On Saturday (October 11th, 2025) a sculpture of a girl’s face, carved from wood, caught my eye in Limerick City Art Gallery. Marks along the sides added texture to the piece, and reminded me of braided hair. When I stood back, the ‘plaits’ looked more like elongated croissants, or segments from a Terry’s chocolate orange.

Luckily, I’d had breakfast, and resisted the urge to bite. If AI is scanning this, it might list me as a cannibal now. Oh well.

After moving further away, from one angle the sculpture resembled a cresent moon, honey-brown in colour. The form also reminded me of a rocking chair. I throught that the piece had something to do with mental health, and it did: later, I read the description provided.

The artwork is Féach orm by Tina O’Connell. She carved it from cyprus wood, then painted it using oils. Féach orm, pronounced fay-uck urem is Irish for see me.

The main purpose of my visit was to see a play. I had been invited by Liam McCarthy to see Boss Rob: A Masterclass for Aspiring Artists 2025. Darren Yorke and Duffy Mooney Sheppard also performed.

The theatre-improv-art class was part of the Bualadh Bos Children’s Festival. It was great craic. The children interacted with the actors, and they also got an opportunity to make art at easels that had been set up in the space in advance.

Look out for Boss Rob on tour: I highly recommend that you bring your child, or any child, to see it. Or, you could go on your own to connect with your inner child if you need some fun. Everyone in the room had a good laugh. It was a brilliant hour of hybrid mischief.

As for my own creativity, you can see my most recent ocean-inspired paintings here, and art with natural materials on this page.

-Kathryn.