Fabric design: T-shirts

Here I am showing some of my earliest designs on hand dyed cotton tunics and T-shirts.
I used stamps made from foam lining, mounted on small pieces of wood or cork. Details were painted in using fabric paint in plastic bottles with metal nozzles.

Cotton fabric, handmade stamps,
Procyon fabric dye, Setacolor fabric paint. 1997.

Clay sculpture: Work in progress

Last fall I went to a life-drawing class at Lismirrane Art Centre near Kiltimagh, County Mayo. I wanted to find out to what extent looking at a real model influences the "liveliness" of clay sculpture the way I do it. And how I would deal with speed as the model changes poses frequently.
I drew pencil sketches first and then started forming clay following a pose I liked. It wasn't possible to finish a figure in class, I had to to go back to my sketches in my studio. But I feel that working from a live model does add movement to my sculptures.
I haven't had a chance yet to bisque fire the figures I made - hopefully this is going to happen soon.

 Grogged red earthenware clay, unfired. 2009.

Recycled furniture: Rote Kommode

This piece came from a garage sale in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It had been hand built by a father to hold his children's clothes. And of course, it was painted white.
I changed the background colour and had nice contemporary handles made to match my painted design. The chest didn't have any feet; I added castors instead. The name Rote Kommode refers to the vibrant red I chose.

Wood, acrylic paint, acrylic varnish, steel. 1998
66x48x97cm

Fabric design: Table cloth

Most of my fabric work I did in Vancouver, Canada. I had a vendor's stall at most of the outdoor art fairs and craft markets in the area. Often the weather wasn't clement, and driving rain threatened to get on my laid out shirts and table linens. I needed something to keep my wares dry, so I sewed and painted a piece of cloth to be attached to my big market umbrella. It worked quite well, given it wasn't too windy a day. Here in Ireland I am using my former rain protection as a table cloth.

Cotton fabric, Procyon fabric dye, Setacolor fabric paint. 1997.
Size: 150 x 200 cm

Exhibition: Perspectives 4, Ballina Arts Centre

My first ceramic figures are on display now in November, at the Arts Centre in Ballina, County Mayo. I am proud to say I built the plinths myself, too.

Brooding Man  
Air drying clay, wire. 2009. Height: 40cm

Talk to your Shadow 
Air drying clay, craft crank, cement. 2009. Height: 25cm

 
Interrogation

 Craft crank, earthenware glazes, Nichrome wire. 2009. Height: 23cm

Printmaking: Mezzotint

There is a way to achieve a mezzotint effect by running a printing plate and a sheet of sandpaper through an etching press - without felt blankets. The imprint of the grit creates small dimples in the surface of the plate which will hold etching ink and create a dark plate tone. Using a scraper and a burnisher, one can then lighten areas by smoothing parts of the plate surface which will hold less or no ink. Other techniques like drypoint or carborundum can be applied on the same plate.

I tried this technique in my print Dialogue.

Aluminium plate, drypoint, carborundum.

Charbonnel etching ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper. 2009.
Size: 21 x 17cm

Recycled furniture: Chest of drawers

Kandinsky is the name of this piece of furniture - the first one I ever painted, transforming a really drab and flimsy chest of drawers into an eye-catching focal point. Exploring the work of this great Russian pioneer of abstract art, I came across his painting Swinging (1925). Simplified, more stylised, and with less muddled colours it was just the right motif for this chest. I mounted different knobs on the drawers because Kandinsky's clown-like figure invites playfulness.

Wood, acrylic paint, acrylic varnish. 1995
79x43x120cm