Séamus Gill celebrates 25 years The mid-career exhibition of the silversmith Séamus Gill, entitled 25 Years On, opened at DESIGNyard in November. Gill, who won the prestigious award for Excellence in Metals at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show 2004, offers 25 new pieces of work, each made from a flat sheet of silver delicately hammered into a three-dimensional shape. The work in this exhibition explores some of the 'series' that Gill has developed over a number of years, each exploring a particular design aesthetic or technique while glorifying the beauty and malleability of silver. According to Ronald Le Bas, Assay Master for Ireland, 'People today do not fully appreciate silverware. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries it was in daily use and produced in large quantities. The antique shops are full of these items, all commanding high prices, yet most of them were mass-produced in factories. Pieces hand-made by silversmiths such as Séamus Gill, are fewer and even more valuable'. Gill's work has been purchased for the permanent collection of the National Museum of Ireland, The Irish Assay Office, and the Department of Foreign Affairs.   Ireland at 100% Design Although there is as yet no official Irish presence at 100% Design in London, three Irish design companies, Shane Holland Design Workshops, Niamh Barry Design, and Nest Furniture Design took the initiative to travel to the exhibition. Most of the pieces made by Nest, although handmade in Ireland, look more like high-end Italian furniture. 'It's always been the intention to make pieces that could be marketed outside Ireland and that would sit well in an international context,' explained Annabel McCarthy of Nest. 'For the last two years we've exhibited at 100% Design, and it's become an important show for us. It's a market that's willing to take a few risks.' The more conservative Irish market has only recently begun to embrace the concept of furniture as an investment. 'Irish buyers understand the value of investing in painting, but they are just learning that they can also invest in contemporary furniture. Our pieces are for life - they're not like trendy pieces that you'd expect to replace in five years' time.'   Irish Design at Avantcraft Avantcraft is an initiative funded by the EU and by the Crafts Council of Ireland with the aim of bringing designers and makers together to develop new products. The project is taking place in Ireland, Portugal, France, and Spain loosely following a theme of the Atlantic coast. The Irish element of the project, under the direction of Pat McCarthy, is focused a little differently to that of the other participating countries. 'This is a very enlightened project,' commented Peter Ting, one of a panel of design consultants. 'And Ireland's approach to it is more interesting than that of the other countries involved. The other countries each tended to focus on one central vision, hired designers to interpret the vision by designing objects, and then got an appropriate craftsperson to make the object. But the Crafts Council, instead of imposing an external design on the makers, allowed the individual craftspeople choose the designer that they felt would be best able to help them take their product and their business to a different level.' Companies currently on the Avantcraft programme are: Celtic Roots, Enibas Jewellery, Fado Jewellery, Forde Crafts, Geoffrey Healy Pottery, Jerpoint Glass, McKernan Scarves, Nest Furniture, Noel Whelan Furniture, Silk and Felt Designs, Stephen Pearce Pottery, and the Wild Goose Studio. Avantcraft is supported by the European Programme INTERREG IIIB   Creative Connections Sabine Lenz of Enibas Jewellery took the unexpected step of asking the British ceramicist Peter Ting to work with her. 'Sabine didn't need me to design a range of jewellery for her,' Ting explained, 'she's perfectly capable of doing that for herself. What she needed was a creative breakthrough.' Rather than just create a once-off range, Lenz wanted to learn a design approach that she could use year after year. 'Historically designers have often needed someone else to help them to break through creative barriers,' says Peter. 'Sabine was ready to move on, but she needed a big impetus to help her. I felt that she would benefit from making big unsaleable jewellery, so I pushed her into making huge black pieces with a fluid fringing of stones and chains. It really frightened her, but I kept saying: Bigger! Bolder! Blacker! It was all about giving confidence, about helping a creative person to overcome her fear.'   