BOTANICALS

109. Burst Seed Head
- Jane Murtagh
Click on any image for a larger version

There I was on my way to the vet and parking my car in the Botanical car park when the memory struck. Had someone not said to me recently that there was an exhibition in the Botanical Gardens that I should see?

I had strayed once before from the car park and came across this wonderful sculpture in the gardens. So I thought, why not stray again. I'm not often up this way and at least I'll be able to check out what it was I was supposed to see.

At the reception in the visitor centre I learned that it was a sculpture exhibition, that some of it was upstairs, the smaller pieces, while the rest was scattered around the grounds. So I decided to settle for the smaller pieces.

Now I'm not an arty type. I went to the RHA Annual Exhibition in recent times, out of an interest in the artist Gordon Brewester who had exhibited there in 1916 and 1917. I just wanted to get a feel for the thing. Well, I can tell you I wouldn't let 90% of it in my front door and I'd have to think about the rest of it.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see so many items at the Botanical which took my fancy or made me smile, and I thought I'd share a few of them with you.

The Bursting Seed above is a beautiful piece.

Mind you, you wouldn't know from the catalogue (€3) where it is reproduced on its side.

41. Present Day Ruins
- Sophie Kate Curran

This piece has the delicacy of coral. A lovely piece of work.

Mind you, it is hard to match it up with the catalogue where only a small portion is shown and only a small portion of that is in focus. Totally misses out on the delicacy of the original.

20. Recollections
- Stuart Cairns

I'm not sure what it was that attracted me to this piece - the texture and subtle colours and the separateness of the individual items. It has a wistful serenity about it.

141. Relic Bowl 2
- Vicky Sutherland

This is a very delicate piece of porcelain portraying fallen leaves and even a tooth. It is delicate, charming and light. If you look at it long enough it will also make you smile.

132. The Phoenix
- Frederic Ruckenbrod

My photo does not do justice to this wonderful bird. It was the first thing that struck me when I entered the gallery. I think I accidentally came in the back door.

105. A Bird in The Hand
- Helen Merrigan-Colfer

I don't know why this one struck me. It has a sort of perverse charm about it. Not beautiful but striking and the texture is interesting.

A Dress for Flying
- Helen Merrigan-Colfer

I had to smile at this one. It reminded me, vaguely, of Marilyn Monroe's skirt scene on the subway grating in The Seven Year Itch. Whatever about that scene, there could be only one outcome for this lady if the balloons did what balloons do.

24. Brigid and The Dagda
- Barra Cassidy

This is the god Dagda of the Tuatha de Danann with his daughter Brigid. A bit clunky maybe but striking. The catalogue illustration is hardly there at at all.

87. Teddy Fusilier
- Charlie Mahon

I think this is my Rocky Horror Show moment. A most unsettling piece.

You know when your nightmares become plastic, things are out of kilter and you're borne along by a group of lunatics you've nothing in common with. Well, combine that with some of your granny's ceramic cats off the mantlepiece, and you'll get a vague idea of where I'm coming from.

12. Inflection 1 2018
13. Inflection 2 2018
14. Elements 2018
- Anne Butler

I'd have taken a different photo if I'd realised these were three separate items. It was the sort of map projection, Einstein time-warp quality of them combined with a certain lightness which attracted me.

42. Duilleoga
- Cliodna Cussen

I had a good look at this because of the sculptor. Initially unremarkable it grows on you.

There is no picture in catalogue.

122. Rolling Waves
- John Quinn

I had to smile at this. Loved it. Don't ask me why.

112. Nunataq II
- Helen O'Connell

This is Carrara marble and that's what attracted me to this one. I'd never actually noticed the marble in the foyer of the EBRD in London, but it was Jacques Attali's replacement of the original Travertine marble with Carrara marble which played a part in his downfall.

So now I've both seen and taken note of Carrara marble. You're not allowed touch the exhibits!

Nunataq is a glacial area in Greenland. However, when my friend Vivion first saw this picture he thought of a broken heart. Perhaps an inspiration to the artist for a further work in this beautiful material.

Again, no picture in the catalogue.

You might like to follow up on this stuff at Sculpture in Context whose show it is.

Grey Squirrel and Bird
- observed

This pair paid absolutely no attention to me as I passed them on the way out.