Lino-printing Workshop with Ed Ryan

Straight after the weekend in Kenmare, I took part in a little lino-cutting workshops with artist, Ed Ryan at Meitheal Eithseala.  I love print, probably because I love book illustration, and most of early illustration was print in some form. I did a small bit of printing in college, from screen-printing to etching, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Inspired! Music and Art in Fibre - Exhibition and Book

Each year, members of the International Freeform Crochet Guild set a challenge. This challenge is to create a piece of freeform crochet using a chosen theme. The pieces are finished and photos are sent via email to the organisers, and an online exhibition and book are created. None of the pieces are shown publicly until  the exhibition and book are ready, which this year was July 1st.

Interweave Crochet Magazine Summer 2012

When I got back from the Body and Soul Festival, I had a lovely package waiting for me -the summer issue of Interweave Crochet!

Máire Treanor has been writing a series of feature articles for Interweave Crochet Magazine on Clones Lace. In the edition above, Summer 2012 (part 4 of the series), Máire writes about modern interpretations of Irish Crochet in the Former Soviet Republics and around the world. I've blogged before (here) about the fantastic Duplet Magazine, an Irish Crochet Magazine form the Ukraine, and she mentions another Zhurnal MOD. You can find them both here www.duplet-crochet.com. 

I attended Máires lace workshop, 2 years running, in Monaghan a few years back, and have been pretty much hooked on lace since. I was delighted when she asked me to submit some pictures of my lace for inclusion in the article, and even more delighted to find the picture in the magazine and the magazine in my letter box! The lovely Máire had sent me a copy herself. (Thank you Maire!!)

Cú

Máire runs The Cassandra Hand Summer School of Lace in Clones, and other workshops throughout the year. If you are thinking of trying Irish Crochet lace, I cannot reccommend her classes enough. Not just for the knowledge and skills being shared but for the company; the very enjoyable few days to be spent in the company of some amazingly talented women.

www.cloneslace.wordpress.com

International Freeform Guild 2011

I seriously need to catch up on blogging, before I make/do anything else. So, here we go...

While I was in the midst of packing for The Body and Soul Festival, the International Freefrom Guild opened its online show. 50 Freeform Artists from around the Globe were challenged to create one freeform piece interpreting a chosen theme.

We had a vote on the theme for this years show. During the voting, recycling was winning the vote, so I was trying to be organised and started on a recycled project. (That's another blog post!). This is a new thing for me, I'm usually an up all night the night before the deadline kinda gal. Then, to my dismay and well, delight, my actual favourite theme won the vote: Mythologies, Stories and Fairy Tales.

When I lived in Dublin, many moons ago, I spent 2 years doing night classes at the loveliest but strange little college Saor-Ollscoil na hÉireann in Stoneybatter. (Which celebrates its 25th year this year). I enrolled, just to do Folklore, but it was actually a degree course, and so I ended up doing a few other subjects; History, Archaeology, Environmental Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies (was more conflict than peace...) and more. Anyway back to Folklore, the course was taught by Dr. Micháel Ross. I loved every minute of this course, you could just listen to Micháel forever, a born storyteller. I ended up writing essays on Tolkien's use of old English poetry in his work, on present day Wiccan activities in Ireland, and The History and Construction of Irish Tower Houses, and well, lots more. It gave me an excuse to read lots of very unusual yet interesting books. The place is like mecca for knowledge; all ages, all types of people. I wasn't interested in doing the degree really, I just wanted to learn, and be around other people who like also liked learning.

So, I had to make something for this exhibition, something freeform, crocheted, based on mythology, and since I'm still in my lace phase, it would have to be lace, and of course it has to be Irish, and because I love Celtic illumination, and especially zoomorphics... etc. Enough said here's the piece....

Cú

Crocheted with a fine black wool yarn.
(Yarn weight and type unknown. Hook size, cant remember...)

So, the exhibition can be viewed online here http://www.freeformcrochet.com/2011/Pages/index.html and it can also be bought! Its published on Blurb http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2241770. All proceeds of which go to very worthy causes!!

Since I had a lace piece made, I decided to enter it into the Lace category of the RDS Crafts competition. I have never entered before because as much as I love the promotion of Irish craft, I don't like how expensive it is to enter, (€15!!). It seems that Irish artists and craftspeople are constantly having to pay out for the privilege of just entering competitions, exhibitions, etc, let alone the actually crafting, framing, travelling, etc, expenses. We are struggling to make ends meet, and galleries, arts centres, administrators and the likes have nice regular wages. It just doesn't sit well with me. The piece got into the finals which was quite a surprise, I never expected it to. I should be delighted, and I don't mean to bah-humbug, but a part of me wished it hadn't, as I then had to get it framed, and couriered it up to Dublin. I'm trying to save up for a new marquee for doing festivals and every penny counts at the moment. No marquee, no Electric Picnic!!

So, anyone want to buy a lovely framed piece of Lace??

The International Freeform Fibre Arts Guild Book 2010

The International Freeform Fibre Arts Guild Book, 'Somewhere in My World' is now available on www.blurb.com

I had said in my previous post, that the monies raised will go to the Mercy Corps, INTFF fund, but they are also going to go towards KIVA www.kiva.org. Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty. A fantastic way to give money directly to the people who need it.

"The 2010 International Freeform Fiberarts Guild show, "Somewhere in My World", includes 61 freeform fiber artists from all around the globe.
 The artists were given the choice of creating one freeform piece interpreting the theme any way they chose using any materials and any techniques.

The artists were not restricted to scrumbles and many of the pieces are wearable art and sculptural as well. None of the artists saw each other's pieces until the online show was published."

The books cost €24,95 for paperback, €35.95 for Hardback (Dust Jacket) , and €38.95 for Hardback (Imagewrap). Postage to Ireland costs €5.99. You can pay by PayPal.

It's a lovely book, full of fantastic pictures, and little thoughts, poems, etc, lovingly put together by Myra Wood. And it's for a good cause


http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1390468

International Freeform Fibrearts Guild