I must have assembled hundreds of these gift boxes over the past few weeks.

These little heart dishes are flying out the door.

Andrews brooch’s are so beautiful, a timeless gift…

I have collaborated with Moth to a Flame candles and these candle bowls are the result,  we have Lavender and Christmas scents. My little Christmas bells are very festive.

We have a great selection of other bits a pieces. I particularly love these Nordic snow patterned hot water bottles.

As well as the usual shops we supply, this Christmas we are involved in two pop up shops, The Christmas Boutique in Ranelagh, Dublin which is open until this Sunday and the MADE in Kilkenny pop up shop, Rose Inn st. Kilkenny which is open until Christmas Eve, so if you cant make it to our shop in Castlecomer you might be able to find something special in one of the pop up shops.

]]> http://rosedurr.com/blog/2011/12/seasons-greetings/feed/ 0 http://rosedurr.com/blog/2011/08/craft-highlights-from-the-festival/ http://rosedurr.com/blog/2011/08/craft-highlights-from-the-festival/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:38:26 +0000 admin http://rosedurr.com/blog/?p=1191 I want to share some of the Craft highlights form this years Kilkennys Arts Festival….

Andrew Ludick bowls in ‘A Makers Journey’

Mark Campden ‘A Makers Journey’

Gus Mabelson ‘A Makers Journey’

Andrew Ludick ‘Form a Line ‘ exhibition

Above are some of  the amazing paper pieces on show in the National Craft Gallery

and Lucy McKenna’s hauntingly beautiful ‘Darker Wood’ in the Castle Park.

here is a little insight into how I came up with the bowls that are in

A Makers Journey Exhibition

My journey began in the garden with a plant I love called ‘bells of Ireland’. I love the simple shape of the foliage. Next I did some sketches of the plant and played around with suggestions of form. Here is my story board…

Then I got stuck into the making proccess which took place in our polly tunnel at home ……….

because of this little guy I have very little time in the workshop right now….

and here are the finished pots in the exhibition. A series of porcelain bowls glazed in a transparent glaze.

So there you have it,  ’A makers Journey’ from ‘inspiration to creation’ now on show at Butler House, Kilkenny

This is MADE in kilkennys 3rd exhibition and it looks fantastic. If you are in Kilkenny for the Arts Festival make sure to pay Butler House a visit, we also have a pop up shop open for the week which has a great selection of Kilkenny craft.

The exhibition A Makers Journey demonstrates the craft persons individual creative process. From the inspiring object or image, through their personal process of design, it explores the different element taken into consideration to create a successful, well designed aesthetic piece of work.

The Exhibition opened last night and runs for the duration of the Kilkenny Arts Festival until Sun 14th.

The Year of Craft is well underway with lots going on and hopefully people are becoming more aware of the word craft and what it means in 2011. To mark the National Ceramics Month there was a lovely photo and 3 page article in the Irish Times magazine two weeks ago on some Irish Ceramic makers(I’m way behind on this one as we were in the States for a while) it featured Andrew (third from left on the sofa)  the promotion continues in the Kilkenny shop in Dublin if your up that way take a look at the exhibition of work in the windows.

Andrew and I both have work in the Irish Design Shop which is popping up in the National Gallery of Ireland this month. Also in Dublin is the super exhibition ’transFORM‘ organised by Ceramics Ireland as part of the Year of Craft Program, this is taking place in Farmleigh. This features some amazing work by Irish ceramic artist based here and living abroad including some of Andrews work.

Some of Andys beautiful vases…..

Stacks of my plates and bowls look great in this beautiful dresser from Eclectic Interiors….

More of Andys ceramic fish and vases..

‘Andrew Ludick’s lively ceramics steal this Christmas show with their hand-formed shapes and strong patterns, driven by thin black lines and a rich use of limited colour. The Pineapple Vessels in the window are a favourite, but his bowls are equally covetable.’

These vases are available from the gorgeous Lavit Gallery, Rosemarie Durr Pottery, theMADE in kilkenny pop up shop, Kilkenny and The Irish Design Shop, Dublin

Andrews work is featured in today’s Irish Times magazine, click here to read……and our friend Ann Barber owner of  one of the most gorgeous shops in kilkenny the Butterslip was featured in today’s Irish Independent Weekend magazine. Blanaid Hennessy writes about Ann’s beautiful house featuring some of her lovely collection of things which includes lots of our creations over the years…….thanks Ann for your great taste.

Its hard to see from my poor photograph but the table top below is an Andrew Ludick creation, its very beautiful and completely one off..

All the work in the show has being inspired from places in Kilkenny.  Andys are photographed here in the gardens of Rothe House the place of his inspiration.

The tea set I made is photographed in Castlecomer Discovery Park by the river, the place of my inspiration…

Thanks Aisling from the Narrow Space and Patsey Murphy from The Irish Times for the editorial in today’s paper. A really nice plug for Andy’s upcoming exhibiting…

‘American ceramic artist Andrew Ludick has been living in Castlecomer since 2003, sharing a workshop with his wife, potter Rosemarie Durr. A new exhibition of his delicate, glossy earthenware bowls, mostly white with dashes of colour, begins on May 7th in the Narrow Space Gallery, 14 Mitchel Street, Clonmel, Co.Tipperary, tel:052-6127838. Prices for these beautiful collectibles start at around €40 for a small vessel, see thenarrowspace.com’

This is the official US Trailer for the amazing movie ‘The Secret of Kells’ where it goes on release for St. Patrick’s day. Who knows by then it might be sporting and Oscar! I am chuffed for Tom, Paul and all the gang at the Cartoon Saloon (just a bunch of incredibly young, talented, funny guys and gals based here in our little town of Kilkenny) and I got a great laugh to see Tom in this photo with all those other Oscar nominees……Tom your a Movie Starrrr

How cool is this little movie from the New Zealand Book Council (do other countries have book councils?)

I was very saddened to hear of the death of ceramic/print artist, John ffrench, last Friday. He was a real inspiration to me and many of my contemporarys. His work has a timeless quality and radiates happiness and he was a true gentleman that gave his time and information generously to younger potters like myself. I will cherish the very small collection of his work that I have and the joy I get from having it around me.  John ffrench 1928 to January 2010…

Click here for a nice tribute to his life in the Galway advertiser…

After five days without water (it just came back today, thank God) one realizes how precious it is, not wasting a drop using as little as possible to make the buckets last………this is what Nancy Bauch from white forest pottery, is exploring when she makes 108 bowls:a Water Mala. The project has inspired me and I would love to go on a meditative journey of my own with clay and water (I do this everyday, but when you introduce all the pressures of running a business into the equation I tend to loose the meditative journey part) so now I’ve put it in print I must make it happen………watch this space