Artwork links landscape with Scoil Bhride

One of the two splendid new artworks in Scoil Bhride was completed only the day of the recent official opening, writes Brian Byrne.

The major mosaic in hand-cut tiles decorating the corridor that links the older and the new building was designed by the artist, illustrator and children's book author Chris Judge.

The work itself was carried out by Triskill Design, whose installations are in landmark locations including such as Castle Hume Resort, Vicar Street, the Clarence Hotel and many other places.

Chris Judge's first picture book, The Lonely Beast (Andersen Press), was published in 2011 in Ireland, the UK, the US and across Europe and went on to win the Supersavers Irish Children's Book of the Year 2011 in the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

It has been followed by two Beast sequels as well as other picture book projects including his TiN and he wrote Brian Boru series which is illustrated by Mark Wickham. His other recent large mosaic was for Stanhope Street School in Dublin.

"When I got the commission I came in and talked with the teachers and the pupils," he says of the Kilcullen piece. "Then we put together various animals, landmarks, and other features that you find around Kilcullen."

These include the Round Tower, sheep, foxes, swans, deer, and horses on the Curragh Racecourse, and the River Liffey flowing all the way through. "It's such a beautiful landscape around here, we tried to capture as much of it as possible."

Pictured (top) with the piece are Chris Judge, Scoil Bhride Principal Ann Flanagan, and Jay Roche and John Carter of Triskill.