Michael McGovern’s vibrant art collection would brighten up any space in these dour, recessionary times. His debut collection, which went on display earlier this month at Inniscara Galleries in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, has been gathering interest from art lovers. 

Working as a builder for most of his life, McGovern retired last September from his job as a finishing foreman with construction company Laing O’Rourke. With plenty of leisure time suddenly at his disposal and no desire to slow down, he threw himself into what was until then a latent hobby.  

Part of the inspiration for his debut art collection, he says, can be traced back some 15 years when he attended a local adult-education night class geared at working with stained glass.  After much toil and practice, McGovern began making Tiffany lamp shades, clocks and mirrors, which he almost exclusively gave away. Indeed, in the homes of many of his family and friends, there’s one of his designs to be found, he says. 

Taking the artistic craving a step further, over the past few months he began working with crushed glass on canvas in a unique and colourful way. 

With a keen eye for vivid colours and detail, McGovern uses the off-cuts of the different coloured glass he works with and grinds them down to a fine sand-like material.  He then applies this to the canvas, fixing it with adhesive. The results are a blend of warm, eye-catching designs. 

“It’s a technique I have developed through a bit of trial and error. I’m always looking for new and interesting ways to create one-off designs. I decided not to paint landscapes or portraits as I wanted to try out what I saw in my mind’s eye,” he says.  

Devoting hours on end to his hobby, Michael admits it’s like an occupation – but one that is fuelled purely from his imagination and sense of adventure. 

“I have worked almost every day for the last 50 years, including a number of years in London, and it’s only now I can devote my time fully to this hobby. Many people, when they reach retirement, can go from working time-and-a-half to having so much free time that they can often feel at a loss. However, it’s about having a positive, can-do attitude and going out and actively finding something that interests you. It’s a pure joy for me to be able to stand back and look at what I’ve done with my time. I definitely get a great amount of satisfaction from it.” 

Not shying away from second opinions, McGovern says that he will run concepts past people, and indeed other artists, to get as much feedback as possible. “You have to be willing to listen to others as well sometimes. They will often have interesting suggestions, which I will then get to work on and spin out a bit.” 

McGovern, who works from his studio in Summerhill, Co Meath, says that he has high hopes of carving out a name for himself on the artistic circuit in the future.