Orla Whelan at The Pearse Museum, Dublin

I visited The Pearse Museum in early June, specifically because I wanted to see Orla Whelan’s latest exhibition Glas, Gorm, Uaine and see how she related it to the musem itself. I blogged about the outdoor part of the visit here.

Whelan's abstract work tends to be site specific with an intention related to the building in which it is set, so I was curious how it would fare in this museum. I last saw her work at Rathfarnham Castle and I blogged about it here. My own work was exhibited at Rathfarnham Castle last year and I did several blogs about work leading up to the exhibition, installation, opening night and virtual tours; simply do a search on this site for Memory Is My Homeland for further details.

The gallery at the Pearse Museum consists of two rooms. The first room was occupied by a large floor piece 

and the walls of the second room contained smaller works on linen. 

I was fascinated by the two antique chairs in the room and it took a moment to realise they belonged with Whelan's exhibition.

They fitted in so well with the historicity of the Museum.  Titling the chairs Bedroom Chair for Patrick and Bedroom Chair for Liam makes sense for their setting in The Pearse Museum. 

Whelan had meticulously woven a pattern, that corresponded with her small paintings, into the mesh seat of each antique chair frame.

The fine marquetry of the geometric fireplace guard also took its natural place in the room.

The show continues till August 13th.-

Pearse Museum at St Enda's Park

Early June seems a long time ago now, especially as the promise of summer then has been superseded by the chilly, rainy days of July. When I visited The Pearse Museum and St Enda's Park in early June the timing was perfect. The day was glorious!

After walking around the park and spending some time in the musem, I walked over to the central fountain again to view the encircling walkway. This path, conceived by sculptor, Stephen Burke, consist of the words to  Patrick Pearse’s poem,  The Wayfarer, carved into stones surrounding the fountain.

From an upstairs window of the museum I had viewed this sculpture and wanted to take a closer look while I was in the park. I was amazed to find the two pieces that I had thought were ceramic, were in fact entirely carved from wood!

 Two Brothers  ia a sculpture by Liam O’Neill and is a wonderful reflection of Patrick Pearse and his brother William, who founded the Gaelic League school at St Enda's in the early twentieth century.

 

Summer bean salad!

It's Irish summer, which means -- maybe there'll be warm, dry days, maybe there'll be cold, wet days. In other words, not much change from weather any other season! As I write, it's cold, wet, grey and miserable. There was hail a couple of days ago. But last weekend was sunny, dry and quite warm, perfect for at least one bbq. I suspected it would be so, in advance, and started making my favourite summery bean salad. This is a simple recipe, though it has to be made in two stages, which means two days. It is perfect for making in anticipation of a bbq, but also works as a fresh veg accompaniment to any meal, or with pitta or crusty bread as a meal in itself.

Even though I say a two stage recipe, I really have to start the night before stage one as I prefer to use dried chick peas (garbanzo beans) and kidney beans, rather than canned. They need to be fully soaked and then boiled the next day. I always add some bay leaves when boiling; the flavour they add is subtle but the house sure smells nice while the beans are boiling!

The other stage one ingredients are an onion, red pepper, runner beans, vinegar, sunflower oil, sugar. Chop vegetables, and in a large bowl add 2 tlbsp vinegar, 4 tblsp oil, and 4-6 tblsp sugar. Cover and leave overnight, periodically stirring. I never have room in my fridge, but because I live in Ireland there are plenty of cool storage spaces. If you live in a country that has a hot summer, do be sure to refrigerate!

The next day drain and rinse well.

For the second stage dressing, which will stay in the salad, I go all out and use olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar, but this is not necessary (so go ahead and continue to use sunflower oil, regular vinegar, white sugar). My version is just a little more special and decadent, but the original recipe I found did not use these ingredients.

Again, leave refrigerated overnight, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to your taste. This is an incredibly fresh and tasty salad.

More Summer!

I keep seeing in the weather that rain is forecast, or in fact, my phone tells me it is raining in my town as I look out the window at a few clouds, sun, etc. One of the things I did on the bank holiday weekend just past was head to the farm outside the town and pick up loads of fabulous raspberries while they are still in season. Heading back home it's hard to believe that this lovely view of Bray Head is only a ten minutes drive away towards the sea.

The town doesn't even look likes it's there from this view towards the sea!

We picked up eight large punnets of fabulous raspberries and I spent the afternoon rinsing them -- most to go into the freezer for future desserts and wine. Of course, some were kept out to eat fresh. Yum! I think raspberries are fruit of the gods - my favourite!

Well there was some rain last Friday night. In fact there was a downpour at the outdoor gig of Bryan Ferry. However, I had my raincoat as the weather was expected, and Mr Ferry, as sexy and suave as ever at 72, performed fabulously -- to the crowd's delight, mostly Roxy Music's back catalogue. No rain dampened that night! I think that puts a nice end to summer gigs for me - The Rolling Stones in May, LCD Soundsystem in June, and Bryan Ferry in July. It's been a great summer all around!