Galway Culture Night: "Building Claregalway"

A wall-hanging created with the help of some local children for Culture Night at Cruthú Studio in Claregalway on the 18th September, 2015. The children used fabric crayons to depict something about their life in the community, I quilted each one and we used recycled ribbons to tie them together. We talked about the connections between people, communities and interests and how this makes life interesting. I love creating something new with the help of young artists like these.
Cruthú Studio is owned by artist Elaine Cunningham and Culture Night saw the studio come alive with face-painting, millinery, mixed-media art, music, poetry, stilt-walking, paper-craft and textile art. What a vibrant arts community we have!

Eye of the Needle: Exhibition by pupils of Presentation College Galway



The Junior Certificate School Programme provides secondary school students with an opportunity to collaborate with a local artist in the classroom. I was very happy to accept an invitation to work with Junior Certificate students at Presentation College Galway to share some textile skills with them.

 

We started the project with a visit to an exhibition of craft entitled 'Modified Expression' curated by the Crafts Council of Ireland at the Galway City Museum. The students received blank sketchbooks to record their observations and reactions. We decided to take our inspiration from references to eyes in proverbs, literature and popular culture to create a series of textile art pieces. Following a series of workshops on fabric painting, fusible appliqué and hand-stitching the students created 8x8inch blocks which can be exhibited individually, in groups or all together.

 

We are delighted that the Westside Library is hosting an exhibition of the work completed during the project in their reception and project room. Cora and the library staff added a further dimension to the project by creating links between the students' work and a selection of books from the library.

 

The exhibition will run until the 14th of June, so pop in and take a look at the display of textile art, stitch samples, sketchbooks, research, photos and more by these young artists at the Westside Library, Galway.

 





Craft in the community: Claregalway & District Day Care Centre

 

 

Stencilling on fabric, fabric collage and card-making are just some of the craft skills I've been working on with the clients of Claregalway & District Day Care Centre as part of a project to bring craft skills into the community.

 

Over the coming weeks I hope to work with the group on a collaborative piece of textile artwork to hang in the centre's reception area. The clients will discuss skills they have learned and skills they have taught over the years. These memories and stories will weave their way into the artwork we hope to create.

 

Watch this space!