The Family Tree Mosaic

As part of the sculptural outdoor classroom that I am working on at the moment for a school here in Dublin, I was asked to incorporate a tree somewhere into the design to represent the 'Family Tree'. The 'Family Tree' is a song which has come to symbolise the 'Croí na Scoile' (The heart of the school).

I was also asked to give the students a chance to have some input into the outdoor classroom so that they can make it their own (a very important part of the process for sure) 

My solution to this was to create a large stone mosaic of the tree into the wall of the structure and to then let the students paint the leaves of the tree on precut tiles.

Past pupils, staff, board and PTA members (past and present) received a leaf to design and paint.

Almost 100 leaf tiles were painted as well as another 70 square tiles that make up the border around the mosaic.

It was great to spend some time in the classroom with students and see the excitement about creating their very own piece of art that will remain part of the outdoor classroom for years to come.

Painting the leaf tiles in class

The finished leaf tiles painted by the students

Many many hours went into the making of the stone part of the mosaic, far more than anyone will ever know, but now that it is finished I know that it was all worth it. 

The roots of the tree

The border tiles that surround the mosaic spell out 'All different all equal' as well as its Irish translation 'Gach duine atá difriúil ach freisin cothrom'  

There is still lots to do before the outdoor classroom is complete with lots more exciting features and student involvement also, so I will get back to work now, and will post more about the outdoor classroom once it is completed.

Happy New Year and reflecting back on 2012

Detail from the 'Family Tree' mosaic I am working on for an outdoor classroom

Happy New Year everyone. I feel the need to write a new blog post as I have been neglecting to do so over the past six months or so. Looking back at 2012 it has been a mixed year. While battling our way though a severe recession I reflected on some of the positives of 2012.

Although I had a long and quiet winter and spring, 2012 did bring along a few projects that I am very happy with. I did get to make a stone mosaic panel that I had been wanting to make for some time. My mind is full of many, many ideas. Some just plain crazy, some incredibly ambitious and some that just require an enthusiastic client to make them become a reality.

Fortunately I got one of these enthusiastic clients this year that let me create this mosaic panel as a focal point in a garden makeover I was doing for him at the time.

Gerry's Town Garden. More photos of this garden here

For this panel I used some Golden brown Quartzite from Co. Donegal that I had left over from building the garden, with some Liscannor sandstone from Co. Clare I had laying around in the studio. These two stones make a striking contrast to each other and the mirror reflects fragmented colours and light from around the garden.   

Natural stone mosaic in Gerry's Town Garden. More photos of this garden here

In early 2012 I also took in the position on Chairman of The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland and although this has taken up much of my free time (time usually spent writing blog posts) it has been great working with like minded people that share a passion for stone and Ireland's rich stone heritage.

One of Ireland's stunning dry stone walls. 

Working on a section of dry stone wall at the Liscannor quarry with members of the DSWAI, more about this here 

During the summer I was asked by friend and fellow DSWAI member Tom Pollard to help with a public art project he had organised at Electric Picnic, the country's premium music and arts festival. 

Dry-stone public art project at Electric Picnic 

Tom had devised a sculpture that would only use materials that could be salvaged from the grounds of the estate that the festival is held on and also show off the craft of dry-stone construction. The cantilevered seats made the piece interactive and gave people the opportunity to take a rest.

The team. DSWAI members Tom Pollard, Alex Panteleyenko, Sunny Wieler and Julia Gebel

The beautifully carved cap stone was carved by Julia from an old piece of cut stone that lay on the ground not 10m from where it now sits. 

  The rest of the structure was built from reclaimed limestone and slates from the roof of the estate that had recently been replaced. Even the timber for the seats came from a damaged tree that was cut down on the estate the year before.

2012 also saw some of my stone projects included in a internationally distributed book on stone features. I was honoured to be featured alongside many wonderful stone artists from around the globe.

2012 also saw me return to the Aran Islands for another Feile na gCloch (Festival of Stone), a wonderful weekend of Stone, Stout and banter among fellow wallers and stone enthusiasts. This is a weekend I thoroughly recommend and one I will look forward to returning to next September. More about this event in my blog post here

Feile na gCloch 2012

The rest of 2012 has been taken up working on a wonderful outdoor classroom I am building for a school in Dublin. This is still very much under construction but I will share more about this with you all once it has been completed. For now I will leave you with a sneak preview of the classroom as it looks now from one of the two entrances.