The House of Mag Aoíde Síle Mag Aoíde, of the House of Mag Aoíde, established her jewellery workshop and design studio in the ruins of an old Franciscan monastery in her native Roundstone, Co Galway. Drawing inspiration from the everchanging aesthetic of the weathered Connemara landscape, Síle marries the mythology and colour of her surroundings to design unique silver jewellery adorned with precious and semi-precious stones. Dedicated to sourcing the stones from their indiginous locations around the world, Síle unusually allows their colour and shape to dictate the eventual design of the piece The result is jewellery that is innovative and true to the nature of the materials used, an ancient Celtic pattern crafted to accommodate the diversity of imported materials. A hallmark of Síle's jewellery is the continuous change and reinvention of her designs and a new line of silver pieces encrusted with pearls, rubies, jade and Australian fire opals will be launched in mid-November.   New design gallery for Dublin The Eblana Gallery is Dublin's new venue for the applied arts. The gallery, which is situated on 8 Lower Baggot Street, aims to showcase new work being created by Ireland's leading contemporary applied artists and to introduce the Irish market to artists from the United Kingdom and further abroad. The gallery's owner, Rachael Naughton, will concentrate on exhibiting contemporary artists and jewellers working in ceramics, wood, textiles, glass, bronze, silver, and gold. As well as a permanent collection of new work, the gallery will host regular exhibitions. All work exhibited will be for sale, and individual commissions can be arranged. The opening selection promises well for the future with a sensitively chosen display including some remarkable glass vessels by the Ulster artist Karl Harron. Future exhibitions at the Eblana Gallery include one focused on contemporary Irish silverware (21 November-7 January), which will include the work of Kevin O'Dwyer, whose new series of sculptural candlesticks combine the qualities of function, fashion, and pure sculpture. O'Dwyer has recently expanded his repertoire to incorporate a new limited edition series of architectural vessels that combine clean lines and textured surfacesÊwith the ancient memories of Ireland's yew and oak forests. The handles of the vessels are made of bog yew and oak, carbon dated to over 5,000 years ago. As might be expected, O'Dwyer's approach to this ancient material is far from traditional. The rich smooth colours of the ancient wood are combined to great effect with the architectural lines and roughened surfaces of the silver.   Damask Reinvention A display of furniture designer Kate Fine's recent Damask Tables is on view at Habitat's Suffolk Street store. She has also been commissioned to adapt the design on a larger scale for the café tables in the new Avoca outlet at Rathcoole. 'The damask idea came to me in 2002. I was displaying a mirrored table and found that it looked dreadful against a white backdrop, so I ran out and bought a roll of traditional damask patterned wallpaper from Cole and Son. The pattern looked fantastic reflected in the table so I thought - why not apply the wallpaper to furniture. It's a mixture of something old and something new.' Fine bought the traditional design, and then used a stencil to sandblast the damask pattern onto the back of the mirror. 'I've recently begun to experiment with a wide range of colour, reinterpreting the damask pattern in baby blues and pinks, and deeper colours like green and black. I want to go a bit bolder and brasher - to bring that classical motif to life and make it stand out!   Jewellery Design Alliance John Condron of Fado Jewellery welcomed the opportunity to work with Inga Reed, a designer whose sculptural jewellery he already admired. The working relationship that they developed emphasises the importance of rapport between designer and manufacturer. On the surface their respective work has little in common. Both are designers and makers, but Reed's work is stark and contemporary, driven by form and texture rather than by concept, and Condron's is highly decorative with a strong narrative element. Despite these differences, both recognised their working compatibility from the outset. Together they came up with jewellery that twists and curls like fragments of seashell, sometimes smooth, sometimes with barnacle-like encrustations of tiny gemstones. Their rings are ridged on a bias, one side polished, the other side textured so that the plain design seems to twist within itself. These rings are built to stack, one against the other, building up ridges like ripples on the shoreline. 'It's all to do with form,' says Reed, 'and a profile that wanders around the form. The collection is very simple, very minimal. This is a partnership that has the potential to continue beyond the scope of the Avantcraft programme.'   Design Week Eclecticism Design Week took place during November with an impressive calendar of events. Highlights included the travelling exhibition, 'the Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design', showing Holland's strength in a range of fields, including graphic and product design, and Adorn, a jewellery design exhibition at Design Tower, Pearse Street. Farmleigh hosted the GMIT Letterfrack Furniture Design Exhibition. The controversial Dutch architect, Pritzker Prize winner Rem Koolhaas, was among the lecturers invited to speak at a variety of venues throughout the week, and the popular Design Trail included a Hella Jongerius / Marcel Wanders window display at the O'Hagan outlets in Dublin's Temple Bar.   