Trailer for 'Makers', film by Adam Frew

'Makers' film by Adam Frew

Featuring:
Alison Fitzgerald  basketry
Steven Murphy    blacksmith
Lesley Frew        jewellery
Stephen Farnan    pottery


Trailer now on youtube 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7fRUFqJ5I4

'Thirty' Exhibition Private View

Exhibition images

Adam Frew 'Weather Pot'

Frances Lambe 'Undulating Perforated Form'

Gail Mahon 'Continuum' and 'Cluster'

Alison Lowry 'Set me as a seal on your heart'

Rachel McKnight 'Ruffle Bracelet'

Catherine Keenan 'Eye Candy, Turquoise and Orange Striped

Pia Raeymaekers 'Untitled'

Deirdre Hawthorne 'The Shadows'

Lotus de Wit 'Tea Bug Set'

penny Shipley Ramalho 'Man on an Island'

Steven Murphy 'Phoenix'

Derek Wilson 'Void'

Stephen Farnan 'Tory'

Michael McCrory 'Prickly Pear Teapot'

Claire McAlister 'Silver Triangles'

Cara Murphy 'Disperse'

Alison Fitzgerald 'Round Sciathog'

Sabrina Meyns 'Untitled Brooch'

Lesley Frew 'Lime Green and Pink Knotted Neckpiece'

John Piekaar 'Sycamore Low Table'

A maker a day: Catherine Keenan

-Catherine Keenan creates sculptural blown glass forms that explore the potential of colour and pattern to uplift.  She finds inspiration through the process of making:

‘Glass blowing is such an immediate process, it requires great dexterity and swift, confident gestures to create sublime forms. A major draw to the medium is the great breadth of different techniques, the high level of skill needed to refine these techniques and the seemingly endless possibility for new creations.’

Her work has recently become part of the permanent collections of the Ulster Museum, the National Museums of Ireland and the Crafts Council of Ireland.

http://www.catherinekeenanglass.com/

'Throw Off' outcome

Our private view evening was a great success thanks to all the exhibiting artists, a very engaging speech by Kim Mawhinney and a hugely entertaining 'Throw Off' between Adam Frew and Stephen Farnan!

The exhibition will continue until 31st August.  We will post images of the display to whet your appetite!

A maker a day: Deirdre Hawthorne

-Deirdre Hawthorne makes one-off sculptural vessels, made of paper-thin earthenware and porcelain.

“My imagery and voice are rooted in the Irish landscape, in specific places that hold a charge for me  - shores, townlands, houses and gardens and city streets.

The forms of the vessels are simple but the clay is deeply marked by rolling in plants or fabric, imprinting slip or by piercing with pins, sticks and staples.”

She has exhibited at Galerie Besson and Barrett Marsden London and in galleries throughout the UK. Her work has been shown at SOFA New York and Chicago and is owned by private collectors in the UK, US and Europe.

Deirdre, alongside Martin Donnelly, will be leading a discussion on the creative arts entitle 'Landscapes of the Interior' at Flowerfield Arts Centre on 18th August.

http://www.deirdrehawthorne.com/

A maker a day: Stephen Farnan

-Stephen Farnan makes slipware pots.  He finds the process “ As a way to decorate, to entertain, a way to mark an occasion, express thoughts and desires in ceramics it literally has all the ingredients.” The Benburb based potter exhibits regularly in the Uk, Ireland and the USA.

http://stephenfarnan.com/

A maker a day: Claire McAlister

-Claire McAlister In her distinctive design language Claire McAlister makes jewellery using a unique combination of silver and dramatically coloured wood veneers.  She is inspired by the material itself, particularly the inherent qualities of wood veneer produce inspiring and dynamic forms when manipulated from their flat state.  This year Claire has taken a huge leap forward in her career, curating the internationally touring exhibition Seoid 11, which is currently touring Australia.

http://www.clairemcalister.ie

A maker a day: Pia Raeymaekers

-Belgian glass sculptor, Pia Raeymaekers, draws inspiration from marine life.  Particularly the formation of anemones and the vulnerability they carry within themselves, protected, and at the same time threatened by the environment they find themselves in.  She likes to play with the limitation and boundaries glass poses as a material.  She is a resident artist at Flowerfield Arts Centre on Craft NI’s Making It programme.  She has been selected to exhibit at the 4th International Glass Festival, Luxembourg 2011.

http://www.piaraeymaekers.com/

A maker a day: Sabrina Meyns

-Sabrina Meyns is a jeweller based in Co. Waterford. She makes jewellery inspired directly by botanical forms and structure, working primarily in handmade paper and precious metals.  She is especially interested in the tiny, complex engineering that holds such structures together; seedpods, stamens, pistils and even the tiny seeds contained within all come under her scrutiny for inspiration.  Since then she has co-established Workhouse Studios, a new craft collective dedicated to promoting design-led craft in Co. Waterford, Ireland.

http://www.sabrinameyns.com/

A maker a day: Lotus de Wit

-Lotus De Witt makes jewellery and small objects using precious metals.  She draws inspiration from bugs and story telling to create a quirky, fantasy series of creatures. Her miniature sculptures range includes utensils in the form of tea strainers and infusers, ‘Tea Bugs’,  for which she is gaining growing recognition.  She has also completed Craft NI’s Making It scheme.

http://www.lotusdewitjewellery.com/

A maker a day: Penny Shipley Ramalho

-Penny Shipley Ramalho is a print maker.  She likes the bold simplicity of the printed image and the expressive range and spontaneity of the cut; also how it allows for the combination of other marks and textures from printable surfaces formed by nature or manufacture or from just use or abuse.  Born in Cardiff, Wales and brought up in South Africa, Penny has been living in Northern Ireland since 2000 and has been a tutor at Flowerfield Arts Centre since 2001.

