Aos Dara 2025 Tomnafinnoge Wood Based Sculpture Symposium 2025, Co Wicklow

Aos Dara Tomnafinnoge Wood Based Sculpture Symposium 2025

"Swallow Seat" 2025, untreated fallen beech wood, 6.5m long

I arrived at the symposium with an idea for a carved bench and set out into the woods to find an appropriate fallen tree. I was very lucky to find this perfect specimen of a huge Beech tree branch. Over the course of the 10 days I laid out a design of swallows swooping up and down in flight over a hilly landscape. Large knots in the tree created natural points for the design to flow over and under. I removed wood along the top down to a suitable bench height, and used a hand plane to create a silky smooth finish. I finished by carving out the year, the name of the symposium (Aos Dara) and my own name. I used oak gall ink, which I made during the 2020 symposium, to enhance the contrast between the text and the background wood.

Along with myself there were 5 other artists creating artwork in the woods, Niall O'Neill, Roisin Flood, Fiona Coffey, Roisin O Meadhra and Dave Kinane.