Design collective to showcase its work at An Gairdín Beo 

FORM Designmade in Carlow is a collective of artists and makers who all live and work within the county. Working in a range of material disciplines, including textiles, metal, wood, clay and stone, each member of the collective is committed to making and craftsmanship at the highest level.

Nine members of FORM will be at An Gairdín Beo, Carlow this Saturday, 12 October, to showcase their work, carry out demonstrations throughout the afternoon and chat about their craft/work and answer questions over tea/coffee and cakes.

Demonstrations are always fascinating to see exactly how a product is made, the tiny tools required to produce a piece of jewellery, the chisels needed to carve stone and the process to fashion wool to felt. These demonstrations are guaranteed to spark ideas and conversations and, who knows, may inspire someone to start a whole new career. There will be lots of time for questions and further chats with the makers. It’s a great opportunity for individuals to find out more about specific craft disciplines.

A wide range of craft will be showcased and demonstrated by the makers.

Tomomi McElwee, a Japanese quilter, creates quilts of everyday use and artwork specialising in free-motion quilting to decorate items with stitches, which she will be demonstrating. https://slaneyquiltingstudio.com 

Martin Marley is a designer and ceramic artist. Throughout his extensive career as a designer, he has developed a profound appreciation for natural materials, leading him to experiment with diverse raw materials and construction techniques. He will demonstrate sculpting a head in clay on the day. https://mmceramics.ie/ 

Leiko Uchiyama, a felt-making artist of international repute who makes distinctive and vibrant coloured felt, will be showcasing her techniques of felt making. https://www.leikofelt.com/ 

Martin Lyttle, a stone sculptor and stone worker, will be working on traditional hand-cut letter carving and stone carving. He will have a variety of rock types and will talk about and demonstrate hand carving. He will also have a selection of chisels and hammers on display. https://lithicworks.com/ Darragh Sinnott, a furniture designer, woodturner and woodworker, will be showcasing the art of spoon carving. This will include a short explanation of wood selection, the tools involved and their proper sharpening, care and use. He will be carving a spoon on the day and will also showcase other spoons in the process of being made. https://www.darraghsinnottdesign.ie/

Mary Burke, a silversmith/jeweller, takes her ideas from nature such as repetition and pattern and the interplay of light, line and shadow and works with silver, gold, pearls and precious stones. She will demonstrate cutting and shaping metal and the complexities of working on a small scale as a jeweller. https://www.deburcadesign.ie 

Liga Valge, a polymer clay jeweller/artist, makes funky and colourful jewellery from polymer clay. She will be mixing colours, making shapes and showing how the polymer material responds and is cured to make jewellery. https://www.valgstudio.com/ 

Mary O’Neill, a lace maker, is renowned for her Carrickmacross Lace, which she was taught at the age of 12 and she has published a workbook on this of form of lace. Mary will demonstrate both techniques of lacemaking and will have complete pieces on display. https://www.thelacegallery.com 

Nicola Brown, an eco-printer, is known worldwide for her craft. Her practice is based on natural dye from plants grown in her garden and prints on natural upcycled fabrics. She will be demonstrating her dirty-pot printing technique. https://nicolabrown.ie/ 

FORM also undertook a collaboration project (Tension) to produce a series of artworks during Covid. A film by Cormac Larkin was made about the project and was shown in Visual Carlow in 2022 and will be shown throughout the demonstration day.

All are welcome and this is a free event, just drop into An Gairdín Beo.

FORM would like to thank Carlow Arts Office for supporting this demonstration day and to An Gairdín Beo for all the use of this great venue.