'Sculpture in the City Garden', Dublin

Yesterday I installed 7 of my 'Poppy Patch' pieces in the Leinster Gallery's secluded wall garden in time for the 'Sculpture in the city Garden' outdoor group exhibition, taking place on the 15th of March.  It was my pleasure to meet gallery owner Loretto Meagher and view some of the stunning artwork housed in the 2 storey gallery on South Frederick Street.

'Poppy Patch' is an installation comprised of a group of pieces, each with a blown glass plate as the 'flower head', a stainless steel 'stem' and black nylon fittings.  It first emerged as an installation commission by the Crafts Council of Ireland for 'BLOOM', garden show in Phoenix Park, Dublin in 2009.  It gave me my first experience of hiring a glass blowing studio to produce work.  The glass element was however the easy part!  Designing and sourcing the means of producing the metal and nylon elements proved quite challenging.  Luckily a childhood neighbour is a metal turner (worked at Shorts airplane maunufacturers!) and was instrumental in coming up with the final piece.

I have since exhibited 'Poppy Patch' at the Kilkenny Arts Festival and as part of 'Sculpture in Context' at the National Botanical Gardens, Dublin.