Craft

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.

Yesterday we transformed the reception area of the Discovery Park into a Harvest wonderland……this was to mark the end of the fantastic Savour Kilkenny Food Festival.  Interior stylist Eleanor Harpur put together local craft and food to create a beautiful atmosphere for the throngs of people who came through……….

The Castlecomer Discovery Park and Craft Yard is where to go this bank holiday Monday, as part of the Savour Kilkenny festival you can see some beautifully styled tables by one of Ireland’s leading interior stylists incorporating the best of local food and craft. Be inspired with imaginative ideas for a Harvest table, a Halloween children’s table and a Christmas table. Enjoy the fruits of Samhain with a seasonal display of harvest-time fruit and vegetables and get creative (and sustainable!) for Christmas with a display of seasonal gift ideas mixing local craft and artisan food. A selection of exciting dishes will also be created in the award-winning Jarrow Café using local seasonal ingredients.

In the Discovery Park all the family can celebrate Samhain (the end of Summer) which is the second biggest festival in the Western world. It marks the turning of the Celtic Year and we are celebrating it in full. Children can look forward to face painting, storytelling and a fancy dress competition, with some surprises in store throughout the day.  The theme for the storytelling will be the traditions of Halloween relating to food including customs such as the ancient thanksgiving to the gods for the harvest after all the crops had been stored, ’souling’ much like the modern day ‘trick-or-treating’, hollowing out turnips to make the ‘Jack-o-Lanterns’, barm brack, and much much more.For information call Castlecomer Discovery Park, The Estate Yard, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, Tel 056 4440707. All events are free.

MADE in kilkenny are getting into the Savour mood by having an exhibition of tabletop craft in the National Craft Gallery. The show will run for Saturday and Sunday. You will be able to get ideas on how to mix a collection of local craft to create an unique feel to your dining table, not to be missed. For more details check out www.madeinkilkenny.ie

Here are some photos from the recent ‘MADE in kilkenny’ exhibition in Butler House, which was part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival……

One year on from our launch, MADE in kilkenny are exhibiting again in Butler House as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival.  Here are some of the pieces that Andy and I are putting in for the show……….

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…

These are some of the new shots from the great photo shoot in shutterbug.  Blanaid pulled out all the stops with the styling and Moselle had some fun……..check out some more photos here.

I wanted to share some photos from Andy’s exhibition in the Narrow Space….its a beautiful show and it runs for another few weeks. Full of colour that makes you smile when you walk into the gallery, better still it will make you smile when you bring a piece home….

We have a collection of all sorts on our workshop wall…above are a series of  glaze tests I did a couple of years ago. I had lots of fun doing these  tests and promised myself that it was something I would keep doing on a regular basis, but like lots of things busy production took over. It is good to live with them and some of these days I will develop them some more.

Beside the glaze tests we have a collection of found objects, all of which were found on the ground outside the workshop……all sort of little people, flowers and insects. They make quite an eclectic collection.

We recently got a new kitchen, well a new element  with plenty of old mixed in. The challenge was to do it on a small budget and yet have a artisan feel to it. I would have loved to have gone for a locally made kitchen but had to compromise, so in the end we went for a flat pack with solid wood worktop. A friend Mark from Bridge Pottery, made the knobs which I love and think they add a handmade feel to the kitchen. The floor is cheap pine which I whitewashed and then sealed, it reflects so much light and makes the room appear light and airy. The subway tiles were a real success, I love them….the other bits and pieces are collect and made over the years.

Andy made these utensil holders a couple of years ago, I think I need some more….I have a weakness for wooden spoons!

None of our chairs match, I have picked them up over the years at auctions and the cupboard in the corner was a fab find in Eclectic Interiors. It acts as a pantry and takes up very little room.

Another great buy from Eclectic Interiors was this dresser which holds all my crockery (a bit of a crazy mix from all over the place, not much matching here) the lovely plate on the side is another beautiful piece from Bridge Pottery.

I wanted to mention the amazing pieces created by two members of ‘MADE in kilkenny’ which were worn on Sunday night at the Oscars…..Liselott and Nora from the Cartoon Saloon wore the pendants below, made by Rudolf Heltzel and a headpiece by Rebekah Patterson. I think they’re work is amazing and am sure they held their own on the red carpet….

