Irish Arts Blog

Spring time

by Sandra Richardson,Feltpix.

April is upon us and it's Spring time. We have a taste of brighter, longer evenings and some better weather, which brings us outdoors more and that has to be a good thing! Colours and flowers are out in the garden and this girl in the the orange and red dress is 'Picking flowers'. I had great fun this week planting some seeds with my kids, they are so enthusiastic! We had an assortment of flower seeds and there are now dozens of little pots around the house, that get watered and checked daily and there is a running progress report of what is sprouting and how fast. In a few months they will pick them like the girl in my picture!

From flowers to leaves, check out the 'Stegosaurus eating lunch', he looks like a friendly sort of fellow - not so sure they were in their day!

Welcome to the world

by Sandra Richardson, Feltpix.

I was commissioned to do a picture after the arrival of a precious little baby girl. She is of course a modern day princess with her castle, that has the ability to catch love hearts as they come down to her from the sky! After finishing the picture I decided that I had to go out and catch some too. 

I am currently working on a series of pictures that have a sea/water theme, whether it's sea horses or waves, the list is long. Here is one of the series that I have completed.

It is called - At the Lighthouse. I was inspired by the Lighthouse in Hook Head in Wexford which I often visit. My favourite time to go there is when the sea is wild, waves are crashing and the sea foam is being thrown in the air and onto the road - it's also lovely when the sun is shining!

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clearing,

by cliodhna

I am spring cleaning, I have to finish projects before I can move onto the new exciting new stuff. This is really hard for me.. the new stuff holds so much promise where as when a project is half way there or even nearly done you can tell how it going to turn out and I lose interest sometimes. Sometimes it's because its not as wonderfully amazing as I envisioned it in my head and I think the next one will be better.

This embroidery above is one such. I did it for my last exhibition in signal and it didn't quite fit with the others maybe, I don't know, can't really remember why I abandoned it. I found it again a week ago sorting through my things and I liked it. Its to do with the dragonfly being the master of illusion and the doorkeeper through that illusion. I love the fabric I did it on, a blue silk, and the sun is a rich red silk that the picture doesn't quite do justice to. One thing I find with any kind of art or craft, if I start off with good materials or fabrics I love they inspire me.

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Feltmaking Origins & Soft Sculpture

By Rebecca Hillman

I am a Leitrim based textile artist whose passion lies in feltmaking. The origins of felt trace back to ancient nomadic Asia. The oldest fragments found in Turkey date back to 6,500 BC. Felt was an integral part of culture, being used to make hard wearing clothes and shelters such as yurts. Felt is incredibly durable and tough, so much so, it was even used as shields and armour in battle.

It's a material that is very warm when dry, and so its use was (and still is) popular either in hot dry regions where nights were chilly, or further north where precipitation was mainly in the form of snow rather than rain.

I love to work with felt in both two (wall hangings) and three dimensional forms. It can lend itself beautifully to three dimensional soft sculpture ... the image above is an example of some of my work inspired by the environs of 'lovely Leitrim', where I see wading birds such as Curlew on the lake shores, and Oystercatcher which are often spied on the sea coast. Yes, Leitrim has a coastline, even if it is only two miles long!

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A Splash of colour for January

by  Sandra of Feltpix. January has been windy,wet,snowy,cold,mild,and the sky blue but mostly grey - typical January weather. I decided to bring some colour to my work room with the Smiling Bee above and the Princess Castle below. I pretended that it was Spring and my garden was full of colour and the bee's were busy, hopefully the reality of that will be happening soon. Then I became a princess for a day or two and this is where I lived,I'm unsure about the reality of this though! I wonder where my next adventure will take me..

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Feltpix-Sandra Richardson, Christmas favourites

The magic and madness of Christmas is upon us and it's great. I really enjoy this time of year, it's a nice kind of hectic.

The last few months have been spent getting stock ready for the various Craft Fairs and the new Gallery in Dun Laoghaire that Karen Harper is opening. I put down the scissors, needle and thread and put on my selling hat.

It's wonderful when someone buys one of my pictures, but I really wish I could go with them to see where they hang it, how they look at my work and the fun stories the kids and adults make up about them.

The pictures shown here are done with felt and silk wool, they are 'Night Owl' and 'Best Friends' - the dark at this time of year and being surrounded by friends helps to sum up Christmas.

I always have a few favourites that I don't want to part with, but I assure myself that there will be new favourites the next month and month after and so on. It is the silly season after all! 

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bags of bags, Cliodhna

 


These are a selection of the bags I had for sale at the craft fair in the RDS. It was a good show, lots of meeting people and making contacts. It was tiring though, I am glad now its over and I can think about future projects that have been on hold. Anything as long as its not a bag!
There was some incredible crafts at the show. The winners of the crafts council competion were there also with Aileen Johnston's embroidered book of hours winning overall first place. Inspiring.
Whats next? I think a book that I have to finish illustrating and some embroidery panels. New things to try. new boundries to push at. I have been shifting through old work and being reminded of things I used to do. I made puppets once and constructed paper. I will have to re-explore the past and tidy it. See what treasures I find
Happy christmas ya'll, x clio

Feltpix: Sandra Richardson Crafts

Whales & Dolphins

I created this picture as it reminded me of a time when I experienced seeing a pod of  whales of the San Juan Islands in British Columbia and I often see Dolphins off the Wexford Coast. They are both truly magnificent creatures.

Some days I create lots of new designs, I'm busy drawing and getting the ideas out of head and down onto paper. Yet, other days I'm surrounded by different by lots of different scissors and piles of coloured felt and other fabrics and I sit and cut out my designs.

Ultimately, I love sewing. It is so rewarding to sit and sew!  I will sew for hours - selecting all the different coloured embroidery threads and hand stitch my wall art, adding beads or whatever else is to hand on the day.

The images I create are soft, warm and colourful.

 
Smiling Lion

Much of my inspiration is taken from my 3 children.  Mother Nature also plays a big part in my work. I look out onto my garden when I work and this inspires me endlessly, as do my own memories of when I was a kid.

Although the Lions image is sometimes fierce, my smiling lion is warm and welcoming and a favourite of mine.

Love Tree

What can I say about this picture - I love it!

The Big Wave

One of the favourite parts of my work is making a picture for a friend as a gift. The Big Wave was made for 2 friends as a gift for their new baby.  They were moving from living by the sea into the midlands. A new journey was beginning for them. I wanted to remind them of the sea that they so loved and respected and moving on to the next chapter in their lives.

by Sandra Richardson