Under construction. Outdoor classroom for a school near Dublin.

 Wishing you all much success and happiness in 2013. Regards, Sunny Wieler

Feile na gCloch (Festival of Stone) 2012 Inis Oírr Island

On the fourth weekend of September I once again headed off to Inis Oirr (Inisheer) on the Aran Islands for this year's Feile na gCloch (Festival of Stone). 

The festival is organised and run by the country's most knowledgeable and experienced drystone waller, Patrick McAfee, in conjunction with the wonderful Marie Mannion, Heritage Officer of Galway County Council and Paddy Crowe, manager of the Inis Oirr Cooperative.  

Group photo courtesy of Karl Kennedy 

Every year this event seems to get bigger and bigger, as does the list of international experts and speakers at the event. This year saw John Shaw-Rimmington of Dry Stone Walls Across Canada, Tomas Lipps of the Stone Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Alexandra Morosco of Stonefest, Seattle, and Scott Hackney of Marenakos Stone, Seattle and co-director of Stonefest share their knowledge as well as giving inspirational presentations on some of the amazing things happening with stone in many different parts of the world.  

There were many other international people in attendance at the stone festival, including people from France, Switzerland, Australia, Netherlands, Ukraine, England ,Finland and the USA. 

Also in attendance was seven of the eight person committee of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland (Ken Curran, Sunny Wieler, Tom Pollard, Alex Panteleyenko, Rory Noone, Noel O'Shaughnassey and Francis Coady) who briefly explained their plans and aspirations for the association, which was met with a positive response. The eight member of the committee (Malachy Sheehan) was unable to attend this years Feile.   

This years build was a large vertical stitch retaining wall (at least 150 tonnes)up to 12 feet (3.6Metres) high on one end. This wall style was traditional to the island, and the most effective method of building retaining walls.

Looking down at the retaining wall it is very easy to see why drystone retaining walls don't need any drainage pipes or gravel, as the entire structure is free draining (one of the many benefits of building in the dry stone method) 

Because of the large number of participants this year,  Nick Aitken and George Gunn, both well seasoned wallers and instructors from Scotland, very kindly took separate groups of people to train at walls beside the cooperative and near the harbour. 

After three days of building one massive new retaining wall was completed, two free standing walls were rebuilt and a large quantity of Guinness and soup were consumed. But most importantly, new friendships were made, and the passion and respect for the traditional craft of dry stone walling continued to grow and be cared for in this country.    

One of my favourite things to do when out on the island is to go off on a solitary wander, either early in the morning or late in the evening, to enjoy the spectacular scenery as well as the abundance of outstanding drystone walls the island has to offer..  

St.Gobnait church 'Cill Ghobnait' one of my two favourite buildings on the island (the second being Tigh Ned's pub)

Old stone cairns

traditional stone gate

Like all the other regular attendants of Feile na gCloch, I am already looking forward to next years Feile. If you would like to see my post on last years event click here. I also recommend checking out Louise Price of Limewinow's blog post on this years event. If you would like to keep up to date with Dry stone walling in Ireland or wish to find out about next years event, check out The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland web page http://dswaireland.ning.com/ and feel free to sign up as a member too.

And finally      

Sorry for my absence from my blog over the past few months. I have been very busy working on my new big Stone Art project. I will share more about this when I have it completed. I still have plenty of interesting things to write about and will try to get posting more often again.  

Busy working with stone instead of my computer

A trip to Co. Clare for some dry stone walling with the DSWAI

An old section of dry stone wall in The Burren

Last weekend the DSWAI had a meet up in County Clare as we were invited by quarry owner David O' Connor of Liscannor Flagstones Quarries to come build some stone features at his quarry in Miltown Malbay.
Despite the long drive, I was looking forward to the trip, as it would give me the chance to take the scenic route through The Burren landscape, a stunning part of the country I have not been to in many years.

The Burren Landscape

The Burren is a karst-landscape region or alvar, measuring approximately 250 square kilometres. It is one of the largest karst landscapes in Europe. 

