Diary of the Dream Carnival

Waterford Spraoi 2011

2011-07-15T17:16:00.000+01:00

Spraoi are building a parade themed 'Bosca Beo' or box of life. Due to their workload I went down to help out and built a Wendy house for one section of the parade. It's made from EVA foam sheets, cut and sculpted then covered with muslin and latex. It will be carried by 6 girls dressed as barbie dolls being chased by robots. (bit of a random image there for you).

Urban Living

2011-07-15T17:09:00.000+01:00

Venue dressings for the Urban Living event in Wolftone Park Dublin.
Circus tents and 108 flowers made of foam.

stuffed toys from a few years ago

2011-04-19T00:49:00.000+01:00

Here's a couple of photos of stuffed toys I made back in 2005

Some sand and gem paintings

2011-04-19T00:45:00.000+01:00

I've been neglecting my smaller craft projects so I thought I'd post some pictures of paintings made from coloured sand and gems.

The R Factor Quiz Show

2011-04-19T00:22:00.007+01:00

I built a stage set and props for an environ -mental quiz show that has been touring primary schools since January. It has been received well so far and more successful than last years show. The CE participants brain -stormed in 2010 to construct an interactive and educational show themed around waste management, Water conservation, Energy saving and Climate change.

The Set was made from Reused and recycled materials. The structure underneath was made from old gazebo poles and clothing rails. The covering was left over dress lining and it was all finished off by strings of drink cans, some sequinz fabric and MDF board to hold the shape of the windows.

The Rubbish monster was sewn together from fur rags left over from another project and decorated using bottle caps, newspaper and cardboard.

The podiums were made from MDF sourced with recycled pulp and decorated with glitter. The buzzers attached were made from components off a board game.

Some schools will be participating in classes to create their own podiums from gathered materials that will be used during the show and then exhibited during their arts week.

Chocolate Factory at The Base ballyfermot

2011-04-17T15:51:00.009+01:00

The week before I sat down to discuss a stage set and costumes. I wasn't sure what for but I got a brief for charlie and the chocolate factory (chocolate room) and the Gruffallo (kids costumes).

I made a set of 4 upright boards for the children to paint a scene on and provided a few costumes. The highlight of the show turned out to be the tree from the chocolate factory that was made of real sweets and a paper mache base. There were teeth marks on the marshmallows before the tree went on stage and I can't understand it because the tree was shut backstage in a hall behind a pile of guitars and a drum kit. After the show I went back to take the sweets down so they could be used for the show the next day but they were all eaten by the stage crew (not the children)! so I had to get more sweets for the second night. Luckily I saved them for the children that time. The candy canes were made from a length of waste pipe that I melted and bent then wrapped red electrical tape around to make the stripes. The base was a piece of thick MDF.

The gruffallo was just a couple of head bands with ears or a mask. They were made from a piece of galvanized wire glued between a folded strip of card. The ears or masks were made from card and felt and stapled to the head bands.

I gave the costumes to the children and donated the set to 'the Base'.

Dublin at Christmas Lantern workshops 2010

2010-12-27T03:01:00.003Z

5 point Star Lanterns made from Card, sellotape, paper silhouette puncher and battery operated LED's.

The workshops took place in three shopping centres across Dublin and all the children were happy with their self made lanterns. Some even took templates home to make their own.

Dublin at Christmas Parades 2010

2010-12-27T02:53:00.003Z

At the beginning of November I started building 16 costumes of Presents and Christmas Crackers for a series of parades to take place on Henry street and Grafton Street. They were made from; PVC conduit, Polyester dress lining, PVA glue and glitter, A cowboy hat and galvanized steel wire.
The first 6 parades were canceled due to the snow.

Pride June 2010

2010-12-27T02:31:00.002Z

Dublin Council wanted an entry to the Parade this year celebrating those in the Olympics and so wanted the theme of 'Sport'. I had a deadline for starting construction but they took too long to get back so I pulled out. Here was the design I had proposed.

Chinese New Year 2010

2010-12-27T02:21:00.003Z

Chinese New year fell on February 14th and was the year of the Tiger. I was called last minute to put together some form of dressing for the venue. I made bunting, tiger lanterns and banners for stringing up across the square. I somehow managed it in 72 hours. Maybe because I didn't eat or sleep... again.

Halloween Antics parade 09

2010-02-20T13:45:00.004Z

Here are some photos of the Halloween Antics parade. It lashed rain all day before the event and then suddenly cleared to make an enjoyable event for everyone. It was unfortunate that the Crows were partially made from Crepe paper because the humidity destroyed them. The joys of mixing carnival with Irish weather.

