The Timekeeper

Earlier in the year I was commissioned under the Per Cent for Art scheme to create a sculpture for a secondary school in Drogheda Co. Louth. 

The brief was to create a piece to commemorate the transition of the school from its humble beginnings into the new extensive extension, the sculpture is based on the subject of the movement of  time. 

Our history traced through stone.

The permanence of stone means that much of what we know about our past has been discovered through examining the stone structures left behind by our ancestors, from structures and sites of worship to the dry stone walls that map out the history of the vernacular landscape of our countryside.  In the Drogheda area alone, more than 5000 years of history can be read through the many stone structures  that cover the landscape here, spanning from the Neolithic site of  Newgrange to the Norman beginnings of the town itself.  This Norman heritage is evident  in the earliest monument in the town which is the motte-and-bailey castle, now known as Millmount Fort.

Karl sits in the timekeeper's seat

'The Timekeeper'  sculpture pays tribute to this movement of time, recorded through stone.

From a distance the large vertical blocks of sandstone  take  on the appearance of a Neolithic structure. As you approach, the sundial element of the sculpture becomes apparent.

The large angled stone in the centre (gnomon) is angled parallel to the earth's axis, paying tribute to the first gnomon style sundials invented in the late 1300's. The bars of engineered limestone in the floor along with the relief carvings of cogs and wheels in the standing stones represent modern time.  

The precision of the limestone markers highlights the slight fluctuation in the accuracy of the shadows cast by the Neolithic gnomon as the seasons change. This in turn highlights the contrast between the rudimentary time mapping of the neoliths with the sophisticated precision of modern engineered time.

The stone seating area in the courtyard between the old and new buildings is an extension of the sculpture, with the time capsule placed  under the stone mosaic in the floor, a symbol of the school's confidence in its future.

The time capsule being placed under one of Sunny's mosaics 

The stone for this project is sandstone and comes from Drimkeelan quarry in County Donegal.  Drimkeelan quarry is one of the oldest working quarries in the country. The Abbey of Assaroe was built in 1180 using this stone, so it is known that quarrying started around this time. A carved sandstone lamp found in the mines of the quarry suggests mining could have already started in the middle ages, by Cistercian monks who had abbeys to build.

Shopping for gnomons with quarry owner Brian Kerrigan at Drimkeelan quarry 

Inside the sandstone mines of Drimkeelan during the Tír Ċonaill Stone Festival  in 2013. Read more about this here

The quarry also supplied stone for famous buildings such as The National Museum of Ireland, Leinster house(The Dail) and Stormont in Northern Ireland .

The piece of white quartzite built into the base of the gnomon links back to the white quartzite facade of the nearby prehistoric site of Newgrange.  

How Sundials Work.

Sundials indicate the time by casting a shadow or throwing light onto a surface known as a dial face or dial plate.

The time is indicated where a shadow falls on the dial face, which is usually inscribed with hour lines.

The entire object that casts a shadow or light onto the dial face is known as the sundial's gnomon.

The gnomon is set parallel to the earth's axis. This angle is horizontal at the equator and increases to vertical (90⁰) at the poles. The angle of the earth's axis is dependent on your location and can be found by checking the latitude on your GPS coordinates. The latitude of Drogheda is 53.717856⁰.

As well as being parallel to the earth's axis, the gnomon also points to the pole (in this case the North Pole.) North, South, East and West are marked on the sculpture on the back of the standing stones and behind the seat stone.

The Sun is highest in the sky at midday and casts a short shadow. In the afternoon, when the Sun is lower in the sky, the shadow is longer.

The length of the shadow is also affected by the seasons. Winter shadows are longer than Summer shadows. This is because the Sun is lower in the sky in Winter.

The speed of the shadow depends on the length of the gnomon. This gnomon, being almost 2 metres tall, means that the tip of the shadow will move about a third of its height (60cm) in an hour - 1cm per minute. This movement is due to the Earth's rotation.

Building the sculpture

Like may stonemason's I usually work alone, however with large projects like this I am lucky to have a great group of friends from the DSWAI who I can call on.

