Ciarán O'Conboirne
Celtic Clays was established in 1995 by husband and wife team Ciarán O'Conboirne and Jenn Fitzgerald. It has since grown to become one of Ireland's leading studio potteries. Indicative of their name, Celtic Clays produce a stoneware range that is entirely hand thrown. Decorated with intricate surface patterns of Celtic design, the pots are further enhanced with rich earthy glazes specially formulated by Ciarán.
From an early age, Ciarán appreciated Celtic design but it was not until he worked with clay that he found the perfect platform for expressing this appreciation. In addition to the Celts, his equal respect and admiration for the Romans and Greeks, especially in pottery, has been the foundation for many of the forms seen in the Celtic Clays range today. All pieces are oven, microwave and dishwasher safe.
Diane McCormick
Diane McCormick studied ceramics at the University of Ulster in Belfast gaining a first class degree in Fine Craft Design. Since setting up business in 1989 in the small town of Ardboe in County Tyrone, she has developed and refined a unique style. She is inspired by a wide range of influences including Celtic legends and mythology, unusual animal and plant life and a love of texture and color.
Diane's range of work includes waving candlesticks, bowls, teapots, animal clocks and commissioned pieces. Each piece is individually made and decorated with a special luster glaze so that no two pieces are identical.
Stephen Pearce
Stephen Pearce, the artist, craftsman and designer has been the inspiration behind the Stephen Pearce brand for thirty years. His parents, Philip and Lucy, originally founded the business in 1953, in the small village of Shangarry, overlooking the Ballycotten Bay in East Cork. Stephen followed his father’s footsteps in 1962 into the pottery business. He trained in the U.K, France and Japan, which inspired him to design the handmade earthenware, “Traditional” terracotta and white and the “Shanagarry”, which is black and white.
Michele Hannan
Michele Hannan studied ceramics at the national College of Art and Design. Since graduating, Michel has set up her own studio in Dublin where she creates an exclusive range of contemporary ceramics, which include decorative bowls and sculptured vessels.
Each piece is individually handmade using slabs of white stoneware or porcelain clay, which are manipulated and modeled then bisque fired. Afterwards, the work is decorated with Michele’s own glaze. The sea inspires Michele’s work, such as the Great Barrier Reef, with its beautiful coral reef forms and color.
Rae Thomas
Rae Thomas is Ireland’s first wrought slate mirror and clock maker. He is fifth generation craftsman who has been creating original slate work of its kind since 1994. Originally, working with Iron and Wood, Rae realized the skills he used could also be applied to slate. He now works out of his studio in the heart of Dublin, where he meticulously handcrafts each individual piece of work. The slate used in his work is reclaimed from old Irish buildings. For this unique reason, the color may be varied. Each piece is individually numbered, dated and signed.
Raymond Kinghan
The form of life studio was established in 1993 under the direction of Irish artist Raymond Kinghan. His work has been exhibited extensively all over the world since 1980. He has received several major commissions including work for State presentations.
Motivated by a strong desire to bring form to life, Raymond designed this unique collection of bird sculptures: simple and pure in form and full of life.
The birds are skillfully handmade, thus ensuring that no two birds can ever be identical and each has its own individual character. This individuality is further enhanced by the hand painting of the glazes and the positioning of the bronze legs on the leggy birds.
The final stage in the making process is the exciting Raku firing. This rigorous process ensures only perfectly formed birds survive.
Raku differs significantly from conventional kiln firing in that the birds are first heated rapidly to 1000 degrees Celsius to melt the glaze. Once at this temperature they are removed one by one from the kiln using long-handled tongs and then embedded immediately in sawdust which bursts into flame. This burning blackens the body of the clay and enhances both the colour and the surface quality of the glaze.
The result is beautiful charcoal birds adorned in wonderful richly colored glazes.
Maureen Lynch
Maureen received her degree from National College of Art and Design in Dublin. She also gained a scholarship to work with the noted Danish silversmith Erik Judah in Copenhagen. After she returned to Ireland and set up her own studio. Maureen now lives and works in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin, producing an extensive range of gold and silver jewelry. She draws her inspiration from her love of minimalism. Each piece of her collection is very simple yet elegant.
Martina Gillan
The Cat & The Moon was established by Martina Gillan and is one of Ireland’s leading producers of contemporary jewelry. The Cat & The Moon collection is inspired by the individual facets of Ireland’s 6000 years old cultural heritage and by the rugged beauty of the West Atlantic seascape. Each piece of jewelry is handmade and is made in their Sligo workshop at the foot of Knocknerea Mountains. The Car & The Moon collections embrace early Christian heritage and reflect the mystical beauty of the Sligo landscape. Each piece is timeless and elegant.