Halloween antics 2009 construction

2010-02-19T11:18:00.009Z

I'm back in action after having to let go of my Master's due to illness. A little recovery later and a year as an actor on a CE scheme and I've fallen under the employment of DTE inc, I've been approached to build costumes for a halloween parade in Dublin to Celebrate 'Dracula'. I will be making Crows, Stilt walking bats, Wolves and of course the big guy himself, Dracula. I'll be mainly using polystyrene sculpture (as I've not tried it before), Fibre glass, Muslin, Dress lining and LED's to add glowing eyes. This is to be completed in a month so I'll be getting little sleep again. My space is restricted to the small room pictured with polythene sheets hanging from the ceiling.

Samhain success as always

2007-01-31T14:46:00.000Z

The parade went ahead as planned but I got left behind with a rather big costume on my back. I had to be squeezed down a laneway to catch up. As I was running around dressing everyone there was no time to take pictures so sorry for those wanting to see them. There were no new costume designs this year so you're not missing much.

As of the start of January, I'm now full time in a diploma masters course for Music and Media Technology so There will be no major building projects for the next two years.

I will be participating in smaller projects through the year and maybe have some photos to display.

Deajar

Mythology Anthology

2006-08-13T21:39:00.001+01:00

This is the biggest entry I've done to date. There were about 56 costumes in total and I managed to parade the route with a sprained knee. The weather stayed dry and pleasant and I also added a drop side truck with a sound system on the back to liven it up. We had the honor of leading the parade this year and everyone had great fun.

The rest of the images can be seen at:
http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/dreamcarnival2/Mythology%20Anthology%20Greystones%2006/

Greystones Art's Festival 2006

2006-08-13T21:19:00.001+01:00

After Pride I started working on the Greystone's project called 'Mythology Anthology'. I had 26 6-8 year olds for three half days and try and get them to paint and make their own costumes. Between Art Sessions the children did drama and character building with a member of the Cork City Circus. After the workshops were over, I finished putting everything together and didn't get to bed till 2am on the morning of the parade.

There had been a previous disaster with the main carnival puppets. They had already been constructed and used during the Halloween project but when I went to collect them from storage, they had been mangled under someone elses equipment. I had 3 days to reverse roughly €1200 worth of damage but as you can see in my next post, everything came together in the end.

Pride what?

2006-08-13T20:49:00.001+01:00

I recall this day with distain unfortunately because I hadn't slept or eaten. By the time it was all over I was exhausted and fell fowl of food poisoning from an Eddie Rockets milkshake. :( I was extremely ill for four days after that.
Anyway the masks were made from Funky Foam, The carnival braces were mainly made from paper and a feather boa and the Dragon itself was Polyester Dress lining, Ostrich feathers, Silver Netting, Lame, Hula Hoops, Fibre glass rods, Aluminiun, Foam and a smoke machine.

24 hours to pride

2006-06-23T02:29:00.001+01:00

Pride parade is upon us again. I've been working in the builders room in the Dragon bar for two weeks or there abouts. I got the costumes finished reasonably quickly but have had no rest because I've been starting on Greystones costumes.
The DEBRA Ireland crowd have my butterflies up again at the top of Grafton Street for a promotional shoot on the same day as Pride so it's into town, get on stilts in butterflies and then leg it to the other side of the city to get things ready for the parade with a half hour to spare .
The last photo is the design for one of the section entries in Greystone's parade that will be made by the children in the costume workshop.

Greystones arts festival 06

2006-05-02T01:26:00.001+01:00

The festival mardi gras is coming up again and this year my entry is entitled 'Mythology Anthology'. It consists of 5 sections, the Lothian Dragon, Poenix, Fairy, Night Whisps and the Sea Monster. Each section has one large piece and to join it, 5 Kids in costume from the workshops. This is a picture of the design sketch.

Pride 2006

2006-05-02T01:16:00.000+01:00

The date for Pride this year is June 24th. I'm working with The Dragon again so Puff the magic drag queen needs to be repaired along with the construction of four new pieces and a pile of masks. The pieces consist of a hula hoop, three bamboo spurs, alot of cardboard and feathers. I'll be working in the builders room this year cause I just have no room in my room anymore. I can't see my floor. It will be hectic as I have exams on at the moment aswell. The picture is a rather blurry design of the large costumes and the other a semi finished mask prototype.

Greystones St Patrick's Day 2006

2006-05-02T01:12:00.001+01:00

Snake wrap costumes made from foam, Poly cotton, Polyester dress lining, Gold spray and Velcro. The hats were made from Funky Foam and card.

Samhain 2005

2005-11-27T20:19:00.001Z

This is the Samhain Halloween parade which took place around the IFSC area with participants from the Sheriff street community project. The organizers of the event were Dublin City council and Applause Events.