Scaled model 

Ken Curran splitting stone for the gnomon using plugs and feathers 

Sunny places the gnomon 

Ken begins work in the first relief carving

Ken and Sunny work on the carvings

One of Sunny's carvings nearing completion

One of standing stones carved by Ken

Alex Panteleyenko works on cutting the letters for the time capsule seating area as well as the numbers for the sundial

Time capsule seating area under construction 

The dry laid pitched stonework was a very slow process with about 60m2 to be laid in total. Fortunately I had Karl Kennedy and Mark Gregan with me for this stage of the build.

The majority of the stonework was laid in a radial orientation from the gnomon apart from one segment that connects the timekeeper's seat to the gnomon. 

Karl and Nick work in the shadow of the gnomon

Scottish master craftsman Nick Aitken also stopped by for a few days to pitch in while over visiting for one of our trips to work on The Gathering of Stones monument which a number of us are involved in.  

As is often the case when building something unique, this project ended up taking longer than expected, so the pressure was on to get it completed on time. It was a little surreal at times to be building a giant clock when you're under pressure to finish a job.  

Thanks again to the great group of guys who helped me realise this project. It is great to see the praise it is getting, and the process of its construction will hopefully give some of the students in the school an appreciation for the craft and for the work involved in applying those skills.   

An invatation to The Gathering of Stones

For the past number of months The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland in collaboration with The International Stone Foundation have been working hard behind the scenes on creating a big dry stone walling event to join in the nation wide celebrations of The Gathering Ireland 2013 that is running throughout the year.

The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland (DSWAI) and the Stone Foundation based in the USA have come together with a vision to invite this international community ‘home’ for a Gathering of Stones in the geographical centre of Ireland. In association with Bord na Mona, The Gathering of Stones will be an event where wallers and masons from all over the world as well as people with an interest in Irish dry stone walls will come together. Under the instruction and guidance of the DSWAI they will build an attractive communal stone installation that will act as a permanent monument to all events and gatherings that will take place during The Gathering 2013.

Set in the grounds of the beautiful Lough Boora Parklands in County Offaly, the event will take place over the course of four days, during which we will build our dry stone gathering point.

All four provinces in Ireland will be represented in the sculpture by using a particular stone type and style from each province.

Bring a stone home to Lough Boora

 Attendees are invited to “Bring a stone home to Lough Boora. These stones will be incorporated into the final installation. You are welcome to bring a rock, but a pebble will be more practical, something that will fit in your pocket will do just fine. A few larger rocks will also be making the trip to Ireland. A small number of granite blocks from the old Immigrant Docks near Battery Park in New York have been offered to the project. Millions of emigrants walked over these stones after registering at Ellis Island, including nearly everyone from Ireland during the famine years and after.  RJW–Gem Campbell Stonemasons Inc. in Canada who have obtained these blocks have offered to donate a number of these to be incorporated into the sculpture.

Please come and joins us for this unique celebration of Irish dry stone heritage.

For more information log onto the DSWAI website http://dswaireland.ning.com

Bookings for this event as well as a detailed information pack for people planning on joining us for this event will be available on the DSWAI website within the next week so be sure to book your spot quick before the event fills up. 

Very excited about this event. Look forward to seeing some of you there. 

Can tradespeople be artists? Lets ask Johnny Clasper.

Stone mosaic by Johnny Clasper

Can tradespeople be artists?
An interesting question which is being explored by a new Irish series on TG4 at the moment called 'Dullamullóg'

Launched last Sunday 13th January, the show follows six tradespeople who take on the challenge of creating a piece of critically acclaimed art.

Each tradesperson is paired up with a professional artist who helps them with their work. The final piece is then put in amongst professional art works which are all scrutinised by art critic Ciaran Bennett who then has to decide which piece is made by the tradesperson.

Art Critic Ciaran Bennet

The show features renowned Irish artists Cliodna Cussen, Peadar Lamb and Turner nominated Liam de Frinse. The first episode follows Eamonn O'Neill, a Tree Surgeon from Shankill, Co. Dublin paired with professional sculptor Séighean Ó'Draoi.

