Bogwood and agricultural implements and tools are combined in many of the creations of Brian Fennell of Bog Rough Creation.

“There has always been a special relationship between Irish rural and farming people and the bogs of Ireland, right up to current day rural living,” Fennell said, who has his Bog Rough Creation workshop and studio in Stradbally, Co.Laois.

“The combination of a manmade tool or implement and a piece of bogwood complement and reflect this special relationship. Generally Irish people have an appreciation and inherent love of bog oak and bogwood.”

Among the bog oak pieces he has depicted are: a haybob; a bill hook; turf sprong; pick head bog pine; a pick head; and ‘Flying on One Wing’.

“Every bogwood has its own story to tell, just waiting to be extracted,” Fennell said.

“I create sculptures and other art pieces from thousands of years-old bogwood, predominantly bog oak and pine. Pieces reveal themselves from the different bogwood as I work with them.

FennelI said that he has always found the bogs of Ireland to be wild, adventurous and mysterious places.

“Like most youngsters, going to the bog in the summer months to save and bring home the turf for winter fuel was an annual pilgrimage of penance, midges, and endless back-breaking work,” he said.

“I have always been intrigued and in awe of the magnificent and dignified bogwood when released from the peat, having been entombed and preserved by nature for thousands of years in the oxygen starved boglands.”

As a young man he brought home pieces of bogwood and recalls the first piece he made was a mug stand for his aunt. It was more about sharing his wonder at the age of the timber with her and the household than it was about creating a mug stand, he said.

“I became a scavenger and every piece of wood has a story that I wanted some day to create, preserve and share,” Fennell said who is mostly self-taught in sculpting.

“Learning about the tools, chisels, rasping, sanding, sealing, waxing, and polishing was gained from years of trial and error peppered somewhere in the midst of my 35 years day job in the construction industry,” he said, adding that he also attended a week-long session with a renowned Kerry-based sculptor.

He grew up on Main Street in Stradbally in the 1970s and 1980s.

“We were like urban farmers. We had 6ac at the back of the house on which my grandfather and father grew vegetables which they brought and sold in the Smithfield fruit and vegetable market in Dublin. This eventually led to them running a successful fruit and vegetable wholesale business,” he said.

“Our neighbour on the left was a dairy farmer and a publican and our neighbour on the right was a butcher and reared their own pigs behind the home. Urban and rural living were very intertwined then and a lot less regulated.

“We went to the bog in the summer to foot and bring home turf and that is where I first encountered the phenomena of bogwood having being preserved in the bog peat for thousands of years,” he said.

“For some reason I was, and still am, intrigued by the history and the physical nature and uniqueness of bogwood. I would search the turf banks or pools at the turf bank for unearthed bogwood and started to bring home pieces,” Fennell explained.

“Once exhumed from the preservation of the bog and exposed to atmospheric elements of sun, rain, heat, frost, bacteria and insects, bogwood will decay.

“I bring the pieces back to the workshop and store in a dry environment and let all the moisture evaporate and protect the wood from the damp and the elements. The wood needs time to dry out and season and let the natural grains and cracks expand and contract as it dries,” Fennell said.

He said that once the wood has been seasoned, he tries to let the wood tell its own story and sculpt based on that narrative.

“As much as possible I try to leave the original grain on a finished piece and not completely smooth polish and sand the entire area,” Fennell explained.

“This allows people to touch and experience the rough and coarse texture of the wood as I found it in the bog and hence the cornerstone of our brand name Bog Rough Creation.”

“Historically all of my clients were by word-of-mouth and that still applies, generally people who have an awareness and appreciation of the history and uniqueness of bog oak and who want a piece for their own home or a present. I have also done some small scale commissions,” he said.

Fennell has spent the past 18 months building up his portfolio of completed bogwood sculptures, while also building a website where he can show his pieces. The website launched just before Christmas last year, and Fennell admitted, that was probably one of the hardest things he had to do.

“The website has generated some modest sales in the short period since launching. Getting your website publicised and circulated to a target market amongst the huge online competition for space is difficult and a huge learning curve,” Fennell said.

“For the larger sculptures the target market is art enthusiasts and the corporate and business world. The route to market here is ideally through art galleries but again starting a relationship with a gallery is challenging but it’s early days.

“I try to keep a mix in size and cost of sculptures and creations to include as broad a range of customers as possible in relation to affordability so that everyone can share in the wonder of ancient bogwood,” Fennell said

He has been working with and sculpting bogwood for decades in his spare time outside of his full-time job in the construction industry. Married to Margaret, they have five children, and have lived in the countryside in Rosenallis, Co. Laois for the past 25 years.

About two years ago he decided to pursue the bog oak sculpting passion and dedicate more time to it. His plan for the immediate future is to showcase his work to as large an audience as possible and build a relationship with arts and crafts outlets.

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