AN EXHIBITION of handcrafted jewellery using gold, silver and precious stones will give the public a chance to meet some of the State’s emerging designers.
Work crafted by graduates of the Crafts Council’s jewellery and goldsmithing course will be unveiled as part of the graduate exhibition opening in the National Craft Gallery in Kilkenny on Friday.
The exhibition runs for two weeks. A pre-exhibition event at 5pm on Friday and a “late date” on July 22nd will give those interested a chance to meet the course manager and the graduates.
The 12 students emerging from the internationally renowned two-year programme are from Tipperary, Kildare, Wicklow, Westmeath, Carlow, Dublin, Estonia, and California.
They have honed their expertise and craft with some of Ireland’s and Europe’s most skilled silversmiths and goldsmiths.
Some of the creations on display are exam pieces such as complicated hinged bracelets with handmade box catches, which had to be completed to a strict deadline. The show also includes 12 brooches which were produced using advanced fine-jewellery techniques. Each piece drew its inspiration from 20th-century paintings by well-known artists such as Stanley Spencer, Wassily Kandinsky and Barbara Hepworth.
Several of this year’s graduates are about to set up their own businesses while others will progress to further training.