The excitement for Showcase 2022 is building so I thought I’d keep you up to date with what’s happening in the studio! I took part in the last Showcase in 2020 with a Meath Local Enterprise Stand just before the whole world came to a halt. It was a wonderful experience which introduced me to lots of new contacts and buyers. Much to my excitement I became an exporter with my work winging its way to the San Diego Art Museum Shop and New Hope in Philadelphia! I am also still supplying several shops and galleries in Ireland with my ceramics and textiles.
Since 2020 I’ve kept myself busy diversifying for a while into the world of masks and Covid themed Christmas decorations while continuing to sell my ranges of Textile Art and Ceramics through my website shop. Thanks to my local Enterprise Office I used funds from a trading online voucher to get my shop up and running just in time for lock down. The Nation has really rallied around us small craft producers and the support I’ve received from the Irish buyers has been wonderful. I’ve also had wonderful support from the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland. I’ve just finished their online course with wonderful mentors in marketing, sales and merchandising helping me to understand and navigate the world of business. This year my stand in the RDS is with Design Ireland and twice as big as last time.
Now that a return to normality is tantalisingly close, I’m excited for what the future holds! I can’t wait to meet all the buyers at Showcase this year to show my new work. My new range of ceramic Birdhouses are hot out of the kiln, and I’m delighted with them. They will really compliment my Love Birds that I presented in 2020 and are still very popular with retailers and on my website shop.
I also have a new range of textiles entitled Carved in Cloth inspired by my love for our historical heritage. My Sunday walks exploring medieval sites and ancient graveyards often involve searching for little carved gems hidden and unappreciated under ivy. I love the quirky and unnoticed details once carved by an artist like myself but created hundreds of years ago! My fascination with surface texture inspired me to reproduce these relief stone works in the soft texture of fabric and thread with the added possibility of introducing colour as maybe they were initially intended to be!
Heading into 2022 I am feeling lucky and excited by the possibilities and busy living the dream of life as a full-time artist!