Angela Hope
Angela Hope is a graduate of Manchester University in Textile Design. Angela works from her studio in the Lakeland Country of Lietrim in Ireland’s rural northwest. Angela gets her inspiration by the sights, sounds, smells that surround her County Leitrim Studio.
Angela Hope’s highly acclaimed bags are designs with a difference. The outside of each bag is made with a limited edition of Irish or Welsh wool blanket and finished with a fine leather or satin ribbon bow clasp. The inside of each bag is finished with the sheer indulgence of plush cardinal velvet. No matter what you are looking for, there is one thing you can be sure of -- an Angela Hope bag is a design to cherish. They are beautiful and fun to have.
Sharon McDaid
Sharon McDaid is a textile artist working under the Donagh Design label. From her workshop just outside Carndonagh in her native Inishowen, Sharon finds the breathtaking Donegal countryside with its wealth of Celtic history a continual source of inspiration. With a passion for striking and vivid color, Sharon produces a wide range of contemporary textile art. Sharon is also an accomplished watercolorist and oil painter.
Emma Tinkler
Emma studied Textile Design at Leeds University, graduating in 1990. She moved to County Kerry, South West of Ireland in 1992 where she established a small handweaving business and worked as a designer/manager for Kerry Woollen Mills. Today, she continues to carry out a small amount of freelance design work for industry -- designing woven textiles for both apparel and furnishing fabrics, but her main focus is on the design and production of her own ranges of handwoven scarves. She sources most of the yarns from the high quality Italian spinners and uses commission handweavers to carry out the production.
All her pieces are handmade in County Kerry. Production runs are very small and several new ranges are introduced each year to keep a certain degree of exclusivity in her work. Emma personally handweaves special commissions and one-off pieces.
Curious Glass
Joan Cavanagh and Fearghal Bonner established Curious Glass in 1996 in Donegal, North West of Ireland. After Joan obtained a degree in Illustration, she started to work with stained glass. Fearghal trained in cabinetmaking. It was only after they moved to Donegal, and Joan started to experiment with hot glass at a local crystal factory, did they decide to make their living by creating objects from glass and wood. Having discovered the only way to learn the techniques and processes of kiln-forming glass was to teach themselves, they bought some books to learn the technical aspects of glass casting and the kiln-forming of glass. They acquired a small kiln and began to teach themselves the necessary skills needed to set up Curious Glass. After developing some products, they started Curious Glass. After a while, the glass business got so busy, both were making the glass pieces while the wooden parts were contracted out.
They are now in the process of expanding their business as they plan to build a new workshop, and they also intend to concentrate more on one-off and architectural pieces.
Cathy Villiers
Cathy Villiers establish her textile business in 2002 and has developed quickly to supply designer shops, concept stores and high end retail outlets in the UK, Europe and the US with a collection of vibrant scarves, bags, hats, mittens, gloves, cushions and throws. Using various techniques, Cathy produces fresh, funky fashion accessories in felted lambswool and chunky yarns, ranging across the color spectrum. Cathy describes her designs as “hip, tactile, cheerful, fun, chic, bouncy, funky, now, luxurious and very very colorful!" All her designs are made from soft organic fabrics found in the beautiful landscapes of Ireland and Wales, and every item is hand-stitched and hand-dyed in limited editions. All Cathy’s designs are funky, functional and fun.
Millhouse Pottery
The Millhouse Pottery is located on the East Coast of Ireland at Millilsle, Co. Down and was established in 1993 by Pat and Peter Kennedy. The pottery is now in its twelfth year of production and it is well known for its brightly colored earthenware plaques made from terracotta clay. Each fun and animated plaque is individually crafted and colorfully glazed at high temperatures. Motivated by the beautiful scenery in Co. Down became a huge inspiration for Millhouse Pottery. Consequently, each piece brightens the walls of many living rooms and kitchens.
Hanora K. Designs
Hanora K. Designs was set up in 2002. It specializes in luxury knitted accessories for fashion and interiors for retail and commissions. Its aim is to produce one off fabrics, and pieces of unique textural genius, combining innovative fabric fusion techniques with embroidery, knit and felting and has introduced a new range of fabrics knitted from the shima computerized knitting machine. Noreen Foley is the founder of Hanora K. Designs. After graduating from the University of England she returned to Ireland to start her own business. She has a Bachelor of Art Degree in knitted and constructed textiles from the University of Southampton, England, and a 1st honors certificate in craft from Grennan Mill Craft School in Kilkenny. Inspiration for her work is taken mainly from visions of fine art painting and textiles. Trends in cultural activities, architecture and landscapes synonymous with Ireland, and areas of Europe, which are rich in color, texture and creativity.
