Poppy Corner

Poppy Corner – The Final Touch

Poppy Corner  project

Thinking about the Dublin Canvas  project and the significance of the poppy flower, I was restless to get back to Poppy Corner.   My mission  was to complete the task of bringing colour and creativity to everyday objects in Dublin city.

Poppy Corner in the Making
Grey Beginnings at Poppy Corner
Poppy Corner - A blank Canvas
Poppy Corner – A blank Canvas
Laying the base layer at Poppy Corner
Laying the base layer at Poppy Corner

Poppy Corner taking shape
Poppy Corner taking shape
Blooming Poppies at Poppy Corner, Dublin
Blooming Poppies at Poppy Corner, Dublin
09/09/2015 - MAXWELLS DUBLINPic shows, Donna McGee, Artist, painting onto an electricity box on the corner of Fitzwilliam Street.Dublin Canvas was set up earlier this year with a project idea to help brighten up the city of Dublin.  An idea intended to bring flashes of colour and creativity to everyday objects in the City. According to Dave Murtagh, Project Co-Ordinator of Dublin Canvas, the project takes previously unused public space and transforms it into canvases to help brighten up the City. Making Dublin a more beautiful place to live, work and visit. The project began as a pilot Beta Project commissioned by  Dublin City Council in 2013. Dublin Canvas intends to roll this out to 80 boxes in total (almost 20 completed to date)  which hopefully will be completed by November and before the bitter winter takes its toll.PIC: MAXWELLS
Serious detailing at Poppy Corner!
09/09/2015 - MAXWELLS DUBLINPic shows, Donna McGee, Artist, painting onto an electricity box on the corner of Fitzwilliam Street.Dublin Canvas was set up earlier this year with a project idea to help brighten up the city of Dublin.  An idea intended to bring flashes of colour and creativity to everyday objects in the City. According to Dave Murtagh, Project Co-Ordinator of Dublin Canvas, the project takes previously unused public space and transforms it into canvases to help brighten up the City. Making Dublin a more beautiful place to live, work and visit. The project began as a pilot Beta Project commissioned by  Dublin City Council in 2013. Dublin Canvas intends to roll this out to 80 boxes in total (almost 20 completed to date)  which hopefully will be completed by November and before the bitter winter takes its toll.PIC: MAXWELLS
Always time for fun, chat and laughter
Nearly finished painting at Poppy Corner
Nearly finished painting at Poppy Corner

I tipped away, adding final touches with oil paint. Passers-by were so very generous with their comments.  This inspired me to apply just a few more strokes here and there to Poppy Corner.

An elderly lady who had watched the progress from the beginning addressed me:

 “What are you doing?” she enquired in a polite yet impatient manner.

“Em, I’m trying to create more depth, more foliage, more highlights……..” I meekly responded.   Just one more daub with a swirl of the brush, are the vanishing points correct, is there enough contrast, what about the tone …. ?

“Leave it alone, it was perfect yesterday, Don’t Touch It!” she said with an air of frustration.

It brought a smile to my face and I was thankful for  the wise words of that nice lady:

Enough is Enough – Leave it alone!

Poppy corner street art Dublin
Poppy Corner – Complete!

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“The Remembrance Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is used to commemorate soldiers who have died in war. Inspired by the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields

You might like to read this very touching  poem by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh :

Click the link :     War and Poppies

War and Poppies by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh
War and Poppies by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

War and Poppies – An insightful and sad poem for the overlooked and forgotten – lest we forget!

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The remembrance poppy is especially prominent in the UK. In the weeks leading up to Remembrance Sunday,  poppies are distributed by The Royal British Legion in return for donations to their “Poppy Appeal”.   During this time, it is an unwritten rule that all public figures  appearing on television must wear poppies.  Newsreader,  Jon Snow berated this as “poppy fascism” and argued that it is glorifying current wars.  It is especially controversial in Northern Ireland;  most Irish nationalists and Irish Catholics refuse to wear one, mainly due to actions of the British Army during the Troubles, while Ulster Protestants and Unionists usually wear them.

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Hopefully, #PoppyCorner fulfills its mission by bringing colour, creativity and some lightness and cheer to our city!

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1 thought on “Poppy Corner – The Final Touch”

  1. one of my favorite poems. lovely work , touching subject. it is sometimes hard for us to leave it alone, our work. but the strength of that ability to let go of what one has put so much heart into – that is the artists true talent and in my opinion only goal. cheers

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