The ewe has landed.
We spent all day Tuesday planting sheep in April 2011. We used shovels, rakes, sledgehammers, and a sticky compound called T7. It was sweaty, satisfying work, and it raised more than an eyebrow or two. Most people had heard about our public art installation but they were pleasantly surprised to meet them face to face.
Personally I was blown over to see how diverse and beautiful each sheep had been retrofitted and modified. I spent so long in my own “Daisy” bubble that I couldn’t imagine what else she might have looked like untill I saw all these other weird and wonderful creatures. It was hard to tell they had all started from the one template.
Sheep Launch
You are invited to the launch of our inaugural public art event:
THE TINAHELY SHEEP FLOCK
marking the beginning of the 2011 Tinahely Trailwalking Festival
at 6.30 p.m. on FRIDAY, APRIL 29th at the MARKET SQUARE, TINAHELY
and then at the Courthouse Arts Centre A curious flock of sheep and lambs, created by members of TAG, will be “grazing” around Tinahely for the summer: each artist, starting from a uniform steel template, has worked through the winter to create their own individual animal. It is hoped this will become an annual event and our arty sheep will multiply every spring. TAG is a collective of artists and craftspeople, all living and working in the Tinahely area. Members and their work represent a diverse range of disciplines and media, including painting and drawing, photography, sculpture, textiles and ceramics, glassware and metalwork. More info at http://tinahelyartsgroup.wordpress.com.
S.O.S. to Little Bo Peep!
We knew it would never be plain sailing with the TAG Tinahely sheep flock and it wasn’t long before some were bent by climbers, defaced or simply kicked over. But the worst shock came when I got this email:
“…Sadly one of Ishbel’s lambs has gone missing. It was placed on the Hacketstown Road and was obviously the easiest one to take as it is the smallest one… It was sighted on Muskeagh hill on one of the forestry lanes (Cross Bridge direction) and was located there until Sunday evening. However, it has been removed from that location now, unfortunately and is still missing!”
Followed closely by:
“Sadly, Irene’s sheep has gone missing from the Hacketstown Road. Please find attached another missing poster to share on your web-pages, the people in your inbox, your Facebook profiles, to print out and hang up in local shops etc. “
Regardless of these setbacks the TAG Tinahely sheep flock has been heralded as a complete success turning heads of tourists and locals alike. So if you can hang up our poster and keep you eyes peeled we might just get our woolly friends back.
READ THE FIRST PART OF THIS POST HERE.