A mould-breaking project is bringing together top designers and crafts companies. Deirdre McQuillan takes a look at some of the results.
Bigger! Bolder! Blacker! That was the war cry of the award- winning designer Peter Ting as he encouraged a jeweller based in Schull, Co Cork, to take more adventurous steps to move her work forward. You can see the result among the photographs on these pages, one of many results of a scheme that has put Irish craftspeople and designers together to develop their work and business potential.
Like a matchmaker of old, Pat McCarthy, the project's Kilkenny-based design manager, brought Irish craft companies into contact with national and international designers, masterminding introductions and fostering potential partnerships. Its success marks an exciting development for this country. "The idea was to introduce designers to companies interested in moving out of their traditional ranges into something more contemporary for new markets. We identified people we thought would be good for each other," says McCarthy, who started his career as a fashion designer.
It's all part of Avantcraft, a two-year European design programme involving Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal. The aim is to help craft companies to develop their products and bolster their design skills. Funded by the EU and administered in Ireland by the Crafts Council, McCarthy's job involved selecting 12 Irish companies from 30 applicants along with eight designers and organising their cross fertilisation.
The potter Stephen Pearce is working with Lorraine Brennan, a furniture-maker, on a number of projects; Jerpoint Glass, in Co Kilkenny, has hooked up with Triple D, a company in London, and is incorporating new colours and designs into its hand-blown crystal; and Geeskemaria Scarves, a husband-and-wife team in Co Kerry, has expanded its successful line of woven scarves to include knitted accessories through its partnership with Amanda Daunt, an Irish knitwear consultant. She has spurred them on to introduce silk, for example, and encouraged fashion awareness. "And helped them reimagine what they were doing really," adds McCarthy.
Another collaboration working out to everyone's satisfaction is that of Inga Reed, a jeweller based in Kilkenny, and Fado Jewellery, a substantial Dublin enterprise selling mostly Celtic-inspired designs to the US. Together they are developing a contemporary collection for the Irish and European markets. "The strength of the project is allowing them to afford the creativity and input that they would not otherwise be able to access," says McCarthy.
Speaking from New York, John Condron of Fado says that meeting professionals in different spheres "was quite an educational process. You're in the dark a little about who are the best people to work with, but it has given us a template for moving forward with new products. My work has an ethnic flavour, but I wanted to go for more contemporary models yet keep some essence of Ireland about them. I had always admired Inga's work, and I think that we have come up with something special that is also different and has an international perspective".
Ting, a distinguished ceramicist and visiting lecturer in ceramics and glass at the Royal College of Art who has been responsible for developing Asprey's collection of china and crystal, took Sabina Lenz of Enibas Jewellery, in Schull, under his wing. Working with him "was like going through therapy", she says. "It was very personal. He gave me the courage to do big, bold and different things which I had been afraid of doing." He also encouraged her to see jewellery as fashion. "Now I start each collection with mood boards, which I never did before."
Emboldened by his support, her two new collections, called Pavilion and Cascade - inspired by rusty gates in the Irish landscape - illustrate her more adventurous spirit. For Pavilion she added aquamarines and pearls to oxidised silver; Cascade is more geometric in approach. The whole experience "has been a huge discovery for me", says Lenz. "It will be my direction forever."
All of the Avantcraft pieces are on show at Habitat, College Green, Dublin. The programme culminates in April with a series of exhibitions in France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland
STOCKISTS
Geesekmaria (www.geesekmaria.com): the felt scarves on the cover are €110-€130 each from Diffusion, Clontarf, Dublin 3; Kalu, Naas, Co Kildare; Cleo, Kenmare, Co Kerry; and other outlets. Its felt jackets are €375-€500 from Cleo, Kenmare, Co Kerry, and Nassau Street, Dublin 2.
McKernan Scarves (www.mckernanscarves.com, 061-921527): the scarves are €50-€80 from House of Ireland, Nassau Street, Dublin 2; Cleo, Kenmare, Co Kerry, and Nassau Street, Dublin 2; Ó Máille, Galway; and Commodum, Dingle, Co Kerry.
Enibas Jewellery (www.enibas.com, 028-28868): its bracelets, ear rings, necklaces and rings are €170-€850 from Kilkenny, Nassau Street, Dublin, and Galway; and Kilkenny Design Centre, Kilkenny.
Fado (www.fadojewelry.com, 01-2835970): its rings cost €100-€1,400 from Kilkenny, Nassau Street, Dublin 2; Weir & Sons, Grafton Street, Dublin 2; Lazlo Jewellers, Galway; Stephen Faller, Galway; and Blarney Woollen Mills, Blarney, Co Cork, and Nassau Street, Dublin 2.