The Dublin Horse Show is back in the RDS this week from Wednesday, 9th to Sunday, 13th of August. In addition to the wonderful equestrian offerings, there is a lot more on offer, including some of the best art, craft and design that Ireland has to offer.
We had a quick chat with some of the weavers, jewellery makers and designers that will be exhibiting at the Dublin Horse Show this year to speak about their work and their favourite pieces.
1. Kate O’Kelly
Kate is an emerging maker and winner of the Ceramics Category.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
I will be exhibiting two unique pieces from the series Wild Blue, produced during a two-week porcelain symposium with Český porcelán in Dubí [in the Czech Republic].
An opportunity to work with the traditional Blue tissue transfers allowed me to explore surface decoration. By reinterpreting the traditional Blue Onion Pattern through folding and dissecting, the vessels are given a playful, evocative aesthetic. The vessels are slip casted in porcelain with cobalt surface decoration.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
Coming from an artistic family, art, craft and design has always been a passion of mine. I think what drew me to Ceramics, is the endless possibilities that the material holds. The opportunity to keep developing new skills and techniques has been a drive and motivation for my practice.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
The pieces I am exhibiting this year are very special to me for many reasons. The experience to work with an international porcelain manufacturer and take part in the symposium in Czech Republic was a fantastic opportunity that has influenced my practice.
I fell in love with the beautiful Cobalt Blue decoration, and am now developing my own techniques in surface design.
2. Edel Traynor
Edel works with constructed textiles. She won both the Emerging Winner & the Constructed Textiles Category Winner & Lillias Mitchell Award.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
I am exhibiting a silk twill jacket which has handwoven hangings attached to it. Against the minimal back drop of the jacket, the woven pieces create texture and movement. They are also detachable and interchangeable around the garment.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
I started my women's wear label less than two years ago. I explored the idea of weaving for some time, as I wanted a way to bring texture to my garments in an interesting way. My favourite thing about my woollen pieces is the colour and movement that can be achieved.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
I created a collection that developed from the piece in this exhibition. From that collection, my favourite piece is a pink shirt with statement sleeves and detachable woollen fringing on the back. It’s a classic cotton shirt with interesting detail.
3. Eleanor Haworth
Eleanor is an emerging artist working in jewellery and is winner of both the Jewellery Category and the
RDS Emerging Maker Award of Excellence.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
I am exhibiting two pendants and a brooch at this year’s RDS Craft Awards. Together they are called the Carapace Collection due to the way that a hard-outer shell protects and contrasts with a fragile interior. They form part of my graduation collection from the DCCOI Jewellery and Goldsmithing Skills and Design Course 2015.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
I have always had an interest in handling objects to learn how they are made and love to learn new manual skills. Therefore, the intricate nature of jewellery fabrication and the problem solving inherent in design really appeals to me. With a view to being accepted onto a full-time course I began taking classes in jewellery making about eight years ago and tried to learn in as many different places as I could.
Working with a variety people is, I believe, a very important factor in any creative industry. I now work as a tutor in the School of Jewellery in Dublin and teaching others about what I love is a wonderful way to spend the working day.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
I think Ireland has an extraordinary collection of art in many mediums spanning millennia. There is a timeless quality that would put the Keshcarrigan bowl and the Knowth macehead alongside contemporary Irish works. In their sparseness, they might be modern designs. Inspired by this I try to create pieces that will be relevant and wearable for people of all ages and for generations from now.
4. Ciarán Mc Gill
Ciarán is an emerging artist working in furniture and is the Furniture Category Winner.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
The piece I created is inspired by Russian Doll ornaments, it comprises of three jewellery boxes which stack inside each other.
The boxes are decorated with a marquetry portrait on the top of each box, this is created using natural wood veneers which have been dyed to produce the different tones each one cut out and pieced together to form the portrait. The main veneer is a silver figured eucalyptus with a unique rippled pattern running through the veneer.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
I always had a fascination with wood from a young age but it was in GMIT Letterfrack that I was first introduced to the world of furniture design, and in my first year I was introduced to the technique of marquetry.
