Learning at work When I finished my jewellery studies in London I decided to remain there a while. Also as I wanted to continue making jewellery I decided to look for a job in the trade to gain experience and fund myself. A preliminary offer made to me of part time work with a designer-maker …
It is a subject that confuses, what is it and why is it important? Design is the set of principles that moves an idea through stages to a result. This may be a system or an object that serves the needs of whomever its intended user is. The quality of most aspects of our daily …
In 2013 when I read about jeweller David Poston’s exhibition : Necklace for an Elephant and other Stories held in Middlesex University in the UK it brought back memories of his iconic piece The Elephant Necklace. It was wonderful to experience it. I was lucky to see both this piece and the image above many …
A long narrow piece of jewellery – a brooch, I saw on exhibition in London intrigued me for years. I recalled words under glass domes whose hinged covers invited concealment. Was there a political or a philosophical message there? Who made it? I couldn’t remember. Recently, determined to find out, I contacted the British Crafts …
Harvest Festival in Ireland. Crops are harvested in August. The time marks also the onset of autumn in Ireland. Traditionally a festival is held when the harvest is in – called Lunasa in Ireland. The celebration happened on either on the last Sunday of July or the first Sunday of August all around the country. …
The aesthetics and skills involved in the making of objects have been influenced by visitors to Ireland through every period of her history, with the mid-twentieth particularly fertile in the modern era. While little known, today, the Swedish silversmith Marika Murnaghan was one who played an important role in making modern design fun, fashionable and affordable in …
In the 1960s Dublin was home to some influential craft design situations. Design is the wonderful process whereby a thought is realised into functional, often a beautiful, material form, like jewellery. This may be a classical piece or one reflective of its time and culture. To set the scene: the 1960s were a time of …
Two Craft Design Stories from Twentieth Century Dublin. Read More »