Samahin upon us

2005-10-30T00:56:00.000+01:00

Well we've been in the community centre since the beginning of October.
There has been paint, cardboard and plastic bags flying all over the place and it has finally come together.
I will have photos after the parade but here are a few of the stilt class and Ciaran wearing one of the finished butterfly back packs.

Halloween up and running

2005-10-09T19:23:00.001+01:00

This is the Phoenix. It's 10ft high and made from Foam-latex, Lame, Ostrich feathers, Expanding foam, Fibre glass, Screen silk and LEDs. She'll accompany the 'Lothian' during the halloween parade.

The sheriff street community project (childrens parade workshop) will start in a few days time and we'll be mainly making puppets out of recyclable materials.

Halloween 2005

2005-09-15T23:37:00.001+01:00

Construction of the Halloween pieces started in the middle of august. This is the "Lothian". It is 15ft high and 4 meters long. I based the design on The "Garthim Master" or "Skek-ung" from Jim Henson's "The dark Crystal. It's made from a steel back brace, Steel-chrome coated centre pole. Foam and latex, polyester dress lining, Aluminium bars, Fibre glass rods, Bamboo, Screen silk and LEDs.

Handbags and gladrags

2005-07-31T21:47:00.000+01:00

Took place on the 8th of July. They raised 150 thousand Euro for the ward in Crumlin childrens hospital.
Puff the chinese dragon ran around the crowd at 15 minute intervals while the Nunu butterflies fluttered about watching the ladies and gents in their extravigant outfits swanning about the square. Stilt walkers and angle grinders with DJ's were amongst the entertainment for the evening not forgetting the free drink and outdoor barbeques and samba band. We all had a great time and we grabbed some of the children who had been brought along and got them to join in running around in the chinese dragon to keep them entertained.

The crew really enjoyed the evening as you can see.

Flamingos at Greystones parade 2005

2005-07-31T21:36:00.001+01:00

The parade workshop ran for two days but the Parade itself was unfortunately a washout. It never let up raining the whole day.

Pride success

2005-07-24T00:37:00.001+01:00

"Puff The Magic Drag Queen" constructed for "The Dragon" bar and club for Dublin's Pride Parade.

Greystones festival

2005-05-30T15:10:00.001+01:00

Greystones festival is coming up so this is the design for the children's parade workshop. It's called 'Zookeepers nightmare' AKA flock of escaped flamingos.

Beggining construction

2005-05-01T21:59:00.001+01:00

Day one and construction begins.

Dream Carnival is an organization that consists of one... Me!
I've been painting, drawing, sculpting and composing from an early age but it never really made an impact. I wanted to get my work some attention so the pieces I made got bigger and bigger.
During the rounds at Halloween, I realized that this would be an ideal way to show off artwork so I began to put more effort into my costumes.

Every year they got bigger and bigger until they had outgrown the streets they were paraded on.
One year I heard of a festival parade in The city where their moto was 'Don't spectate, Participate' so I went along to see what was happening. There were great big scarry monsters and the like with loads of children in their halloween outfits, dancing down the street behind a samba band. The atmosphere was electric and that latin rhythim could not be resisted. Your feet would start to move and you were wafting down the road with the crowd. Even if your legs began to ache you just couldn't stop moving. At the end of the route, the crowd would gather into a courtyard and fireworks would scream into the sky and dazel round the full moon, shinning brightly behind them.

The next year, I made one of my costumes. Too small to be seen in a big crowd but too big to trick or treat. I followed the crowd as I did before and vowed to do the same next year. Halloween was only the opening. I set my sights on St. Patrick's Festival parade. My proposal was too over the top for an in-exsperienced artist so their team sent me down a path to the 'Waterford Spraoi' team. I spent a week or two with them and learned how to make floats and build costumes with different types if materials. The lads down in the old shed were all mad and I had a great time. I made two rather good alligator outfits for one of the pieces. The performers never turned up so I ended up performing in it the night of the parade. I had such a good time, even though my feet were blistered and sore from standing still at a table working for the past two weeks.

When I got home, I dragged out every penny I had saved and went out to buy all the material I had used in Waterford. I spent the rest of the summer building a 20ft high dragon called 'Overture' that I performed with in the Halloween parade that year.
She was my first proper carnival puppet. I went on to build large puppets for St.Patrick's festival and then the Greystones arts festival. During those times, I began to get phone calls to build pieces for special events like charity balls and promotional stints. I haven't built allot but I know one thing to put any wanna be's off building and that is... unless you have the facility, the extra cash and a stomach for very hard back breaking and repetative strain injury followed by panic when the scissors go missing and the parade starts in three minutes.... this is probably not for you. Stay tuned for more ideas and rantings