At our 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM), guild member Hilary Delaney‘s name was pulled from the hat for the annual bursary to study a textile course of her choice.
As part of the award, bursary recipients share their experiences with the guild via our blog. In the past, those who have shared articles about their educational experiences include: Adrienne Dempsey in 2024, Ramona Farrelly in 2023, and Doris Reinisch in 2021. Editor’s Note: There wasn’t a bursary award in 2022.
Below, Hilary shares her wonderful experience with the three-Day botanical printing workshop, ‘Nature’s Palette’ with Gabrielle Bishop at Mulranny Arts in County Mayo.
By Hilary Delaney
I chose the botanical printing course because I was captivated by the colours, textures, and creation of possibilities that leaves and seaweed can bring to cloth and paper. Plants contain their own pigments and structures, and the process of transferring their colours and shapes using mordants and natural dyes really interests me.
As a horticulturist and hobby felter, I find this feels like a natural extension of my practice. Both felting and botanical printing rely on water, pressure, and time to transform raw material. I’m excited by the opportunities to combine them: printing onto silks and fine wools before nuno felting, embedding seaweed silhouettes into vessel forms, or using the subtle leaf shapes on bowls.
The course has opened up new ways for me to capture a sense of place and season in my work — not just through form, but through the actual pigments and patterns of the landscape.
Tutor Gabrielle Bishop’s ability to facilitate learning was excellent; she created a space where curiosity was encouraged. Her deep knowledge of plants, process, and colour was always present; she gave room for each student to find their own dialogue with the materials.
What stood out most was how she encouraged us to slow down and really see — the vein of a leaf, the way seaweed releases pigment, the shift in tone from steam to cloth. Her guidance was practical, with stories about foraging and folklore, which added interest to the learning process.
This weekend has given me the confidence to carry these techniques into my felting, with a sense of play, exploring different textures and colours.
Future projects I hope to explore based on what I learned in this course. This will include seaweed prints on silk and botanical printing at various times of the year, paired with Nunofelting.
Thank you to Feltmakers Ireland for the bursary.
Hilary studied at Mulranny Arts, The Old Convent, Mallaranny, Co. Mayo, F28 F8N8
For information on Botanical Printing and other creative arts classes on offer, visit the Mulranny Arts website – https://www.mulrannyarts.com/classesworkshops
Their Instagram: @mulrannyarts @gabriellemarybishop
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