out and about :: weathering - confessions of a design geek

This article was published 12 years

One of the highlights of Tent London at this year’s London Design Festival was Weathering, a curation by the Crafts Council of Ireland showcasing new work from contemporary Irish designers and craftspeople.

It was a real treat to see Joe Hogan weaving baskets live at the show – he’s been making them this way at Loch na Fooey since 1978.

Print Block is a not-for-profit organisation offering local textile designers the first professional print facility in Ireland. This print is by Caroline Ryan.

I loved the Wilde Cage Light by Shane Holland made from copper plated steel, and red braided cord. Such a simple, yet effective design, to show off a traditional tungsten lightbulb.

The wooden salad bowls are by Glenn Lucas.
“I make my pieces from native Irish hardwood sourced locally,” he says. “Each piece is dried slowly in a kiln to ensure that it is suitable for use in the home. This process takes up to eight weeks. It is then hand turned on a lathe to produce the purest of form. Finished with natural oils to protect the wood this also maintains the richness of the grain.”

These Woodturned Pepper Mills are by Matt Jones for online craft retailer Makers & Brothers, while the jewellery boxes are made from birch with a walnut inlay by Cillian Ó Súilleabháin, a designer maker working exclusively in wood, based in Co. Carlow, Ireland.

The slightly anthropomorphic Wedge Bench is by Designer and woodworker James Carroll, aka Stickman, who creates handcrafted furniture from his workshop in the Wicklow mountains.

The Brace Chair is handmade to order by architects Tierney Haines from Irish oak and Finnish bleached and limed oak.

And finally, two little pops of colour in an exhibition otherwise dominated by the handmade hues of wood: Chalet by Woodenleg aka designers Robert Skoczylas and Anna Strzelecka; and Andrew Ludick’s white earthenware collection, decorated with coloured slips and a clear glaze.