Bring a little colour into your Mammy’s heart, this Sunday with a Mother Days Gift  that will last all year long……….

Set of 4 dip bowls €45

Set of 3 pouring bowls €80

‘The Pocket garden’ €5 each

Can you have too many bowls? in my opinion… never. I get so much pleasure from just looking at stacks of different shaped and coloured bowls in my kitchen, its an added bonus to be able to use them. Check out some of my new bowls…

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

Hot from the kiln………check out my brand new ‘Buttermilk range’ of everyday tableware here. Its a soft white glaze with a slight mother of pearl tinge, the shapes are both contemporary and nostalgic. I have lived with it for the past 12 months or so and I am so  happy with the shapes and the glaze, I love it and its great mixed in with my trade mark powder blue glaze.

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

Micheal Parsons wrote a great article yesterday in the Irish Times on MADE in kilkenny featuring yours truly and I was delighted with the photo they included………..

Andys Solo Christmas show opened last night at the Waterfront Gallery in Westport. Its looks great, bright and joyful for the season thats in it. There was a great reaction from everyone there with lots of sales. Prices range from €40 to €400 so its perfect Christmas present territory. If your not going to be down Westport way then call by our shop where he has lots of new work available…….

We had a great night on Thursday with the launch of the MADE pop up shop. Everyone came out to support us and some of us girls got dressed up(any excuse) wearing some beautiful millinery creations by Rebekah Patterson. We had our ‘annual ladies festive dinner’ afterwords. Anne from the Butterslip (just 3 doors down from the MADE pop up) also had her customer night on Thursday complete with pink champers, and mini cup cakes  for everyone………this made for a great festive pre dinner warm up.

I love a challenge and one of the biggest to date is the transformation of an empty two storey shop unit in Kilkenny city into a beautiful styled shop full of gorgeous craft which is all designed and hand MADE in Co.Kilkenny. I think in this day and age this is pretty amazing. There are not many places anywhere, where you could get this quality of work all MADE in such a small geographical area. There was lots of hands on deck and within three evenings we got this great shop together with a beautiful exhibition upstairs. The people of Kilkenny and the surrounding areas have no excuse this Christmas…………they can support their local community of crafts people, give amazing gifts that will bring pleasure for a lifetime and it is all on their doorstep under one roof. Click here for more info.

As part of the Savour Kilkenny festival Andy took part in a beautiful exhibition at the Kilkenny Design Center. There was a food theme going on, lovely colourful work. The show is now over, but the work which wasn’t sold is now available from the main shop. Andy is busy getting ready for a solo show which opens in December at the Waterfront Gallery, in Wesport, Co.Mayo. I’ll keep you posted……….

There is a new section in the recent issue of Ceramics Ireland Magazine, called ‘meet the makers’ it features yours truly, and some other young makers from around Ireland including, Sinead Lough, Adam Frew, Mandy Parslow and Stephen Farnan. The Magazine is available from my shop and other outlets nationwide.

 Jack Dohertys beautiful pottery is still on show in the National Craft Gallery. Its a real treat to see rows and rows of beautiful pots………..

Check out the new MADE in Kilkenny website………..the best of craft in Kilkenny and some of the best in Ireland

Just had a fab time at ‘Electric Picnic’ as usual it is a very cool place to hang out for the weekend or in my case a day(a bit of a light weight I’m afraid, just can’t keep up that pace for more than one day) I was fortunate enough to be there as a guest of the Bridgestone Guide……..John and Sally McKennagh showed me a super time. I was delighted to be chosen to  make the  ‘Bridgestone Electric Picnic Awards 2009′ for the second year running. It is such a big deal for me as the standard of food stands at this festival is certainly a one off in this country……..superb. The winners were among the best producers in the country and to think that this is the standard available at a music festival. I have to confess that I have been to Electric Picnic every year from the start and its the food that excites me as much as the music………..here are some snap shots to give you a feel for what went on.

Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese receiving their award from John McKennah and myself

A very happy group from the slow food movement recieving their award….

