Adrian Eggers of Living Design. The garden was a 2013 Silver-Gilt medal winner at Bloom Garden Show. The garden is on permanent display at Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross.
In July of 2012 I spent 3 weeks at the wonderful Cill Rialaig Artists retreat in Kerry. During this time I worked on some mixed media paintings and I also made a sculpture of a Hare, which was exhibited at the 2012 Sculpture in Context Exhibition at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin in Dublin.
Cill Rialaig village sits on the side of a mountain, It is sheltered by the mountains on one side and wide open to the sea on the other. Every day the weather was completely unpredictable, like most of Ireland, but even more extreme. You could wake up and your cottage would be completely shrouded in a thick fog, that could last all day or clear to a bright breezy sunny day.
It was here that I saw some mountain Hares, which unless your looking out for them you might easily miss, as they blend so well into their surroundings. I was amazed at their size especially when they stood up on their hind legs. Back in April I had somehow decided to make a Hare for the Sculpture in context exhibition, I took this as a sign that I was on the right track.
SCULPTURE TRAIL INIS OIRR, ARAN ISLANDS
In July of 2009 I spent one month on the Aran Island of Inis Oirr on an Artists Residency. While there I made a sculpture treasure trail for children, the idea being that they discovered the various sculptures I had made on the Island. All the sculptures were made on location using whatever material that was to hand. For this reason, some of them blended so well into their environment that they were challenging to find.
After I finished my residency I left the sculptures in place, exposed to the elements and to anyone who may happen upon them.
In August 2010 I returned to Inis Oirr and revisited all the locations of the sculptures and photographed them, or what remained of them. Some of the pieces looked almost completely untouched, like the wheel. Others were dismantled either by people or the sea, as in the case of the buoys.
The photographs below show the pieces when they were first made and then the pieces one year on.
