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

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.

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.

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.

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………..

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……….