Our Christmas exhibition this year features the best of regional ceramic work.
Our Christmas exhibition this year features the best of regional ceramic work.
Showcasing the work of our talented regional ceramic artists, with a diverse range of work on display. If you are looking for a special Christmas gift, you'll find a wealth of choice in this exhibition.
Exhibition visitors can submit a free entry in our draw to win a €50 voucher for a local small independent business. This exhibition is supported by Shop Local Tipperary.
Featuring the work of:
Antonio Julio López Castro an artist and ceramicist living and working at the foothills of the Ballyhoura mountains in north Co. Cork. Working mainly in stoneware and porcelain, he produces a range of tableware, collections of bespoke interior pieces and one-off ceramic artworks.
Water droppers originate from Korea, China, and Japan, and were part of the stationary items found in the scholar's studio or 'Sarangbang'. Made of stoneware or porcelain, they were used to pour a small amount of water onto an inking stone. Earlier examples were mostly simple enclosed containers, later evolving into intricately decorated objects, beautifully carved, or made in the shapes of animals. Antonio studied ceramics at the Crafts Council Ceramic Skills course in Thomastown. In 2020 he received a DCCI Future Makers award and was part of the DCCI 2021 Portfolio program. His work is included in the National Museum of Ireland’s collection.
www.antoniojuliolopezcastro.com
Sarah Farrelly is a painter and ceramicist based in Cork. She is a graduate of the National College of Art and Design and worked for many years as a designer and illustrator while also pursuing her passion for painting and ceramics. Working mainly in acrylic and oil, Sarah specialises in painting portraits and Irish landscapes.
She makes one-off ceramic sculptures, often of native animals. She won the Etain Hickey Award in the 2014 Irish Ceramic Awards. She was selected for inclusion in Irish Ceramics by John Goode (published 2015). Her work is hand built, bisqued and meticulously painted with velvet underglaze, then high fired so that it vitrifies. Originally, she drew inspiration from tribal patterning for the decoration of many of her pieces. She has always been intrigued by the process of transforming a lump of mud into a complex permanent structure. She finds all of the stages of sculpting in ceramics fascinating and places as much importance on the form of her sculptures as she does on their decoration.
Cillian Gibbons lives and makes ceramics near the sea in west Cork. Close to her home is Lough Hyne nature reserve where marine bioluminescence can be seen at night.
Cillian’s work in translucent bone-china is influenced by bioluminescence and phytoplankton shapes. She makes the pieces as thin as possible to allow light to shine through. The heat of the kiln organically pulls the delicate forms, and the painted marks of copper oxide are reminiscent of marine plankton patterns. The work is handmade, and slip cast fine bone-china. She makes pieces designed to be lit internally such as lamps and night light holders as well as small series of bowls.
Cillian is a graduate of Crawford College of Art and Design.
Gemma Kirby is artist and maker based in Co. Tipperary. She works with expanding foam – a material which is not normally celebrated for its aesthetic qualities. It is a functional material – filling cavities, insulating walls – extending into every crevice in its pathway, negotiating barriers. It explodes forth without constraint, freely expending its pent-up energy.
Gemma’s work is a material and process-based exploration inspired by the characteristics of expanding foam. It uses ceramic materials – clays and glazes – to investigate expansion and flow, obstruction, and tension at the intersections between soft, malleable, plastic materials, and rigid formers. For Gemma, glazing is the most fascinating stage of the ceramic process. It represents alchemy, gathering, mixing, sieving, pouring, dipping, spraying, testing, melting, and finally, the arresting of the glaze surface through the firing process. This extracts a layer of coherence that transforms and completes the object and the concept.
Lucia Parle is an artist from Tipperary presently based in Cork. She completed her BA in Art and design at Crawford College. Her current works are a series of unique decorative plates made using black stoneware clay and glazed with a simple cream colour to create a surface pattern. Most of her works are now wall based hand built ceramics.
Ann McBride is a ceramic designer, artist, and illustrator based in Co. Clare. Her work is recognizable by the bold colourful illustrations, both whimsical and a little subversive, but always unique. The originality of her work is a reflection of her career in graphic design.
She has transferred her skills in illustration and graphics onto the 3D clay form. She creates visually impactful wall installations and plinth-based slip-cast ceramics. Pushing the boundaries of the ceramic practice she has explored the use of alternative mediums, creating prints and patterned textiles for use as lampshades that fit the decal printed ceramic lamp base.
She has developed her distinctive narrative on ceramic surfaces – drawing from both cultural and literary influences. Using contemporary elements like tattoos to create a narrative, the female form in historical works of art is lifted from the past and subverted to address issues such as feminism.
Mandy Parslow graduated in Ceramics from Cardiff School of Art and Design in 1994. She worked as a studio potter in Co. Wexford for a number of years before setting up her studio in the Glen of Aherlow, Co. Tipperary in 1999. Mandy’s work has specialised in wood-fired salt glazed stoneware ceramics. Her current work explores a 'sense of place' through the use of found materials.
With work in a number of major collections, including the Department of Foreign Affairs Embassies collection, the Ulster Museum and the FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums, China, Mandy exhibits nationally and internationally. In 2010 she completed an MA at the University of Limerick and since then has combined her ceramic making with lecturing finding that each practice enriches and strengthens the other. She is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics.
Eileen Singleton uses both clay and mosaic as mediums in her work and creates original ceramic sculptural pieces inspired by the local landscape of the foothills of the ComeraghMountains. She also creates ceramic botanical monoprints and teaches workshops and classes from her studio in West Waterford. She exhibits her work at select galleries throughout Ireland. Eileen accepts and fulfils commissions, both interior and exterior for corporate clients, public commissions and private homes.
is fascinated by the amount of detail the clay captures when impressed by texture and how these tactile attributes are revealed when colour is introduced to the clay surface.
She is a graduate of Limerick School of Art and Design and has taken part in many exhibitions both in Ireland and internationally.
https://www.instagram.com/eileensingleton8/
Join us for mulled wine and a mince pie at the opening reception on Thursday 8th December at 6pm! All are welcome.
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