A maker a day: Adam Frew

-Flowerfield’s resident potter Adam Frew enjoys the instantaneous response of throwing, physically pushing porcelain to it’s limits.  The surface is expressive: loose drawings, quirky seals, slip trail gestural marks. 

“A chance conversation or a fleeting image and an exploration of form are the inspiration for new works. I have ideas and act impulsively.”

The enhancement of the daily ritual eating is central to his functional range of pots. 

His larger pots, these are bold and expressive, a continual experimentation through form, mark making and the firing process.

http://www.adamfrew.com/

A maker a day: Michael McCrory

-Silverware for Michael McCrory has to be aesthetically pleasing, with a sculptured visual strength. Inspiration for his designs comes from observing natural and manmade objects, visiting museums and archaeological sites. He is particularly interested in the growth, surfaces and textures of plants and this has led to the development of his forms and surface decoration.  McCrory's ‘O’ water jug was presented to the queen as a gift during her dublin visit in may of this year.

http://www.michaelmccrory.com/

A maker a day: Steven Murphy

“Movement, Geometry, Growth three things essential to life and three of my biggest influences.” Inspired by the world around him Steven Murphy work’s these three elements into his chosen medium using a mix of traditional blacksmithing skills and modern metalworking techniques. Working with a variety of metals he produces a range of items from small table top pieces to large scale sculpture. Steven graduated from Hereford College of Arts in 2008 with a BA(hons) in Artist Blacksmithing and has recently opened his own business with the help of Craft NI’s making it programme.

http://www.cold-iron.co.uk/

A maker a day: Derek Wilson

-Derek Wilson makes a diverse range of contemporary ceramic objects, from the functional to the sculptural.  He draws inspiration upon a diverse range of sources from mid-century British Constructivism to the history of the ceramic industry in Europe and Asia.  He works in celadon glazed porcelain and stoneware and the objects, whether they are made to be used or not, tend to be placed in groupings – evoking communality and sociability.  He was recently represented at Collect, Saatchi Gallery, London by the Crafts Council of Ireland.

http://www.derekwilsonceramics.com/

A maker a day: Lesley Frew

-Lesley Frew creates contemporary jewellery using discarded plastic bags. She is interested in ethical and sustainable making, selecting raw materials that would be destined for landfill and transforming them. Through a number of processes that include layering, heat bonding, cutting, folding and handstitching, the bags are transformed into a versatile material that is colourful, soft, lightweight and durable.  Innovative and contemporary, she enjoys giving a discarded material a new value and revealing its capacity for beauty.   She is the Resident Artist at the Ulster Museum through Craft NI’s Making It programme  and is a selected artist in the Crafts Council of Ireland’s 2011 Portfolio of makers.

http://www.laf-designs.com/

A maker a day: Gail Mahon

-Derry based artist and curator Gail Mahon creates ceramic and mixed media sculptures, installations and images. Her practise has evolved to exploring projective elements of human memory, stories and pathways exploring the boundaries of craft, sculpture installation and media experience with material and object.

She recently exhibited in International Ceramic Magazine Editors Association International Emerging Artist Competition, Fuping, China and is now part of their permanent collection

http://gailmahon.com

Pate de Verre – Glassmaking with Alison Lowry at Flowerfield

Pate de Verre – Glassmaking with Alison Lowry:

@ Flowerfield Arts Centre

Wednesday 17 August 2011

7.00-9.00pm, 

Cost £25 

Materials will be supplied

10 places only.

The workshop will last for 2 hours on the first night and will follow up with a second day [to be arranged] for divesting and collection of finished pieces.

Materials will be supplied and though some experience is useful it is not necessary for this workshop

To book  a place call:  028 7083 1400

A maker a day: Cara Murphy

-Cara Murphy uses traditional silversmithing techniques to address the concept of a silver landscape in the context of the table in order to challenge the boundaries of functional silver tableware.  She draws inspiration from the natural environment, giving the work a sculptural presence that seems to ‘grow’ from the table setting.  She has recently completed a commission for The Silver Trust to provide the first piece from Northern Ireland in its Downing Street Collection.

http://www.caramurphy.com/

A maker a day: Alison Fitzgerald

-Alison Fitzgerald fell in love with willow when she came to live in Ireland in 1980. A degree in botany enabled her to appreciate the many different varieties and she incorporates the subtle range of bark colours in her work. She is involved with all the processes of growing, cutting, grading and preparing the willow. Her baskets are robust and tactile using flowing curves and spiral weaving patterns, which give strength and rhythm. They have been widely exhibited in Ireland, the UK, Europe and America. 

http://greenwoodbaskets.co.uk/

A maker a day: Alison Lowry

-Alison Lowry is drawn to the endless sculptural possibilities that glass offers, and the diverse range of contradictions inherent within the material itself intrigue her. She juxtaposes this with an interest in textiles:

‘Fabric preserves the essence of its maker, with traces of the wearer becoming woven and entwined with the warp and weft, causing a physical object to become a vessel for memories.’

She was awarded first prize the ‘Bullseye Glass’ category of the Warm Glass Uk Prize 2011.

http://alisonlowry.co.uk/

A maker a day: Rachel McKnight

The main area of interest for Belfast based jeweller Rachel McKnight is in the properties of non-precious materials such as polypropylene, acrylic and nylon coated stainless steel; their tensile strengths, flexibility and translucency. From combinations of these materials she constructs necklaces, bangles, earrings and rings, each cut or punched from plastic sheet and assembled to form highly ornamental jewellery.  Rachel was in the first round of ‘Making It’, the Craft NI 2 year business support programme.  Since then she has seen her business and reputation grow, international exhibitions include SOFA Chicago and Origin, London.

http://www.rachelmcknight.com/