Nature Magic

Today Mary is talking to Jethro Sheen.
Jethro runs a stone carving business, Sheenstoneworks in Gort, South county Galway. He grew up in the countryside on a mountain with stunning views out over the Burren in County Clare. As children he had a very active outdoors lifestyle that was very close to nature on a day to day basis and also with hiking, camping and caving adventures both near and far. He started working with stone at around aged 14, and at aged 22 after a few years abroad started his own business. He has been in the South Galway area for the past twenty years, the past ten of which have been at the premises, a beautiful old historical stone house in Gort, which he now owns. It is here that he has his sculpture showrooms and gardens which are a constant work in progress.
You can view his work at www.sheenstoneworks.ie and under the same name on facebook.

Recommended book The Secret Life of Trees by Colin Tudge

Contact Professor Jethro Sheen at www.sheenworks.ie

Contact Mary Bermingham at [email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast athttps://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website www.naturemagic.ie

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@burrennaturesanctuary4758

Today Mary is talking to Emma Jane Rushworth.

We are very excited that Emma is in the process of making a giant dragonfly for Burren Nature Sanctuary as part of our new interpretive trail. Emma has been making wire sculptures since 2015. Her Love For Wildlife And The Great Outdoors Shines Through In Her Work. She Works Continually On Commissioned Pieces In Her Workshop In Greystones County Wicklow Ireland. She Has Worked On A Number Of Projects This Year 2021 Including A Very Special Memorial Tree For The Lauralynn Children’s Hospice. Contact Emma To Commission Your Unique And Special Piece For A Gift To Celebrate A Family Milestone Or To Cheer Up The Garden On A Winter Day. These Pieces Will Last A Lifetime In Your Garden. Her Commercial Work Included A Blackbird In Hands For The New Saint Kevan Port Hotel In Dublin And A Wildlife Scene On A Roundabout In Cobh Cork.

Emma loves this quote

“WE’RE ALL DIFFERENT. BUT THERE’S SOMETHING KIND OF FANTASTIC ABOUT THAT, ISN’T THERE? ”

— FANTASTIC MR FOX

Contact Emma at www.emmajanerushworth.ie

Contact Martyn or Lindsay at Lima Design Studio at

www.limastudio.co.uk

[email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast athttps://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website www.naturemagic.ie

Welcome to the 2023 season of Nature Magic.

It is hard to believe we are on episode 68 and have spoken to all those incredible nature advocates. This year we are changing it up a bit, we are focusing on crafts as a medium to connect people to nature. This series was sparked from a new project that is in progress at Burren Nature Sanctuary. We obtained a Leaser grant towards some audio artworks to help interpret the biodiversity of the Burren around the walks. The three sculptures are a 7 foot Ladies Tresses Orchid at the Meadow, a large dragonfly at the Turlough and a stone badger in the karst limestone habitat. Each sculpture will be accommpanyied by a wind up audio feature in five languages.

As the new series topic is so visual we are adding a you tube video to each episode so you can immerse yourself in world of the craftspeople and see the process. We are moving from fortnightly to monthly episodes to accommodate the extra work in editing the videos.

Our first guest is Davin Butler from Butler Sculputre. Davin is the youngest sibling in the butler family. He started sculpting in his teens and continued to do so part-time throughout college where he studied web development, before realising he wanted to do sculpting full-time. He draws inspiration and techniques from the rest of the family and focuses mostly on nature, the ocean, and people. He likes tribal and mythological art, and tries to blend this into the medium of copper.Davin has also been experimenting with applying different coloured enamels to his sculptures.

His work has been displayed in galleries across Ireland, as well as in the 2 Michelin Star restaurant; Aimsir, in Kildare. We have loved Butler sculpture for many years and are delighted to launch our new series with Davin Butler as our guest.

Please check out the you tube video on the Burren Nature Sanctuary channel,

https://youtu.be/f21tsAmnO8M

as it is a lot of fun to see how Davin is building the large Ladies Tresses and also to take a sneaky look into the workshop and see the other pieces in the exhibition room. And call to see us when we reopen on April 1 and hopefully we will have up to three new sculptures installed!

Contact Davin Butler at www.butlersculptures.com

Contact Mary Bermingham at[email protected]

Contact Martyn or Lindsay at Lima Design Studio at

www.limastudio.co.uk

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast athttps://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website www.naturemagic.ie

A thank you to all our wonderful guests this year and a Christmas gift
The Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler Yeats

Today Mary is talking to Minister Malcolm Noonan.

He is a TD representing the Carlow Kilkenny Constituency and was appointed Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform in July 2020.

First elected to Kilkenny Borough Council and Kilkenny County Council in 2004, he has served sixteen years in local government and was Mayor of Kilkenny in 2009; the first Green Party Mayor in the City’s long history. He served for a short time as Irish Delegate on the EU Committee of the Regions and Co-Chair of the All Island Nuclear Free Local Authorities Forum.