Jerpoint Collaboration One of the participants in Avantcraft, Jerpoint Glass, is already a household name. But, despite their high profile, Jerpoint is small family-run glassblowing studio. 'We're very collaborative in the way that we work out the designs,' Sally Leadbetter explains. 'You couldn't say that one person is the designer. We all decide together. We were quite sceptical about working with the Avantcraft designers. This is a relaxed family business, so we were relieved that they had such an informal approach.' The Leadbetters ultimately chose to work with Triple Dee, a London-based design company, who have worked with them to develop a range of elongated tear-shaped vessels mounted on hand-turned wooden blocks. 'We also introduced a design that we call Òbaggy potsÓ', says Sally, 'these explore the flowing liquidity of handmade glass. Bubbles occur naturally in handmade glass, so we explored ways of deliberately introducing them, and exaggerating the glass-making process to allow for free form shapes that could not be made by machines.'   Irene Brennan In Cork Another Cork-based jewellery designer, Irene Brennan began her jewellery career with a master goldsmith at the age of thirteen in Kilkenny. She now divides her time between Cork and Kilkenny. 'This rotation offers great freedom and enriches both my jewellery design and enthusiasm to find new ways of creating wonderful pieces.' Her gallery, IMB Design, is located in Paul Street, Cork City, where she sells both her own work and that of other jewellery designers. Brennan, who works mainly with eighteen carat gold, platinum and diamonds, feels that jewellery provides a lot of information about the one who is wearing it. 'It has become the means by which people define themselves. By wearing jewellery we send signals that only some people understand and appreciate. I create for that percentage of people who approve and appreciate my style and designs. Each piece of jewellery carries a message, from its shape and design it connects hearts and people.'   Craft Innovation at the RDS The RDS National Craft Competition, with twenty categories and a prize fund of Û26,250, is one of the largest in Europe, with entry open to all crafts-people based in Ireland as well as Irish craft-workers living abroad. This year's choice of winners highlights the current strength of craft and design in Northern Ireland. The top prize, the Award of Excellence, was awarded to Jerome McCann from Belfast. The judges praised the technical excellence of McCann's silver bracelet, made from forty-eight links with a box catch invisibly blended into the piece. Reserve prize went to Jacquie Brachi of County Antrim, for her calligraphy piece Delight in Disorder, in which layers of paper give the effect of ruffled petticoats over which the foreground lettering seems suspended. The piece also won the RDS Arts Committee Acquisition Prize and the RDS Library Prize. The New Entrants prize was awarded to Raymond Connor Kennedy of Coleraine, for his Classical Guitar, while Graham Clarke from London scooped the Graduate Prize for his furniture entry, Rock On! Rocking Stool. The travelling winners' exhibition will be on show in the Flowerfield Arts Centre until 2 December.   Jewel Perspective The goldsmith and designer Tuula Harrington was brought up in Ireland with a strong Finnish influence. 'Growing up I found this an advantage for seeing things from more than one perspective. Today the two cultures remain important influences on my life and my work.' Following her apprenticeship in Italy, Harrington spent almost a year in Finland. 'During this time I gained a good insight into the minimalist and functional features for which Finnish design is famous.' As part of a post-graduate degree programme, she was commissioned by the DFBA Enterprise Group, to make a piece which was presented to the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, on the opening of the Enterprise Centre in Dunhill, County Waterford. Harrington now lives and works in Cork City and recent work centres on ranges of jewellery set with spectrolite in both gold and silver.   