Episode two pairs plasterer and bricky Gearóid Ó Ceannabhái, from Dublin, with the great Irish stone sculptor Cliodna Cussen.

Bricky Gearoid on the show.

An interesting show, worth checking out. Screens at 8.30pm on TG4. Repeated the following Tuesday at 11.30pm. The series will run for six weeks. Can also be played back on the TG4 website watch it here.
I will look forward to seeing the next episode. 


This show reminded me of a great tradesperson cum stone artist that I have been meaning to highlight for a while now.
This person being Johnny Clasper.

Artist Johnny Clasper sitting on front of one of his flowing stonework art pieces.

Before becoming obsessed with stone, Johnny started off as a bricky. In fact from an early age his weekends were spent working with his father (a builder) as a labourer on building sites. Johnny quickly got promoted from broom and wheelbarrow to trowel and hammer. Johnny said that something happened when he was handed that rusty old trowel and heavy split handled lump hammer in his hands, a magic feeling inside. "With these tools I can build (a feeling I still get today when I pick up certain tools). A short while after I saved up and bought myself some decent tools. I was one proud 16 year old lad!"

Detail from another stone mosaic by Jonny Clasper

A fast learner and keen to learn anything he could, Johnny put himself into college to study brickwork "At last something I really wanted to learn and really enjoyed doing".
Johnny became top of the class and earned the student of the year award 1997. "College taught me all about the modern ways of building while my time at work I learned many traditional techniques of laying stone, at the time I was always drawn to stone.. so many ways to lay it as opposed to bricks."

Stunning stone wall by Johnny Clasper. I do love this wall.

The next 5 years or so Johnny worked on many stone houses, extensions and barn conversions before going self employed. Years passed doing the same things, that is until he started to read up and practice drystone walling. 

"This changed everything, without the mortar separating the stone, i became more in-tune and aware of the stone, studying the grain, natural shape and textures, different results and finishes were possible, everything was now falling into place or was it?

it was always my dream and goal to build something that hadn't been done before, but everything seemed to have already been done by someone..

I had thoughts of somehow bringing stone to life but how?

a wall will always be a wall or will it?"

Drystone sculpture 'the seed' by Johnny Clasper

In 2010 Johnny decided to rent a small studio where he hoped to create something that wasn't bound by the rules of building or drystone walling “both seem to contradict each other”

He started by making a seed sculpture with leftover roof slate, the pinnacle moment and the start of his creative journey.

“But the seed sculpture wasn't quite what I had in mind” explains Johnny. “I wanted movement in the stone somehow”.

Johnny's stone scorpion sculpture

"I had an image of an attacking scorpion in my mind made with jagged stacked slate and polished black limestone, materials I had kept from previous jobs.

against all advice from my sculptor friends, family and my own instinct telling me not to do it, I decided to create the scorpion (or the illusion I saw in my mind)

the scorpion was an instant success and the door to my creative part of my mind blew wide open!"

Dry stone stream by Johnny Clasper

From here Johnny started experimenting with flow. “If stone can be brought to life maybe it could become fluidic and flow like water would?”.

"Any chance I got I would arrange pebbles or shards of slate into flowing patterns or drains, mimicking the flow of water spiralling away."

Johnny's swirly pebble path in the gold winning garden at the 2012 Harrogate Spring Flower Show  

Last year Johnny was involved in the construction of a gold awarded show garden at the 2012 Harrogate Spring Flower Show. Part of Johnny’s design brief was to lay a stone slab and pebble path. Most people, if not pretty much everybody else would have been content with pebbles neatly spread between the flagstones. But Johnny being Johnny felt compelled to spend what should have been a five minute job into a nine hour labour of love, transforming what (in my opinion) was otherwise a nice ordinary show garden into an extraordinary gold winning one.    

Johnny's wishing well

Johnny has lots more great work on his website www.johnnyclasper.co.uk  but he is also a great man for the facebook so be sure to give his facebook page a like and keep up to date with all his work. 

More flowing pebbles by Johnny Clasper

Can tradespeople be artists? Hell yeah!

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