Irish Craft at SOFA
The Crafts Council of Ireland has an ongoing policy of promoting Irish work in the American collectors’ market. Following on the success of Irish exhibitors at Loot, New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Fair, and Forty Shades of Green, Memphis, the selected work of some of Ireland’s leading applied artists will travel to Chicago’s Annual Exposition of Sculpture Objects & Functional Art (SOFA). SOFA (10–12 November 2006) is one of the key international art fairs for contemporary craft and applied art. Last year over 35,000 people attended the three-day event, where almost 100 international galleries and dealers display work that bridges the decorative and fine arts. Although individual Irish artists have participated at SOFA before, this is the first time that Ireland has had an official presence at the show, curated by Brian Kennedy. In the international collectors’ market Ireland is considered particularly strong in metalwork and woodturning, so it is no surprise that three artists from each discipline –
metalsmiths Séamus Gill, Kevin O’Dwyer and Richard Kirk, and woodturners Liam Flynn, Roger Bennett, and Glenn Lucas – have been selected. Sonja Landweer, Angela O’Kelly, Inga Reed, and Alan Ardiff represent Irish contemporary jewellery, also internationally recognised as a strong field, with Joseph Walsh and Laura Mays representing furniture, the ceramicist Cormac Boydell, the calligrapher Denis Brown, and the basketmaker Joe Hogan. Excitingly, negotiations are underway for a giant table, created by Walsh, to be displayed at the entrance of the show – suspended from the ceiling.
 
Venice Architecture Biennale
The 2006 Venice Architecture Biennale, the world’s premier showcase for contemporary architecture, 10 September – 19 November 2006, has invited fifty countries from around the world to respond to the theme of ‘Cities, architecture and society’ and the dramatic urbanisation of society in the last century. This year the Biennale Director has invited Ireland to exhibit immediately inside the entrance to the Padiglione Italia in the Giardini di Castello, at the very heart of the Biennale. Nine emerging architectural firms have been invited to speculate about the future confronting a rapidly growing Ireland. The exhibiting architects – Boyd Cody, Bucholz McEvoy, Tom de Paor, FKL, Henchion-Reuter, heneghan.peng, MacGabhann, ODOS, and Dominic Stevens – will look at the case of extreme suburbanisation in Ireland, accepting that the emerging sprawl surrounding our urban centres is driven by a national obsession with the car and an innate desire to live on the land as much as by rising house prices. Ireland’s participation at this year’s architecture Biennale has been aided by funding from Culture Ireland: ‘We are delighted to be in part re-sourcing Ireland’s participation and believe that it is a very important showcase for Ireland internationally.’
 
Irish Craft Bursaries
The Crafts Council of Ireland, recognising that creativity is the engine that drives Irish craft, and that it needs to be fuelled by immeasurable factors like time, peace, travel and inspiration, has established an annual Bursary Scheme intended to release the craftsperson from their usual commitments so that they can invest in the creative development of their professional practice. ‘There are a number of similar awards in painting and sculpture, like the Aosdána awards, but this is the first in the craft sector,’ said Pat Murphy, Art Advisor to the Office of Public Works. In 2006, the Bursary was divided between the calligrapher Denis Brown and the basketmaker Joe Hogan.
Denis Brown’s proposal had two elements, both related to developing large scale calligraphy. The first element is the development of a portfolio of calligraphy works that could be used as part of architectural commissions; the second element is a proposed multimedia performance in collaboration with the cellist Rohan de Saram. ‘There’s not a lot of knowledge of calligraphy in Ireland, despite our heritage of ancient manuscripts. People seem to have an image of nuns writing out wedding invitations. They certainly don’t think of it as a potential performance art,’ says Brown. ‘If I succeed in getting commissions to work in public buildings it will bring calligraphy to people’s attention. Most of my work to date has sold out of Ireland, to other calligraphers. The larger scale architectural work will, of necessity, remain in the country.’
Joe Hogan’s proposal was, simply, to buy a little time to develop the non-functional aspect of his work with wood and willow, and to travel to France to study under David Drew. Over the last twenty-eight years Hogan has, almost single-handedly, led Irish basketry from an ailing traditional craft to a high-end collectable applied art. ‘I saw the bursary as an opportunity to deepen my practice. I wanted to take some time out from commercial considerations to develop ideas that I’ve had for some time. Sometimes there’s more to ideas than the time that it takes to realise them. I plan to take six months away from making commercial, functional baskets; the Bursary won’t cover all of this, but it will help a great deal. Now it’s up to me to make productive use of the time.’
 