Irish Architectural Design Although previous Irish exhibitors at the Venice Biennale have presented built structures, this year's entry by nine architects comprised a multimedia exploration of Ireland's possible future landscapes, complete with cautionary tales. At the launch of 'Suburban to Superural', the Irish Commissioner, Shane O'Toole said: 'The theme that Ricky Burdett has chosen for this year's Venice Architectural Biennale - Cities, Architecture and Society - has created a situation where for the first time, architects can be idealistic and realistic at the same time. There is a small window of opportunity for us to rise above the urban/rural divide and truly examine Ireland as a entity.' The architects came up with an interesting range of responses - MacGabhann Architects proposed 'sinkable' seaside holiday villages in Donegal, which disappear into the ground when unoccupied, while Bucholz | McEvoy Architects examined the effects of the fading distinction between urban and rural land uses in a post-agricultural Ireland. De Paor Architects looked at the impact of a planning law that allowed extensions to be built only upwards and downwards, without extending the footprint of a building, and Vertical Sprawl by ODOS architects foretells, in the form of a comic book from 2030, what might happen when horizontal suburban expansion is no longer possible.   Contemporary Gold The goldsmith Declan Killen, has worked in the jewellery industry since 1967, when he began a seven-year apprenticeship as a goldsmith, and has run his own workshop on 12 Fade Street, Dublin 2 since 1985. His jewellery is made in silver, gold, and platinum metals using traditional methods of craftsmanship and incorporating modern techniques in the finishing processes. Killen's work ranges from a modern take on Celtic designs, inspired by the Book of Kells, to a contemporary collection influenced by organic and architectural forms, including some pieces that are simultaneously experimental and wearable.   Crafts Council Awards The Crafts Council of Ireland has established a new 3rd Level Awards Scheme aimed at helping promising graduates to develop craft-based practice. The awards can be used to acquire additional skills or training, for travel, research, equipment, or materials, for studio costs or promotional materials. This year, two awards of Û2,500 were made to Marieke de Wit, University of Ulster, and Sharon Ferguson, National College of Art and Design. All nominees were invited to be interviewed by an independent selection panel, comprising ceramicist Jack Doherty, textile artist Alice Kettle and jeweller Grainne Morton, in late June. 'We were reflecting on our own experiences at that stage, that point where you are moving out into the world,' said Doherty. 'It is the first gap you have to bridge and it's very difficult. An award like this helps you to make the leap, but there are very few other schemes geared towards helping graduates into the world of creative work.' Morton agrees: 'This is a superb award. Students leaving college are usually in debt and this award can provide a very positive way to work towards starting a business.'   Earthy Textiles The recent exhibition of Lisbeth Mulcahy's tapestries highlighted the strong connection between the artist's work and the West Kerry landscape. Since moving to Dingle from Denmark in 1975, Mulcahy's textile design has been heavily influenced by her surroundings. 'I am interested in line and colour and in catching the essence of the landscape, the emotion it evokes,' she explains, 'rather than in making an accurate representaion of it.' Woven from her studio in Dingle, Mulcahy's largely abstract tapestries are often vibrantly colourful, yet retain an earthy tone - sea blues and lush greens contrast with fiery reds and pinks to illuminate her stylised images. Mulcahy has also worked to promote and develop the arts in the Kerry locality and as Chariman of Siamsa Tíre, has been involved over the years in facilitating access for the local community to the arts. In 1986, she opened her studio and shop, Siopa na bhFíod—irí, where her latest tapestries and textile designs are on display alongside other local Irish craftmakers.   Natural Simplicity at Duff Tisdall Duff Tisdall is aligning its colours this season with nature's spectrum. Dusky pinks and topes infuse brightness into earthy browns and sea blues to counteract the typical greyness that tends to permeate this time of year. Arthur Duff has particularly focused on brightening the aspect of rooms, with 'warmth and texture' spearheading this most recent Duff Tisdall collection. The combination of innovative lighting with large mirrors is also incorporated to reflect light and play with space. However the predominant aspect of design this winter is simplicity of form, in order to showcase the high quality of the materials.   Unique Furniture Craft The work of Stevan Hartung, who specialises in one-off pieces of furniture in native hardwoods, shows a range of influences that sets it apart from the mainstream of Irish furniture design. As an apprentice in Berlin, Hartung encountered the ideas of the cabinet maker James Krenov, quoted as saying: 'Form is only a beginning. It is the combination of feelings and a function; shapes and things that come to one in connection with the discoveries made as one goes into the wood, that pull it together and give meaning to form.' Hartung has also travelled widely in Asia, visiting local wood workshops wherever possible, and is influenced by the simplicity and coherency of Oriental crafts. He has received a number of large scale commissions for Buddhist temples across Europe. On his return to Ireland in 1995 he set up his own workshop and began making furniture to commission, the scale of which ranges from residential pieces to large-scale installations.   