Meet the Cork mechanic creating art from old car parts

George Townend is a mechanic in the small rural East Cork town of Lisgoold, so you would expect to find lots of salvaged car parts, batteries, ratchets, screwdrivers, sockets, and spanners inside his shed where he works.

“You can never have enough tools. I’m just the local mechanic,” says George who has travelled far and wide, “crossing many borders in the process”.

What you don’t expect to see inside the shed are the incredible sculptured steel animal creations that George has made from shaping components like gears, pistons, brake pads, motorcycle petrol tanks, and timing belts - all transformed into incredible sculptures.

Not only is he a mechanic, but he is an artist too.

“It makes me tick, and it keeps me sane!” says George, who, along with his partner, Eileen France, is hosting Silk & Steel, an exhibition of sculpture, embroidery, and fine art in My Place, Midleton, running until July 12.

The silk part stems from Eileen’s art, and the steel is George’s.

What made George tick and keep sane during the uncertain days of covid and lockdown?

“Doing this!” says George, unveiling an amazing a Joker-like image from Batman fashioned from an old petrol tank belonging to an old motorbike.

“The petrol tank came from a Jigsaw motorbike,” says George.

“The brake shoes are the horns, the brake pad is the mouth, and the eyelids are steel toe caps from working boots.”

George is very creative, but he adds: “Eileen is more creative than me. Her studio is up along the lane.”

Before visiting Eileen in her studio, George tells me more about his unusual hobby and his excitement about people viewing his unique creations at the Silk & Steel exhibition.

“People say to me that a lot of work goes into it,” says George.

“I tell them it’s not work to me, and if I was clocking up the hours working on making the sculptures, then it would be like a job and take the good out of it.”

Now he can show his wares to the public.

“It’s great!” he says.

George happily whiles away the hours removing old car parts, evaluating car parts for further use, and then accepting useful but redundant car parts - donations from his customers - before visualising and then fashioning and recycling the scrap into works of art.

George’s industrious hobby was paused for a time when he suffered two heart attacks.

“The first one came out of the blue,” says George, who is now hale and hearty.

“I was on the way home one evening and I thought I’d stop in Smart’s Bar for a pint if they were open. I wasn’t feeling great. Next thing an ambulance arrived.

“I got two stents in my heart after that.

Then, two months later I collapsed again and my lungs collapsed. I was three days in a coma in CUH.”

But he was soon ticking over nicely again?

George laughs.

“I was supposed to take it easy, but I can’t just not do anything. I began constructing my steel animals again. It slowly evolved and grew from there.”

One piece of art is called Max.

“I was planning only to do the head for the dog sculpture,” says George.

“But Max kind of grew on me and then he grew in size.

“Claus, the horse back there has a petrol tank for a saddle, and his body includes lots of suspension parts.

“I oil and varnish everything so there is no risk of rust.”

Is that a frog staring at me with bulging beady eyes beside the Claus, the horse who George says makes a global political statement.

“It can be whatever you want to be,” says George.

What does he think about co-hosting his first sculpture exhibition in Midleton?

“Anyone who knows me over 20 years, will think, ‘George? No way!’”

We make our way up the lane to what was once an old milking parlour and what is now a place of art, birdsong, nature, and magic amid a meadow full of wildflowers.

Eileen greets us from her workspace where she covets her innate compulsion to create, a desire to process complex emotions, or the need to carve out an authentic voice.

“Welcome to my world,” says Eileen, who is originally from Wales and who rented a property in Shanagarry before discovering her own little piece of heaven in this Lisgoold haven.

Do Eileen and George live in the storybook rambling cottage next door?

“No, we live separately,” says Eileen. “That’s why it works!”

“George and I are the best of friends. I like his warped sense of humour and we like discussing and debating different perspectives on things.”

“She means we argue about things!” says George, laughing.

There is no argument about Eileen’s talent.

“I’ve been doing art since I was six years old,” says Eileen.

Is art and creativity in her genes?

“My grandad was a musician, and my nan was a hobby artist,” says Eileen.

“Yes, creativity is in my genes. And my children are all creative.”

What makes her incredible silk creations stand out?

“There are only one of them in the whole world,” says Eileen. “They are one-offs. They are unique.

“It’s not just time that goes into them,” she adds.

“Often, art is a meditative process and an on-going journey.”

She gives one example.

“This picture on the table, prompted by my visit to China, which I found fascinating, is tranquil, peaceful. I separated each filament of fine silk thread, getting the threads finer and finer. If you move your head looking at the picture, you will notice the changes of colour in the scene.”

Eileen’s art is diverse, an eclectic mixed media portfolio.

“My lady inside the front door who appears to be screaming, is a more violent scene,” says Eileen, who incorporated natural materials and barbed wire to fashion the lady’s impressive head of hair.

“She is a series of three pieces.”

Eileen has no formal training in art.

“Finding the crafts and materials I want takes a long time,” she says.

“Creating the piece is meditative, and it gets smaller and smaller, becoming more relaxing. The process is more satisfying than the result. My art is not commercial; it is my hobby.”

It is her passion too.

“I get immersed in the process and I find that so rewarding.”

Eileen says people often acquire art just for the sake of it, or to fill an empty space on a wall in a room.

“Then there are people who can see what I want to get out emotion-wise,” says Eileen. “It matters to me who my art belongs to.

“Often, my mood on any given day depends on the music I am hearing, the wind I am hearing, or the sight of the swallows swooping from their perches.”

Eileen’s surroundings in nature influence her artistic flair.

“I love the peace here,” she says.”

She met George here too.

“He was my mechanic!” she says, laughing.

“We became good friends. I encouraged him with his steel creations. Changing direction in his mid-sixties for him was amazing.”

Now, the two creatives are exhibiting their amazing creations, Steel & Silk, down the road in Midleton.

Was it a big job transporting Claus from Lisgoold?

“I have transport all sorted,” says George, who is au fait with all things on wheels.

He is eyeing my car.

“I wouldn’t leave your car parked here for much longer if I were you!” he grins.

It’s time to make tracks.

Silk & Steel is at My Place, Midleton, running until July 12.