Stocking the Giant's Causeway Gift Shop

I have just completed the largest order for jewellery to date...and it was MASSIVE!! I also had a pretty tight timeline as the National Trust were keen to have the work quickly for summer sales.

So, now I officially stock the National Trust's Gift Shop at the Giant's Causeway!  I am particularly excited about this, not just because it is the number 1 visitor attraction in Northern Ireland, but also because it is so close to my studio in Portstewart!

I have specially designed a range of 'Puffin' pendants and earrings for the shop, so I'm looking forward to seeing how these are received.

The Giant's Causeway

'Puffin' Pendants

The 'MASSIVE' order

Bluebells at Springhill

This weekend I visited my friend and her husband who is the house steward at Springhill, a lovely National Trust property in Mid-Ulster.  With our very late spring this year the bluebells there are still in glorious full bloom, as is the wild garlic and rhododendrons.  It is a very interesting house with truly beautiful gardens!

Bluebells at Springhill

Bluebells with Azaleas in the background

Wild Garlic

Playing rounders!

ICON at Brown Thomas

Last Thursday, 16th May, I attended the breakfast (!) launch of ICON (Irish Craft Original Names) at Brown Thomas' Dublin store.  The exhibition of irish craft has been very successfully curated by Angela O'Kelly so that the luxury department store is a perfect setting to display high-end, beautifully handmade objects.  I think the pairing of international, luxury designer goods, such as clothing and shoes with contemporary craft works because they share an incredibly high level of quality and attention to detail.

My work was chosen along with 15 other craft makers who have, as curator Angela O'Kelly describes, 'international appeal and flair'.  This is the first time that the Crafts Council of Ireland's Irish Craft Portfolio has been exhibited in a retail environment.  Brian McGee, Head of Market Development at CCOI, says of the  exhibition; “The pieces of Irish craft on display in this very special exhibition at Brown Thomas as part of ICON are the Irish design collectables of the future, true expressions of the international standing of Irish culture and creativity in a globalised world,” 

Creative Director at Brown Thomas, John Redmond who was instrumental in developing the ICON concept in store commented that: "The special place that craft occupies in the hearts and minds of Irish people is unique and undeniable and to be the first retail store in Ireland to exhibit the work from the Irish Craft Portfolio programme for our customers is truly a tremendous honour."

The street window displays look very impressive, craft pieces have been used to compliment mannequins dressed in the latest fashion, creating a bold statement that craft is very much a part of leading contemporary design.

A substantial collection of my blown glass sculptural vessels can be seen in the Designer Rooms on the first floor.  

Other exhibitors: Derek Wilson, Roisin De Buitlear, Jennifer Hickey, Jack Doherty, Sasha Sykes, Alison Fitzgerald, Stuart Cairns, Killian Schurmann, Joe Hogan, Sonja Landweer, Nuala O'Donovan, Michael McCrory, Cóilín O’Dubhghaill, John Lee and Paula Stokes.
The exhibition will run until 15th June.

My blown glass vessels 

'Urchin's in the foreground, this is the first time I've exhibited them!

PR Shots by Andres Poveda.

Brown Thomas' managing director Stephen Sealy and Craft's Council of Ireland's Chief Executive Karen Hennessy (and me!)

Me and ceramicist Jennifer Hickey

Window: Derek Wilson Ceramics

Joe Hogan's Baskets

Window: Sonja Landweer Ceramics

Window: Sasha Sykes Furniture

Window: Nuala O'Donovan Ceramics

Window: Roisin De Buitlear Glass

Derry, City of Culture 2013

Yesterday I was in Derry with my boyfriend Adam, he was filming the Craft Village Collective  for Craft NI, who are creating a virtual 'Craft Map' of Northern Ireland. (Adam is filming the locations, I will post films when they are finished!)  I was helping out, taking some photos for stills.  The Craft Village Collective are a group of around 20 makers in the Derry/Donegal area who have taken the initiative to open a lovely craft shop in time for the City of Culture.  There is a real mix of disciplines and something for everyone.

For lunch, we called into he newly opened Warehouse No.1, a cafe and craft shop, which is right beside the historic Guildhall.  Adam and I stock our work in the craft shop, so this was the perfect opportunity to heck out this venue, the contemporary industrial yet comfortable interior really works!  The food was also delicious!

We then called into the Gordon Gallery on Pump Street.  My knowledge of Derry is very limited so I was pleased to discover the 'Cathedral Quarter' which seems to be the artistic area of the city.  There is currently an all Ireland group show on, mainly paintings with some sculptural work.  It was good to see such an impressive collection of contemporary work.

Craft Village Collective

My jewellery in Warehouse No.1
(dodgy photo taken on laptop, sorry!)

Adam's pottery at Warehouse No.1

Cyprus Holiday

I have now been home for exactly two weeks since an amazing holiday with my boyfriend Adam.  We were away for a total of 13 nights, 6 nights staying in a rural village Anoyira, one night in the Troodos Mountains and then 6 nights by the sea in Polis.  The majority of our time was spent swimming and eating!!  I discovered the fascinating underwater world revealed by snorkelling: shoals of thousands of tiny fish, brightly coloured fish in the reefs, eels and even an octopus!

Here are some holiday snaps...

Our accommodation in Anoyira

                       

White cliffs and turquoise sea

Aphrodites Rock in the distance

Parasol hat!

Nicosia/Lefkosia...best lunch!

The frayed edges of the green line in Nicosia/Lefkosia

Lovely village in the hoot hills of the Troodos Mountains

This lovely man gave us the grapes!!

Mist around Mount Olympus

Sunset over the Akamas Peninsula

Frappe, olives and Tzatziki

Peppers, i think!

Christmas Pop-Up Shop, Belfast

Pop-Up Shop veteran Stephen Farnan, and his team of elves, are busily putting together a quirky shop filled with locally, irish handmade items...and I am busily getting my stock together to pass over to his capable hands!

The shop will be located in Cornmarket Square, right in the commercial heart of Belfast, at the entrance of Victoria Square shopping centre and beside Starbucks.  It opens on Thursday 8th November at 6pm and will run right up until Christmas, so be sure to call in for a present or two!!

Film of the opening night by Adam Frew

Allianz Business to Arts Awards Ceremony, Dublin

Tuesday 4th September was the Allianz Business to Arts Awards Ceremony in the fantastic Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin.  It was a very vibrant event showcasing some very talented performers, including a ballet dancer, a ropes acrobat and We Bango 3.  It was great to see the 7 awards I have been working on over the summer finally given to their rightful homes!  My boyfriend Adam and I also met the Irish Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan and presented him with a gift, and first collaborative piece, commissioned by the Allianz Business to Arts organisation.

At the Awards Ceremony, necklace courtesy of Lesley Frew

Some of the awards before they were attached to the metal bases

Minister's gift: Collaboration with potter (and boyfriend) Adam Frew

Judge's Gifts

Breakfast at Carluccio's, Adam

Two of my 'Eye Candy' pieces displayed in the stores of the Decorative Arts Museum, Collin's Barracks

Two lovely venetian cane bottles

Stourbridge Glassblowing Studio

At the end of July I spent a week at the Stourbridge Glassblowing Studio in the West Midlands completing the Allianz Business to Arts Award pieces (seven in total) and also making some new pieces: 'Eye Candy's, a 'Humbug' and some new 'Urchin' vessels.  I was assisted by Ian Bamforth, whose knowledge and enthusiasm was invaluable!