The word "Burren" comes from an Irish word "Boíreann" meaning a rocky place. This is an extremely appropriate name when you consider the lack of soil cover and the extent of exposed limestone pavement also known as a karst-landscape. However it has also been referred to in the past as "Fertile rock" due to the mixture of nutrient rich herb and floral species that flourish in the limestones cracks known as 'grikes'. There are in fact there are more than 650 different flowers, plants, and ferns to be found in this unique area of karst limestone, from Spotted Orchids to Spring Gentians, from Mountain Avens to Purple Orchids.

There is an annual festival called 'The Burren in Bloom' which takes place from the 4th of May till the 1st of June. Check out www.burreninbloom.com for more information about this wonderfully unique festival.

One of my first stops in the Burren was to visit Ireland's most famous and most photographed Dolmens, Poulnabrone Dolmen

Poulnabrone Dolmen (Poll na mBrón in Irish meaning "hole of sorrows") is a portal tomb dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC

A lovely old stone cairn in the Burren. Don't know how old this one is, but I'm pretty sure it's at least older than the signpost pictured below  

Although much of the Burren landscape may look bare and desolate, there are many amazing stone structures and awe inspiring landscapes hidden away here waiting to be discovered, from stone forts and massive caves to the world famous Cliffs of Moher.  

The Burren is a great place to go to see vast stretches of beautiful old stone walls and structures, and the Burren stone itself is one of the most beautiful and lively textured types of stone I know. You can see more examples of Burren stone walls in my blog post Drystone Walling on Inis Oírr Island. 

Arriving at my destination in Milltoen Malbay after my inspiring drive through the Burren I was well up for getting stuck into a bit of dry stone walling. For our little stone project we decided to build a section of drystone wall in the traditional style that is most common in this part of Co.Clare. It would be a double sided wall with a single stone cap that is laid diagonally.   

We also incorporated a traditional 'step stile' feature. For those of you who don't know what a step stile is, this is a feature that would allow farmers to cross boundary walls without the need for a gate. They are made by using long stone slabs that run through the width of the wall and protrude out either side creating a cantilevered step on ether side of the wall. This allows a person to step up on to the wall and back down the other side with ease. Another variation of this is what is known as a squeeze stile, where a long narrow gap is left in the wall just wide enough for a person to squeeze through, yet narrow enough to prevent the livestock getting through.    

Artist Mary Wycherley was also on-site over the weekend filming for an Arts Council funded film she is working on titled 'The Dance of Making'

It was wonderful to to have the opportunity to work in such beautiful settings surrounded by an abundance of great building stone. As one of the lads said, it was like being in a sweetshop for stonemasons. 

Working here also gave us a chance to see some of the amazing pieces of stone David is extracting from the quarry. 

The Liscannor stone itself is one of the most distinctive types of stone in Ireland, and is instantly recognisable by the rich fossils which run throughout the stone that gives it its rich texture

The Liscannor sandstone is completely unique to this part of the country and over time has found its way to all corners of the world. At its peak the area employed over 500 men in at least nine quarries.

The quarries were so prosperous in the early 1900's that a village was built around the famous Doonagore mines which put Liscannor port on the map. It was one of the busiest of the small ports along the west coast of Ireland with its shipments of stone to London and Liverpool. However, the advent of World War 1 put an end to all the prosperity, and when the boats were unable to travel the mines closed.

A number of mines reopened in the 1960's and are still producing this famous stone today, David's of course being one of them.

This quarry is apparently extracting the largest stone slabs in the country, a claim that is not hard to believe when you see the size of some of the enormous pieces laying around the quarry.

Another DSWAI meet up comes to an end. Pictured left to right  Ken Curran, Waldemar Wower, Noel O' Shaughnessy, Rory Noone, Mal Sheehan, Tom Pollard and Sunny Wieler.

Another successful DSWAI event over. Thanks David O' Connor from Liscannor Flagstone Quarries, not only for use of his quarry and the mountains of stone he donated to the project, but also for the endless hours he put into helping us out.

More info and photos of this DSWAI event and on the Liscannor stone in my blog post on the DSWAI webpage here.