First encounters: ‘I don’t think we ever did small talk’

Cecelia Ahern has written 11 novels and is co-creator of US TV sitcom 'Samantha Who'. The second film based on one of her novels, 'Love, Rosie', is due out later this year. She lives in Malahide, Co Dublin, with her husband, David Keoghan, daughter Robin (four) and one-year-old son, Sonny

My mum and dad [Miriam and Bertie Ahern] commissioned a piece from Orla for my sister's wedding and Bertie opened an exhibition for her called Shadow in the Solomon Gallery. He gave me the catalogue and when I went to see it for myself I fell in love with her work. There's so many layers to what she does.

I first met her seven years ago at a Christmas party. We started talking about our work and that’s when I really connected with her; not only do I love what she does, I love speaking to her, love how she sees the world.

I think our creative processes are quite similar in that we take thoughts, feelings and observations, and where she turns hers into a three-dimensional piece, I turn mine into a story. We analyse things very deeply.

Our age difference makes no odds, not at all. We just meet up and talk and have great fun together. She’s definitely a person I have the big conversations with.

I commission work from her – I commissioned a piece for Hilary Swank, who absolutely adored it. I wasn’t always interested in art, just in Orla’s stuff. There’s no point in saying otherwise; it’s just Orla’s work that speaks to me.

I've written 11 novels since PS I Love You was published in 2000. Writing is a passion and like Orla and her sculpture, I do it because I want to. Of course you worry about not having ideas, but they seem to come thick and fast, because I'm so easily inspired by my surroundings. Knowing people like Orla is also very inspiring.

Orla and I are very similar kind of people: we have a giggle but we’re really serious about our work. She injects her personality and humour into a lot of her pieces. Another thing is that we both love the physical aspect of our work: she’s very hands on in the studio with her tools; welding and cutting metal, and I write in longhand first, then type it up.

It was great to be able to ask Orla for advice about motherhood; about going back to work, how do you do it, how did she manage it. The answer simply was: “You just do it”. That’s all I needed to hear.

We both definitely have a left-of-centre way of looking at things. I remember going over to her studio one time and she had found the bones of a female fox. She took a mould from the head and made it into a sculpture called Vixen. I just thought, "Wow, she's taken something that was dead and brought it alive in the most beautiful way." I love that about her.

Orla de Brí is a sculptor who has produced a number of large-scale public works. Some of her smaller pieces are owned by people as diverse as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Princess Anne, and actor Hilary Swank. She lives in Primatestown, Co Meath, with her husband, Finn, and children Jeda and Cal

I knew Bertie Ahern, he unveiled my first big public sculpture at Park West in 1999, and I knew Miriam through the art world, so I would have known of Cecelia. I was introduced to her at a party in Kildare. She was in her early 20s and had just written PS I Love You. I asked her all about her work. She was so passionate about it; I felt it was just a completely creative part of her that happened to come out in words. We really hit it off.

She contacted me after her book was made into a film and she commissioned me to do two pieces, one for the director, Richard LaGravenese and another for Hilary Swank. As I got to know Cecelia I don’t think we ever did small talk; we always ended up in these deep conversations about life. I’m more than 10 years older, but we look at life in the same way.

She has a curious mind and that’s what I like about her. For example, when she was getting engaged she didn’t want an engagement ring, so David asked me to make a piece for her. She invited us to a christening but it turned out to be her wedding. I really like that about her, that she’s not conventional.

I love when she’s writing a new book; she gets totally excited about it and does a huge amount of research. When I’m reading Cecelia’s books I can hear her voice.

We don’t see each other every week, but we talk on the phone. Anytime we do see each other, we tend to end up in a corner chatting. Another thing about her is that she’s very inclusive. She wanted some of my sculptures to be in her German TV film Between Heaven and Here. I did two large pieces that they put into the penthouse apartment of the main character.

I find, after being around her, that I want to make bigger, bolder, better pieces because her enthusiasm for life is infectious.

Is there anything bad about Cecelia? She brings me to parties that go on way too long – we were 12 hours at a lunch the other day. We ended up, 30 women, in a house late that night. It was lots of fun.

CAST, an exhibition of Irish sculpture in Kildare Village, featuring 25 sculptures from 15 Irish artists, runs until September 7th. Visitors can meet Orla de Brí there on June 28th. kildarevillage.com solomonfineart.ie