Redefining Castlecomer Castlecomer Estate Yard has seen a dramatic change since its inception as farmyard, stables and kitchen gardens in the 1700s. Today, the Castlecomer stables are filled with a vibrant community of artists working towards a vision of creating 'a new design for Kilkenny'. Restoration is ongoing and the first section of the yard has already been fully restored and adapted to facilitate the resident artisans. As a rural retreat for craftspeople and designers, the beautiful woodland walks and fishing lakes of Castlecomer Demesne, which lies adjacent to the stables, provide an inspirational location to work within, and visitors can both view the works and experience first-hand the making process behind the crafts on offer. The wide selection of work available includes Rosemarie Durr Pottery, Carl Parker Jewellery, Maeve Coulter textiles and print, Crannmore Pottery, paper works and photography.   Belfast FLAIR FLAIR, a craft show dedicated to quality and excellence in contemporary, handmade crafts and applied arts, will run from 24 - 26 November at the King's Hall Complex, Belfast. The vision for the show is to bring together the top craft makers and designers, such as Christine Hughes and Kathryn Pearce, from across the UK and Ireland, enabling the public to purchase original pieces and Christmas gifts. Over 100 exhibitors will showcase a range of goods, including fashion accessories, photography and interior objects. The FLAIR show replaces the Craft Village, which has run at St George's Market for the last nine years, attracting up to 12,000 customers. Organiser Nicky McGarry saw the 10th year as the opportune moment to launch a bigger and better show in FLAIR at the King's Hall. The show will feature a New Faces area to introduce upcoming makers, and a Young Craftsperson of the Year competition.   Louth Craftmark Louth Craftmark, a new retail outlet for the designer-makers and applied artists of County Louth opened in October in the Highlanes Gallery, a former church, on Laurence Street, Drogheda. Showcasing the collective work of Louth designers and makers, the new store promises to offer a service where buyers and collectors can select from products on offer, or commission a piece to meet their own specific requirements. Louth Craftmark includes the classic leather handbags of Cathy Prendergast, the minimalist ceramics of Louisa Goss and of Frances Lambe who makes large sculptural ceramic pieces inspired by the sea and by local landscape, high-fired to render them durable for outdoor display and often site specific. The selection also includes Mark Oliver's interesting Litter Bugs, decorative insects made from found objects, paper and ephemera. Each bug is individually titled, mounted, and framed in a box frame in a manner reminiscent of Victorian butterfly collectors.   Fresh Creativity for Ceadogán Denis Kenny's Wexford-based company, Ceadog‡n Rugs, has launched a new collection of contemporary rugs in collaboration with three Irish-based designers. The Swedish-born Liz Nilsson, best known for her screen printed interior textiles, took inspiration from drawings based on observation around water and experimented with her favourite geometric shape, the oval. Patricia Murphy worked with a characteristically extrovert palette, while Orla Kelly, who has a background in architectural design, multiplied and combined simple patterns into complex visuals.   RIBA Awards 2006 Two Irish buildings were among the winners of the RIBA Awards 2006. RIBA Awards are given for buildings with high architectural standards that make a substantial contribution to the local environment. çras Chill Dara, built in Naas by heneghan.peng.architects in association with Arthur Gibney & Partners, was described as a project 'developed with singular confidence and brio'. Designed to hold civic offices and built on the site of an old military barracks, a footpath leads directly into an interior dominated by a switchback ramp which leads you floor by floor through all the council's services. heneghan.peng.architects were included in US journal Fast Company's 'Fast 50' list of global figures who are 'writing the history of the next ten years.' Designed by Bates Maher Architects, Poustinia is a series of self-contained cabins set aside for silence and prayer at the Rosminian House of Prayer near Slievenamon in County Tipperary. The cabins are built into the hillside, cantilevered over an inspiring view, with minimally detailed interiors. 'Poustinia' is a Russian word meaning a small cabin set aside for silence and prayer. Both projects have also made the longlist of nominations for the biennial (2005/6) European Prize for Contemporary Architecture, better known as the Mies van der Rohe Award, the results of which will be announced in spring 2007.