Address:
Araglin
Old Connaught Avenue
Bray
Co. Wicklow
Ireland
Telephone:
00353 12820963
Mobile (UK):
07919 463205
Mobile ( Ireland):
00353 868106348
Shoreline:
Nine on Line
Inspiration for this exhibition came to me during one of my regular walks along the beach near my home. The lines drawn in the sand by the many forms that the sea washes up, the debris, seaweed, shells are all discarded where the water abandons them and for a time being, they have nowhere else to go. “Drawing a line in the sand”, a metaphor loosely used to refer to an end of a situation which can not progress any further. They await their fate until they are washed away again as swiftly as a wave wipes out the drawn lines, the evidence that they were once there, gone.
The sea connects land masses depositing and taking essences of each from one to the other. In ancient times the only way we knew that there was anything beyond our own land was what the sea brought us. The sea acts as a link.
Shells travel the seas and are deposited on our shores – no two shells are the same - each one bearing its unique markings and lines. The sea urchin has different lines – broken, dotted and perpendicular. The colours, often reflecting the sea, are many and varied. I decided to use a particular shell, the urchin, as my motif, with its varying lines, for the exhibition. The work is called ‘Shoreline’.
About me
I grew up in South Co. Dublin, the middle child of a family of 9. I was fortunate enough to have parents who gave me every encouragement to be creative and to explore various crafts. By my late teens I had completed a basic course in ceramics and purchased my first kiln and kick wheel – there began the journey.
In my mid twenties I was apprenticed to a potter in the South East of France, whose studio was situated in a small village a couple of kilometres from Vallauris. There I learnt many new skills and techniques which were invaluable to me on my return to Ireland. For a number of years I took time out to raise a family, but continued to develop my throwing skills under the tutelage of Peter and Helena Brennan.
For over 10 years I served on the committee of Ceramics Ireland (formerly the Craft Potter’s Society of Ireland). Ceramics Ireland holds workshops, seminars and exhibitions and has a membership of over 200. I have held various positions including PRO, Membership Secretary and Editor of the society’s magazine Ceramics Ireland. Recently I stepped down as Editor to concentrate more on my studies at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA). I am currently in my final year of the BA Design – Ceramics course. It has opened up new windows of learning for me and I look forward to continuing the challenges it places before me.
Training
1972: College of Art Dun Laoghaire (now the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology): Pottery
Jewellery Making
Basic Design - all the above were evening classes
1973: Trinity Art Centre, Trinity College Dublin – Evening classes – pottery
1977: Seillans, France – potter’s apprentice to Jean Pierre Brelet – February-September
1977: National College of Art & Design, Dublin – evening course – ceramics
1993: Deborah Baynes, Suffolk, UK – 1 week workshop
1994: Peter Brennan, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin – throwing
1995: Frances Desmond, Marlay Craft Centre, Dublin – glaze technology
2001: Helena Brennan, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
– Master class in throwing
1997 - present: Various workshops organised by Ceramics Ireland over the past 15 years
1999-2007: International Potter’s Festival, Aberystwyth, Wales.
Exhibitions
1995- 2007: I have exhibited periodically at the Ceramics Ireland exhibitions held annually at Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, Ireland.