Malcolm’s background prior to entering electoral politics was in environmental and community activism, as a director and national coordinator with Friends of the Earth Ireland and involvement in community-based activism; biodiversity, climate action, mobility, disability advocacy, integration, Traveller development and mental health.

His professional work has spanned landscape gardening, suicide prevention and graphic design. He holds qualifications in industrial design and a BA(Hons) in Rural Development.

Contact Malcolm Noonan at
[email protected]

Contact Mary Bermingham at
[email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at
www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast at
https://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website
www.naturemagic.ie

Today Mary is talking to Matthew Parkinson. Matthew is Director of Slow Cabins Ireland - a slow tourism focused accommodation start up. A Tyrone native who now calls Galway home, Slow Cabins was developed in Ireland through lockdown in conjunction with their Belgium sister business. Slow Cabins Ireland places off-grid cabins in hidden gem locations around Ireland, hoping to persuade people to take a short break here rather than flying away to far flung destinations abroad. Core to their business is working with partners in areas of natural beauty to help support and improve the host site. The Burren Nature Sanctuary just outside Kinvara is Slow Cabins Ireland first location and working together the pair aim to help preserve and share the sanctuary with visitors for years to come.

Recommended books

In Praise of Slow
By: Carl Honore

The Hatchet
By: Gary Paulson

Contact Matthew Parkinson
www.slowcabins.ie

Contact Mary Bermingham at
[email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at
www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast at
https://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website
www.naturemagic.ie

Today Mary is talking to Jack O’Donovan Trá.

Jack is the Communications Officer at Fair Seas. Jack is blending the art of good comms with marine science to bring the message of ocean protection to a wide audience in an engaging and impactful way. Jack is a marine biologist by training and moved into comms and campaigns in 2018, and has since worked with many large international environmental coalitions and campaigns across Europe.


Recommended books

Thirty two words for field
By: Manchan Magan

Tree Dog
By: Manchan Magan

Contact Jack O Donovan at
www.fairseas.ie

Contact Mary Bermingham at
[email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at
www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast at
https://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website
www.naturemagic.ie

Today Mary is talking to Laura Kate (LK) Howells.

LK designs and delivers environmental education programs inspired by nature, led by creativity, driven by solutions, and based on the notion that small actions done by many can make a big difference through her business Essentially Eco.

This year she was 1 of 15 out of 166 applicants that received the Creative Ireland Climate Action Fund for her project Stories of Change. Stories of Change is a storytelling project that tells the tales of good people around Ireland doing good things for Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.
She believes creativity is instrumental in communicating the challenges of the climate crisis and believes stories and solutions are an effective vehicle to stimulate interest, ignite the imagination and empower community-led climate action.

When she isn’t busy writing stories, organising exhibitions, or exploring South Kerry she is working for Concern Worldwide planning COP ON. A climate action festival of music, art, talks, and workshops.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is. Youer than You.” DR Seuss.

Resources
COP ON Festival - New tab (copon.ie)
Website - STORIES OF CHANGE - stories of good people
Instagram - Stories and Climate Solutions (@stories_of_change_) • Instagram photos and videos
Join the Stories of Change Collective. Submit your story of change - Stories of Change. (google.com)


Recommended books
Big Magic - E Gilbert
Eat like a Fish- Bren Smith
Rupi Kaur (poetry)

Get in touch with LK at
[email protected]

Get in touch with Mary at
[email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at
www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast at
https://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website
www.naturemagic.ie

Photo of LK by Harry Kerr from Memory Factory

Today Mary is talking to Neil Campbell, an ecologist living in Galway and helping Dr Colin Kelleher from the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin with the National Native seed bank project

Neil has Masters and undergraduate degrees in Botany and Plant Sciences from NUI Galway

He is interested in preserving and improving biodiversity and natural habitats with an interest in native Irish plants.

Contact Neil Campbell at
[email protected]

Contact Dr Colin Kelleher at
[email protected]

Contact Mary Bermingham at
[email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at
www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast at
https://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website
www.naturemagic.ie

Today Mary is talking to Gavin Pretor-Pinney.

Gavin is founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, which has over 58,000 members in 120 countries. He is the author of the internationally bestselling Cloudspotter’s Guide and Cloud Collector’s Handbook as well as A Cloud A Day. Gavin is a winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. He is a TED Global speaker with over 1.3 million views. He has presented television documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 and is a Visiting Fellow at the Meteorology Department of Reading University and winner of the Royal Meteorological Society’s Michael Hunt award. Gavin co-founded the Idler, a magazine that argues for the importance of downtime in creative thinking.

Join the Cloud Appreciation Society
https://cloudappreciationsociety.org

Get the book

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cloud-Day-Gavin-Pretor-Pinney

Contact Mary Bermingham at
[email protected]

Check out Burren Nature Sanctuary at
www.burrennaturesanctuary.ie

Support the Nature Magic Podcast at
https://www.patreon.com/naturemagic

Show website
www.naturemagic.ie