What fascinated me with it was the endless possibilities and versatility of the technique which meant any ordinary table, box or cabinet could be made unique using marquetry and how it could completely change the look, value and style of a piece.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
Currently, my favourite piece is ‘Dolls’, I feel that this project has a certain magic and excitement about it, it has brought together all the aspects that I have been developing with the company; design, marquetry, making and finishing. The portrait has a subtle yet captivating smile, it brings the piece to life and shows the quality and skill that marquetry can achieve.
The first time someone opens the large box and removes the tray to find the second box there is an excitement like unwrapping a present and an eagerness to explore for a third box. These qualities make this a unique piece and an insight into the future of marquetry.
5. Alan Meredith
Alan is an emerging maker working in woodturning. He is the Woodturning Category Winner & winner of the Irish Woodturners’ Guild Award.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
I will be exhibiting a set of two wood-turned vessels entitled diptych. The word diptych originates from the Greek word diptykhos meaning "double-folded’’. The vessels are a pair of art works and their surfaces are folded over each other which gives them their distinctive form.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
From an early age, I had a desire to make things with my hands, woodturning brings you close to the material and is physical. My favourite aspect is the circle itself, endlessly amusing.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
My favourite works tend to be pieces that develop as they are made, pieces that almost didn't materialise and then at the end they emerge to tell their own story. The wood usually has something to say for itself.
6. Alice Burns
Alice is an emerging maker working with glass. She is the Glass Category Winner and the winner of the Glass Society of Ireland Award.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
I am exhibiting three fused glass pieces that were made using traditional printmaking techniques and glass.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
I started working with glass a few years ago after seeing work by Joyclen Prince, her work inspired me to find out more and learn some techniques in glass fusing.
My favourite thing about glass, that is difficult to say. The material itself is compelling, making it behave the way you want is a challenge, but worth the result.
7. Nataliya Boyko
Natlalia works in constructed textiles, specifically focusing on weaving.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
A collection of interiors influenced by the North Dublin seaside where the patterns of the sand and waves caught my attention. Most of the threads I used for weaving are linen and cotton because this corresponds well to the colours of the seascape and is environmentally friendly.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
I think it started in my childhood in Ukraine where the traditional crafts of sewing, knitting and embroidery are still very strong. Later I developed my drawing and designing skills in college, and I became interested in patterns in the environment and how to translate these to cloth.
Weaving was a natural choice when it came to interpreting the undulations of sand and wave, and it is a craft that allows me to be creative and expressive in my process.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
My favourite piece is always the piece which I am working on at any one time. For me, the process of creation is as important as the product, and the process occupies my mind fully and completely in the moment of creation. I enjoy the challenge of interpreting a concept through threads and fibres, as with this piece ‘Sea and Sand’.
8. Mary Palmer & Anne Kiely
Mary and Anne work with embellished textiles. They won the Established Embellished Textiles category as well as the RDS William Smith O’Brien Cup Irish Patchwork Society Award.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
We will be exhibiting a collaborative Art Quilt titled 'Literary Landscape. This piece took inspiration from WB Yeats and his love of the beauty and mysticism of the Irish Landscape.
This quilt is made up of hand printed fabrics, printing was done at different stages of the construction with both makers responding to the fellow collaborators work. The patchwork is constructed in a collage style, and quilting is a dialogue to the printed images and patches.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
Mary: I've always had a love of art, music, and making, and drawing was a passion throughout my childhood. Upon moving to Ireland nearly thirty years ago, I wasn't eligible for a work permit.
During my first year here I learned to knit and after about twenty jumpers decided another interest would be of value. The geometry and graphic nature of traditional quilts had always intrigued me, and I found it was a natural fit with my training in Automotive Design (a lot of rendering and technical drawing).