The Red Stables
St Anne’s Estate in Clontarf, historically owned by the Guinness family, is now public parkland under Dublin City Council. As part of a strategy for development of the arts, the Council have developed and remodelled the former stable buildings to use as an arts complex. The Red Stables, originally built in 1885, has been restored by architects Tony Duggan and Brendan O’Sullivan to provide selected contemporary artists with a creative space to create and showcase their work. The complex includes two residential studios – one of which will be home to an Irish artist and one for an international artist – as well as five non-residential studios. The emerging Irish artist Tadhg McSweeney was awarded the first twelve-month occupancy in the Irish residential studio. The non-resident art studios will be occupied by Owen O’Connor, photographer; Edel Campbell, painter; and Gerard Dunne, painter and printmaker. In the coming months The Red Stables will include a commercial gallery, a restaurant and tea room.
 
West Cork Craft
The West Cork Design and Craft Guild continues to provide a useful focus on both emerging and established makers in this particularly fruitful corner of the country. Sally Smart, who works in hand-painted, hand-printed or batik on silk, cotton and muslin, spent five years living in the Australian bush studying native medicine, nature, colour and the healing energy of animals and plants. Working in Ireland since 1998, she produces textiles that have a glowing and balletic quality, whether wearable or for draping around windows to bring a soft glow of colour to a room. Ceramicist Julian Smith has departed from his usual themes of Celtic mythology and the female form to produce a series of ceramic shoe pieces – an interesting comment on the fragile beauty and relative unwearablity of the female shoe. Baerbel Shulz-Voss creates wearable jewellery that combines silver with natural materials gathered close to her West Cork home. Bog oak, stones and sea shells are chosen to complement the subtle and soft shades of the finely worked silver, creating contemporary designs that physically connect to the organic landscape of West Cork.
 
NCAD Silversmiths
The Newbridge Silverware Competition offers 2nd and 3rd year students of metals in NCAD a valuable glimpse of the design, product analysis and market research involved in producing a commercial jewellery range. This year the students were briefed to create a design for the Newbridge Silverware 2007 jewellery range, using the theme of ‘Shape’. Five finalists were selected to have their designs developed for industrial production as part of a short industrial work placement at Newbridge. Of these, Sadhbh McCormack from Dublin was awarded the top prize for her collection ‘Silver Leaf’. McCormack’s winning design will be purchased by Newbridge Silverware to be manufactured and marketed in 2007, and will also be donated to the National Museum of Ireland to become part of the NCAD permanent precious metal collection.
 
Making Roots
Making Roots is a collaborative art project between artist Peadar Lamb and the children, staff, and parents of Archbishop Ryan Senior School, Lucan. The inclusive art work was specially commissioned under the Per Cent for Art scheme and Lamb has been based on site at the school since November 2005. Following a period of intense collaboration, each pupil has created an individual piece of sgraffito art work on glass, to be included within the larger piece. Etched glass and stained glass are the main materials in the body of the art work, so that the nature and atmosphere of the piece changes as the light changes within the school building. ‘Making Roots is a celebration of the combined creative energies within the school. Each piece of glass is a marker in time for the individuality of every child present in the school at this time,’ Lamb explained. ‘The universal themes of trees and birds pull together three elements: Lucan, known as the Place of the Elms, the multicultural makeup of the school, and the sanguine nature at the heart of the school.’
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RDS Prizewinners at Farmleigh
The Gallery at Farmleigh frequently offers a welcome second chance to see high-profile travelling exhibitions. This year the Winners’ Exhibition of the RDS National Crafts Competition, which opened at the annual Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show, will run at Farmleigh until 24 September. The exhibition, as always, showcases the best of both established and emerging makers, with categories that range the gamut of disciplines in the applied arts. Featured prize-winners in the exhibition include Sinéad Clarke for her knitwear and crochet, and Dainius Varnelis whose work Huggable won him first prize in the ironwork/metalwork category. The subsequent exhibition at Farmleigh, ‘Furnishing the Details’, showcases the work of graduates of the GMIT Furniture College at Letterfrack, Connemara. These include some of the finest contemporary furniture designers working in Ireland, among them Shane Tubrid, Seán Burns, Laura Mays, Brian Murray, and John Lee, all of whom exhibited at the Create show in 2005. The exhibition will also feature a lecture series on contemporary and traditional furniture design perspectives, and will run from 5 October – 5 November.
 
