“At the moment, I’m trying to finish a project that I’ve been working on with a local group,” says illustrator Enagh Farrell, who is based in Inchicore, Dublin. “It’s the D8 Green Bridge Forum, and we have been working on local signage.”

The work is field-based and intuitive. “It meant that I had to do a lot of walking in my local area and identifying the plants correctly takes time” She draws each plant individually before assembling them digitally, creating what she describes as a subtle narrative – guiding walkers through overlooked relationships in the local ecosystem.

“I’m interested in how we can reestablish our connection with plants that are maybe not so loved all the time, because they’re really beautiful as well… they’re such gorgeous plants.”

Weeds and Wildlands

That philosophy carries through to her workshops, where even a stinging nettle becomes a conversation. “I did nettles once and I think people thought it was funny that we were sitting down to draw nettles… and then by the end of the class they were so enthusiastic, ‘it’s actually a really gorgeous plant’.”

“They’re so generous in so many ways, and particularly with the insects that depend on them… what I want to do in the workshops is try to help reframe our relationship to plants, and then as a whole, maybe nature.”

Farrell describes her approach as one of reframing – how we teach children and adults alike to see overlooked species not as weeds but as foundational players in our ecosystems. “If we all spent more time in nature, even just the nature outside our door, I wonder if we might not have such a problem with biodiversity or climate.”

Signage and Storytelling

In Inchicore, where Farrell lives, both the Camac River and Grand Canal converge. It’s a uniquely rich environment for biodiversity – “It’s normal to see dragonflies around here and damselflies and herons and cormorants.” Through her illustration, she hopes to build an informal trail. “If you came to Inchicore and you’d never been here before… it might make you look at some of the overlooked plants or the birds or the insects.”

The signs are intended to last: printed on steel to weather a decade or more. The durability is important – especially in outdoor spaces where weather and time can quickly wear down more fragile materials.

Farrell often uses reclaimed wood in her projects – materials that carried their own subtle history. One particular piece sparked her imagination. “I actually found it just behind my house,” she explains. With apartments nearby, she wondered about the wood’s past life: “I’d say someone pulled it out of their apartment.”

“It felt like it had already taken its own journey,” she says of the wood. “It had already had its own life and its own experience of living beside the Camac.” That layered sense of time – of material as witness – adds another thread to her practice, reminding her that even found objects carry stories long before they reach her hands.

One recent source of material came from a carpenter friend, who gave Farrell offcuts from locally sourced native woods. “They’ve all actually originated in Ireland, so it’s kind of nice,” she says. “And some of them are really beautiful, but I think because they’re so beautiful, I’m struggling to work on them.” For Farrell, even a scrap of timber is treated with reverence – its beauty not just in appearance, but in origin and story.