The shared support in the Textile communities has been invaluable. The Cork Textiles Network, The Quilters Guild of Ireland, and the Irish Patchwork Society have all been an important part of my life for many years, offering friendship and advice.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
Anne: Both Mary and I work as individual makers and no doubt we have our own personal favourite piece for very different reasons. As this RDS submission a collaborative piece I will answer this question based on our collaborative work to date. Mary and I have known each other for a number of years and to date have collaborated on five Art Quilts. But the quilt that stands out for me is Eroded Prospects.
This Art Quilt was intended to be evocative with our relationship with the countryside and the marks we impose on it. We used locally sourced linens which were washed, dyed and bleached to create a unique palette before applying our personal print and quilting surface interest.
This piece awarded us the RDS William Smith O'Brien Perpetual Cup and the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland purchase award which are great honours, the impact of which continues even to this day.
9. Ryan Connolly
Ryan is an established maker working in furniture. He is winner of the Furniture Category.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
I will be exhibiting the Fossil Table in bleached French ash.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
I began working with furniture from an early age at my family's upholstery company, Connolly Furniture Ltd. in County Monaghan. I had a keen interest in design and decided to study furniture design and manufacture at GMIT Letterfrack.
I qualified with a distinction and began working in several workshops in both Ireland and Germany, most notably with the Joseph Walsh Studio, where I held the position of Senior Maker for many years. In 2012 I started my own workshop, Connolly & Company, on the grounds of my family business.
I have since been fortunate to be able to work with amazing clients to produce bespoke furniture. My favourite part of my work is setting myself a challenge and both achieving it and exceeding the expectations of my clients.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
My favourite piece was my first award winning piece, a side table in American Walnut. It won the emerging maker award for furniture and also the Muriel Gahan award at the RDS craft awards in 2015. This piece was the start of a collection of sculptural work that, although challenging, I have enjoyed making.
10. Fiona Mulholland
Fiona is an established maker working in jewellery.
What will you be exhibiting this year?
The ‘Crystalline’ necklace that I made for the RDS Crafts Awards consists of 9 individual handmade cubes that are created by cold fastening, (riveting), multiple layers of Plexiglas in a variety of colours which are then combined with silver. There are 49 layers of material in the finished piece.
The final process involves hand polishing each cube to achieve the highly reflective surface and the silver detailing adds structure and sophistication. The chain consists of small sections of silver tubing, further highlighting the facets of light when worn. I wanted the piece to be comfortable to wear but striking in aesthetic achieving a harmony between form and function.
How did you get involved with your craft and what's your favourite thing about it?
I discovered at the tender age of 15, as a teenager in the 80’s, that by making coffin lid earrings I could express my punk ideals through the creative process – in this instance metalwork. I studied jewellery and metalwork at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and graduated in 1993.
It was during this time that I set up my first studio in the garden shed of my parents’ house. From these humble surroundings, I put together my first body of work for exhibition and became firmly hooked on the adrenaline of creativity. I have been making work for exhibition and to commission ever since.
My favourite thing about it is the creative process – it’s like magic and instinctively knowing that in those final stages of completion, it is going to be a good piece.
Do you have a favourite piece? Why does it stand out for you?
That’s a difficult question to answer because I have made so many pieces over the years and one learns something new from each making experience, but there are certain works that I am certainly proud of including. The largest piece I have realised to-date is a 5-metre-high memorial sculpture in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Co Dublin. Made up of 64 life-size bronze lifejackets, it articulates the fragility of life and acts as a signifier of our mortality.
I am mainly interested in artwork that can communicate on several levels, and in terms of a jewellery piece, the ‘Wedding Ring Cover’ remains a favourite in its simplicity of form with its subtle, yet bold message. By making a ‘cover’ for the wedding band, one can completely subvert its meaning.
I also made it mid-1990’s, when divorce had not yet been legalised in Ireland. And of course, working with so much colour in my current work always brightens one’s mood.
The RDS Craft Awards Exhibition is on during the Dublin Horse Show, which is on August 9th-13th.