Illuminating Art in Soilse
Soilse, an exhibition of new work by four artists based in Muskerry was the latest in a series supported by the arts office of Cork County Council, profiling leading artists in the county. Mary Neeson, Suzanne O’Sullivan, Helen Quill, and Maura Whelan are all based around Macroom, and the exhibition took place in Macroom Town Hall. As the title suggests light is important to each of the artist’s works. Whelan’s lighted glass wall pieces were joined by Neeson’s delicate pods, O’Sullivan’s cast glass, and Quill’s intricate lace work, all of which use light to create forms.
 
Craft in Action
The Kilkenny Shop on Nassau Street has linked up with the Crafts Council of Ireland to launch Craft in Action – an initiative to showcase Irish designers – that takes place in the Dublin store every weekend until the end of September. On each weekend a designer will set up a temporary studio in the shop. ‘We’ve carefully selected twelve top Irish
designers,’ says Greg O’Gorman of the Kilkenny Shop. ‘We feel that Irish design is struggling at the moment because of the influx of low-cost produce from the Far East.’ The Kilkenny Shop was established in 1966 by the Irish Government as part of a bid to revitalise Irish design. According to Mary Dowling, who ran the shop until 1985, the aim was ‘to supply everything for the house which was produced in Ireland and was of good quality’. In 1988 the Kilkenny Shop was sold into private ownership. It now has branches in Dublin, Galway, and Killarney, but ironically not in Kilkenny although the name has been retained because of its association with good Irish design. Kilkenny’s objective for these exhibitions is for consumers to learn and understand about the skills and intricacies required to produce each individual piece. The remaining participants are ceramicists Patricia Howard and Stephen Pearce, and basketmaker Joe Hogan.
Terry the Weaver was one of the first designers to participate in Craft in Action. ‘My loom is too big to bring into the shop, so I brought a spinning wheel and some lambs’ wool, and samples of the natural material that I use to dye it.’ The inspiration behind his tapestries and rugs comes from the colour change from one season to another, and textures on the landscape or plant-colour combinations. For a company like Jerpoint Glass, who couldn’t be expected to wheel a furnace into the Kilkenny Shop, the display relied more on video clips and storyboards. ‘We brought in workbenches and as many of the tools we use as possible,’ says Sally Leadbetter. ‘At Jerpoint every single piece is made by hand, and some of the processes go back 2,000 years, when the blowing iron was first introduced into glassmaking.’ Suzanne Woods welcomes an opportunity for small Irish design businesses to defend their corner. ‘I think that it’s very useful to have a chance to meet potential customers and to show them what we do. People are always intrigued by seeing how work is made, and it encourages them to question what they purchase.’ Woods has recently introduced a collection of brooches and evening bags embellished with clusters of beaded felt flowers.
 
Rural ‘Sparks’
Craftspeople have long been associated with far flung rural areas. Life as a craftsperson allows the freedom to live away from centres of population and, often, close to the source of natural materials. Craft associations, which assist with the marketing and presentation of handmade products, can play a vital role in linking rural makers with the consumer. Spark, an association of craftspeople who live and work in Donegal, provides such a link, putting some interesting makers, quite literally, on the map. The ceramicist Brian McGee of Letterkenny Pottery and Pottery School in Derry has returned to full-time work at his home studio in County Donegal, where he also runs workshops and master classes. His recent work includes more sculptural pieces, reflecting his original interest in fine art. Lisa Mullin is a 2005 graduate of NCAD, where she attained a First Class Honours degree in metals. She has just realised her goal of setting up her own workshop – LCM Jewellery – in Upper Ray, County Donegal, where she makes and sells pieces of wearable art. Mullin works mainly in silver, but strikingly incorporates pieces of slate in most of her pieces. The location of her workshop overlooking Lough Swilly has considerable bearing on her work. ‘I’ve always been extremely interested in how the sea impacts the coast, and in the textures left behind. I try to recreate these textures in my work,’ Mullin explains.
 
Golden Fleece Award
The Golden Fleece Award is a charitable bequest by the inspirational weaver and painter, Helen Lillias Mitchell, who died in January 2000. Mitchell, who founded the Irish Guild of Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers in 1973, established the annual award of approximately e20,000 to support and promote artistic achievement in a wide range of traditional crafts. The Award was launched in 2001: in the first year the main award was won by Helen McAllister for her embroidered shoe forms; in the second by Margaret Corcoran for her painting in oil on linen; and in the third year by Suzannah Vaughan for her pieces in glass and cement. The 2005 winner was Clive Bright for his painting in oils, and Stuart McGrath was given the 2006 award for his stonecarving project. McGrath, who works as a master craftsman in stone, uses traditional methods of stonecutting by hand, the way it has been done for millennia. His aim is to re-ignite the lost art of high quality stonework in Ireland through education and awareness. A retired stonemason is prepared to donate McGrath a building where he can develop a stone carving business and create a body of work for exhibition. Golden Fleece funding will enable him to renovate and transform the building into a functional stone carving workshop.
 