Edmond Byrne
Edmond Byrne studied Glass Design at the National College of Art & Design and graduated with honors in 2000. Initially, he went to college to do graphic design but on discovering glass as an expressive and design material, he pursued a course in glass design. He worked in Seattle, Washington, for American glass artist, Dale Chihuly, making glass forms for a 35 ft chandelier currently exhibited in the V&A Museum, London, and other large scale pieces. Greatly inspired by his experience in Seattle, he built his own hot-glass workshop in Dublin. His gallery steps out from the current galleries and celebrates a new and independent approach to exhibiting work. His work is uses colorful and contemporary styles. Each piece of his work is individually mouth-blown using a fusion of traditional and contemporary glass blowing techniques.
Eva Kelly
Eva Kelly is a Kildare based glass artist. She studied glass in Australia with renowned artists Paddy Robinson and Warren Langley. Eva returned to Ireland in 1986 and set up a studio in the countryside outside Kilcullen. She has been the recipient of major glass awards in Australia in 1984 and in 1985 and has exhibited widely in Ireland. Her present work is mainly fusing and slumping using many new and experimental techniques. She is a member of the Crafts Council of Ireland and the Glass Society of Ireland. Her aspirations for the future are to keep developing her style and design and to create wonderful pieces that will attract collectors.
Rachel Quinn
Originally from Dublin, Rachel Quinn uses the breathtaking vista from her studio in the North West of Ireland as an inspiration for her dramatic ceramic pieces. The influence of nature is apparent in the shape, color and texture of her unique art. For the glaze colors Rachel uses an ancient Japanese art form called RAKU meaning, “happiness through chance.” This process enables each individual ceramic piece to take on its own individual character. The results speak for themselves in the beauty and diversity of each of Rachel Quinn’s ceramic creations.
Nicholas Mosse
Nicholas Mosse was established in 1976 by Nicholas himself whose goal was to produce beautiful, functional pottery in the style of Irish Spongeware. Thirty years later, Nicholas Mosse continues to produce exceptional pottery from its studio in Kilkenny. Using the Irish countryside as inspiration, Nicholas Mosse patterns are as versatile as they are lovely. Each piece of pottery is hand thrown and fired. The final decoration stage is also produced by hand in the traditional manner. The entire collection is produced with quality and beauty in mind.
Rosemarie Durr
From their studio in County Kilkenny, Rosemarie Durr and her husband Andrew Ludick produce a delightful range of hand thrown tableware glazed in distinctive shades of powder blue and jade. Rosemarie uses an intricate process that takes one to six weeks from start to finish per item depending on its size. Her attention to detail ensures that a dynamic piece results. Each item is created with skill, style and function making Rosemarie Durr pottery an excellent addition to any home.
Waterford
The Waterford Company was founded in 1783 by brothers William and George Penrose in the picturesque harbor town of Waterford. Their vision was to create “the finest quality crystal for drinking vessels and objects of beauty for the home.” Over two hundred years later, the Waterford name is still synonymous with prestige, quality, function and beauty. Most recently the glassmakers at Waterford have introduced Evolution, a contemporary collection of crystal that incorporates color, shape and quality in elegant art glass. Each piece is a one-of-a-kind example of artistic vision, uniqueness and elegance. Two hundred years after the Penrose brother’s initial conception of quality, function and beauty, Waterford continues to “evolve” with exceptional pieces to delight the consumer of today.
Garrett Mallon
Jewelry maker Garrett Mallon trained in London and Dublin and now makes his home and business at the foot of the Cooley Mountains in County Louth. Inspired by the beauty and color of the Cooley and Mourne mountains and the shorelines of Carlingford Lough, Garret Mallon molds and shapes silver, gold and semi-precious stones to reflect “nature’s forms.” His collection is unique, colorful and beautiful….a testament to his skill and creativity as an artist.
Enibas
Sabine Lenz and Len Lipitch created Enibas in 1994 in Schull, County Cork. An award winning designer, Sabine states, “I get a lot of inspiration from myths and legends. People who wear my jewelry like to connect with a feeling of belonging to a time, be it past or present…” Enibas jewelry is renowned for it quality, beauty and timelessness. Each piece is made by hand with great attention to detail. The results are jewelry pieces of incredible beauty that the wearer will enjoy for years to come.