These girls won an award last year as well, they deserve it for their Mad Hatters stall it was magical as you can see below (they were by far the best dressed as well)

The beautiful and talented Lisa Hannigan….

The launch of ‘Made in Kilkenny’ was a huge success, lots of people turned out and there was a great atmosphere around Butler House and the Castle Yard. The exhibition itself looked great and the theme ‘Kilkenny 400′ really came trough (it was not easy to get craft from 26 different makers and have it sit together, and look good in one room, well done Ray). Thanks to the group for the beautiful flowers and wine they presented me with it was much appreciated…….

I made (with the help of some fairys) 400 ceramic flowers and placed them in the garden of Butler House….

Above are some photos from the exhibition to show the diversity of the work. We will be live with the ‘MADE in kilkenny’ website very soon, watch this space………

Six artists from the Estate Yard have a joint exhibition in 4 William Street, Kilkenny for Arts festival. All the artists share the some working environment at the Estate Yard, whilst creating their own varied personal artworks. It was a buzzing launch, great reaction to the work and lots of red stickers………….

Work by Lucy McKenna and some potential buyers……

Rachel Burke Painting and Ruairi Carroll sculpture

Ross Stewart Painting

Tomm Moore, director of ‘The Seceret of Kells’ pointing to the new addition to his houshold, a beautiful ceramic fish by Andrew Ludick.

Maeve Coulter beside one of her beautiful prints. Two of Maeves textile peices.

Rachel Burke paintings

Its been a long time coming but at last we are launching ‘MADE in Kilkenny’ a group of 26 professional designer makers based in Kilkenny city and county. We launch with an exhibition in Butler House, Kilkenny at 1pm on Sat 8th, all are welcome. The exhibition is part of Kilkenny Arts Festival and is inspired by ‘Kilkenny 400′. We will be launching the Craft trail which is part of trail Kilkenny. The craft trail brochure is fresh off the printing press today and the website will be launched a couple of weeks from now….

We had another successful open day here on Monday. The rain didn’t come until late in the afternoon and all of the kids had a go at making a pot, creating a picture out of felt and getting their face painted………as well as all the craft taking place outside in the Yard there were also some beautiful sculptures placed around both outside and in the exhibition space, they are there for the month of August, its worth a trip.

I am still in the land of the living……..it has been forever since I updated my blog. A combination of ‘peak production’ time of year and a trip overseas, has consumed most of my days and nights. The summer months are always flat out for us, I have to make a lot of  pots for our own shop, other shops and special orders, other things tend to suffer ie.computer work.

 I’m writing an article at the moment for Ceramics Ireland’s next magazine about my work and why I choose to make tableware, and it has encouraged me to reread some of my old pottery books. In doing so I came across this paragraph written by a great old lady in her 90’s. I think it sums up a potters life…….

‘To make a pot, we must have skills-truly basic skills-firstly making the clay usable by pugging, wedging, kneading, and balling, then throwing the pot on the wheel, followed by turning the perfect foot rim, pulling or extruding a strong handle and, last of all the most difficult, decorating the vessel in an appropriate way. Allied to these formal skills is the paramount understanding of what we use and what we use it for, how relevant this is to our customers and, subsequently, if we can persuade(educate) them that this is what they themselves need as well as buying it as a gift. Apart from all these reasonable simple tasks, the potter fulfills what I believe to be a fundamental role in the community, in being, perhaps, the only relic of a magical time past-the simple craftsman in a village deprived of blacksmiths, cobblers, saddlers and carpenters. I do not mean the good old days in a romantic sense, but a time where people were in touch with where things came from. As working potters, we are the link to the earth. We are the monstrous relics of a marvellous time when designs and ideas flew from men, as opposed to machines. A time when craft was a noble word.’

From Brickfields by Mary Wondrausch

This beautiful exhibition opened on Saturday in the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny. I took photos of a small selection of work, but I think it is worth a trip if at all passable make your way to Kilkenny to see it for yourself. Andrew Ludick (my better half and voice of reason) has some beautiful pieces in the exhibition. Ann Mulrooney (curator of the National Craft Gallery) done a great job of displaying all the different craft in such a sensitive way….

Andy looking very serious.

Andys new work is full of sunshine, bright colours and organic patterns. Every home should have one….