Creature Comforts, by artist Ashleigh Ellis, is an eco-social project for the KinShip art project at Tramore Valley Park, Cork

Over the last few years, an incredible diversity of plants and creatures have sprung up at Tramore Valley Park after its new beginnings as a public park. The KinShip EcoLab is nestled in the hillside amongst this abundance of wildflowers and habitats, overlooking the reed bed of Carroll’s Bog, a place for community engagement and creative exchange.

In August 2025, KinShip artist on placement, Ashleigh Ellis facilitated an initial Bug Hunt & Art Workshop with environmentalist Robbie Carroll at the EcoLab, working with nets to find creatures, draw them with botanical Oak gall ink, and make cyanotype prints of the surrounding plants.

Working with this engagement as inspiration, Ashleigh started an eco-social residency to create a work of art for the EcoLab, to weave together people, place, and the creatures living there.

Ashleigh met again with artists of all ages (Fiadh, Vivienne, Em, Leon, Milo, Luna, Samira, April, Ira, Katie) from the community at the EcoLab in October, where they found creatures living around the building, got to know them, and drew them and their favourite insects. These drawings were brought back to Ashleigh’s studio, where she collated and designed them into 10 cyanotype prints. There were so many wonderful drawings, and care was taken so that everyone had a drawing worked into the final designs. The prints were made on linen fabric and hand-stitched by the artist onto waterproof cushions that can be used for events at the EcoLab. They can be used with the new 'KinStools' made by artist Philip Ryan in collaboration with the local Douglas and Frankfield Men’s Shed, or on the grass surrounding the building in summer months.

Cyanotype is an analogue photographic process, and the drawings were made with black marker on salvaged clear plastic to use as negatives for printing. Linen was chosen as the fabric because flax is a fibre indigenous to Ireland and one of the most sustainable fibres to grow. It needs very little water and can grow in relatively poor soil, so no need for lots of additional fertilisers. After printing on the linen, many of the prints were then lightly dyed with plant dyes to give them a range of tones and subtle colours. One such dye was from the flowers of the Common Reed, which grows abundantly around the Eco Lab. The other plant dyes were: Marigold flowers, Tea, Ek/Logwood, and Parsley.

These creatures, drawn by the community, then arranged into designs and printed by the artist onto cushions, offer a layer of comfort and care for everyone using the Eco Lab during workshops and events. Can you find some of the creatures pictured on them? What ways can you care for them in return?

www.ashleighellis.ie

Instagram: ashleighellis_natureartist

https://www.lennontaylor.ie/kinship

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