WOOD sculptor John Hayes has completed a commission for John Nallen of the Gold Cup winner Minella Indo and the Grand National winner Minella Times which are now in situ outside Nallen’s Hotel Minella in Clonmel.

“Yes I really enjoyed doing these horses, I had never done anything like this. The wood is from a wonderful Lebanon Cedar which had fallen. It’s rare and a great wood to carve and holds the design well especially with muscular subjects like these and where you also want to show the fragility of their legs.

Having the horses jumping means that the fence is a prop for the sculpture as well.

“The cedar wood should last and these wood sculptures can last 20-40 years if oiled once a year. If you don’t do that the wood dries out, cracks and the water gets in.

John is from Fenor, Co Waterford on the Copper Coast and his creation Dragonslayer, the longest ever sculpture from a single piece of wood is displayed in the Waterford Viking Triangle, Waterford city.

Next stop is the world woodcarving championships in Canada and then on to competitions in the USA and Europe and Japan.

“I love to travel and meet carvers from all over the world – you learn so much.”

You can contact John to commission your masterpiece on 086 1013924. www.specialbranchcarvers.com,

ARTIST Tom Meskell has got together one of the largest outdoor lantern installations ever shown here and it is in Connolly Barracks, a free event lighting up between 5-8pm, next weekend February 25-27th.

Appropriately as it is staged in the old cavalry barracks, the subject is horses and Tom and his crew have been creating the installation for over a year so go along and show your appreciation to tn .