In the more controlled environment of the studio I wander in memory across mountainous formations whose molten movement finally solidified approximately 450 million years ago. Perhaps I am more surefooted here among canvases, pigments, brushes and all that magic.
Turf, or bog-peat is a material which bears witness to cycles of growth, decay and continuous transformations. In other words, a material with an ecological, geological and mythical narrative. Turf speaks to us in quiet unobtrusive ways, perhaps reminding us that we are anchored in and part of a very finely balanced ecological environment.
Gregory Seán Sheehan 2012
Growing up in Rathfarnham meant that the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains were only a stone’s throw away. From an early age I became intimately acquainted with this extraordinary and unique mountain landscape. In absolute contrast to the city and suburbs, the Dublin Mountains are expansive, desolate, wild and wind swept places indeed.
Within seconds of leaving the road one enters an older, quieter, wilder world of blanket-bog land, heather, granite, moss, turf coloured tarns, busy streams, dense mountain fog, slanting sunlight, wind twisted trees, birdsong and above all, a deep timeless solitude.