New Direction for Stoneware Jackson
After thirty years in business, Stoneware Jackson, one of Ireland’s best-known pottery studios, is currently making way for a new Fine Art Studio. Over the years, Stoneware Jackson pottery products have received many awards and honours, with pieces presented to Jean Kennedy-Smith, The Emperor of Japan, and Bill Clinton, and displayed at Dublin Castle, An Taoiseach’s offices, Government Buildings, and Irish Embassies around the world. Michael Jackson is now looking forward to concentrating on his career as a sculptor. ‘I am greatly looking forward to being able to devote more time to sculpture. I originally began these pieces in the 1970s, but the time required from my involvement in developing Stoneware Jackson just didn’t allow me to pursue this. I am now in a position to concentrate on this full-time. I feel I am getting back to my design roots.’ In a new departure, the Jacksons recently designed a range of pottery for Irish Country Pottery, Ennis which won two Showcase Awards, one for excellence and one for Best New Product. ‘The craft industry in Ireland is rapidly changing,’ says Mary Jackson. ‘The industry has become much more design conscious. We were thrilled to be given the opportunity to design for Irish Country Pottery and it was a real bonus to win such prestigious awards. We hope to become more involved in design and to create further ranges in the future.’
 
Extravagant Teapots
‘I have a love affair with teapots,’ says ceramicist Charlie Mahon. ‘It began in early childhood and continued to adulthood, In America, where I went to college I developed the idea for large extravagant teapots and have continued with this process.’ Mahon works in hand built stoneware – wall pieces, urns and teapots – with coloured under glazes and a matt glaze finish with gold and silver lustre. ‘Now that I create original ceramic works, I concentrate on making witty, expressionist ceramics, and reintroducing the fun element into creating a ceramic object. I have come to abhor the tightness of the industrial process because of the restrictions it imposes.’ Charlie Mahon designs are shown in the Guinness Gallery, Dublin; the Bridge Gallery, Dublin; Gallery 44, Cork; Keane on Ceramics, Kinsale; Red Ascetic, Kilkenny; and in his showroom in Little Island, Cork.
 
Toradh Award
The Bank of Ireland Toradh Award for an artist in mid-career has been presented to Katharine West, from Roscam, Galway, who lectures in Ceramics at GMIT. The Toradh Award of e5,000 is for an artist who is a graduate of the RTC/GMIT or who lives and works in the Galway region, and who has consistently delivered work of a remarkable quality. West works primarily in clay; her most recent body of work ‘Playthings’ continues her exploration of hollow ceramic forms. ‘It’s about the whole notion of a hidden interior space,’ West explains, ‘and repetition of form, about multiplying repetitions until you begin to create something altogether new.’ West’s work is mostly unglazed, although she also uses the ancient method of terra sigillata to finish the pieces. ‘It’s a technique that exploits the permeability of the clay, it reflects the light, but at the same time it gives the sense that the piece could also absorb light.’
 
creative clay in Kenmare
Anne Marie O’Shea has been running the Anam Cré Studio and Kenmare Pottery for the past 10 years. Her wheel-thrown pots and altered forms range from the domestic to the sculptural and are inspired by the elemental and monumental aspects of Kerry landscapes and seascapes, tangible in the flowing glazes and textured surfaces of her pots. She runs clay art classes in her studio and hosts exhibitions in the gallery by local artists and guests.
 
Emerging Pottery Designers
Graduate shows can offer interesting opportunities to pick up work by talented emerging artists at a very reasonable price, and the showcase by graduates of the Crafts Council of Ireland’s Pottery Design and Skills Course at the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, was no exception. One of the graduates, Karen Morgan, had just won the Habitat, House & Home Student Designer of the Year Award, open to designers in all disciplines. Morgan’s understated porcelain mortar and pestle was judged the winner for its design, use of materials, and standard of craftsmanship. Other, less functional, work in the show included Lorna Kavanagh’s delicate porcelain butterflies with words printed on their wings, so that they illuminate when the pieces are mounted on lightboxes. Further pieces were emphasised by glazing: Heidi Kiiskinen’s crystalline bowls glint like precious metals when they catch the light, and Janusz Siporski’s salt-glazed tea-pots show surfaces fluxed by the sodium, giving the pieces an earthy, tactile quality.