We are delighted to announce the call out to August Craft Month 2022 – across the island of Ireland!
Deadline for applications: Monday 4th July
What is August Craft Month? August Craft Month is a unique celebration of craft with events taking place across the island of Ireland, providing exciting opportunities for the public to experience, participate in, buy and learn about craft. It is supported and promoted by Design & Crafts Council Ireland, Craft NI and Cork Craft & Design.
Why should I be part of it? • It will be fun! Celebrate, collaborate, motivate. • Make it national – long established, Craft NI and Cork Craft & Design’s local August Craft Months have proven hugely popular – making it national will increase the momentum and celebration of craft across the month of August. • National PR campaign from start of July that will promote August Craft Month through highlighting events and makers – get your event in early! • Social media campaign across August Craft Month and partner channels – visibility to over 45k followers • Digital advertising campaign • Influencer campaign • Augustcraftmonth.org website listing of your event – image and copy • It’s easy! – your everyday craft activity may be eligible for listing Simply register your event on the August Craft Month website by filling out the application form. Events are invited from individual makers, guilds, associations, networks, galleries and venues which will enable audiences to come together to celebrate and enjoy craft experiences whether in-person, online, or both. Send your application by Monday 4th July. You can still register your events for inclusion on the website after this date, however registering early will ensure more time to promote your event.
Join us to add to the range of events bringing craft on the island of Ireland to a wider audience this August!
Register your event today!
For more information and to register visit: augustcraftmonth.org
If you have any queries about August Craft Month or about registering an event, please do not hesitate to get in contact at: info@augustcraftmonth.org
Follow us on Instagram @augustcraftmonth22 and Facebook @AugustCraftMonth
*You may receive emails about August Craft Month from more than one source (DCCI/Craft NI/Cork Craft & Design). Please note that you only need to register your event once – all events will be listed on AugustCraftMonth.org. As the application deadline is coming shortly, we are keen to get the word out to as wide an audience as possible.
** Please note as August Craft Month is an all-island celebration, if you are a maker or organisation based in Northern Ireland please visit craftni.org/august-craft-month-2022-event-application to register your event.
This is planned to be an annual event held at Ballylongford Mill in North Kerry.
The first Fair will be held over the weekend of 30-31 July, 2022 where Irish traditional trades and craftspeople from all over the country will talk about and demonstrate their work.
It’ll be a family friendly weekend with old fashioned fairground games for the kids, food and entertainment and lots of traditional crafts for sale.
There will be a wide variety of trades and crafts on display, from Longbow makers to Coppersmiths, Feltmakers to Musical Instrument makers, Basketmakers to Blacksmiths.
So far there are 26 different trades and craftspeople confirmed, and we hope to have more by the time of the Fair.
We are writing this blog post to tell you that Feltmakers Ireland hope to participate at this event, provided we have enough members that can commit to volunteer to demonstrate and help out. If you are interested in working with us to give a good showing at this event, please contact us on hellofeltmakersireland@gmail.com
We also want to tell you that this is coming up if you would like to participate as an individual.
Ballylongford Mill is a collection of early nineteenth century industrial buildings on two-thirds of an acre in the middle of the village of Ballylongford, which comprises the old working port of the village.
It includes the five storey Mill, originally built as a grain drying store in 1846, the Creamery and Famine Hospital which both appear on the 1851 map of the village, and a large buried eighteenth century boat dock in the centre of the site, which will be excavated and reinstated as a dock for wooden boats.
All of the buildings have been disused for a number of years, but work is about to start on the restoration of the buildings and walled yards which make up the old port of Ballylongford.
Ballymaloe May Fair looking for workshop facilitators
Ballymaloe May Fair is accepting applications from craftspeople from around Ireland to conduct hands-on workshops at the fair which will be held on the grounds of Ballymaloe House in East Cork in May.
I joined the Feltmakers Ireland committee back in 2018. I took over the role of Chair back at the start of this year, ah, and what a year it has been.
A Global Pandemic wasn’t on my prediction list for 2020 and it certainly was not on the FMI “aims and objectives”! Who would have thought it? How our lives could be changed, futures altered and humans “Endangered”.
The title for our 2020 exhibition had already been decided at the end of 2019. After a few brainstorming sessions and with the Climate action protests at the forefront of our mind, we all agreed it was an appropriate topic. Ambiguous enough to give scope to creativity but clear enough to hopefully link the incoming submissions.
I am terribly proud that as a group we managed to put on an exhibition at all this year. Our proposal was for a gallery space at the Knit &Stitch in the RDS, this was cancelled… we had a plan B in place, a lovely space in the visitor centre at the Phoenix Park- 3 weeks before we were due to open this space changed too!
We flexed a little and changed course, in the end the judges- Gabi Mc Grath and Jane Fox were extremely impressed with the standard and marked and ranked the pieces. This we communicated to the applicants.
As a committee however, we decided we would try to show everyone’s work. With the year that’s in it, our aim is to keep the community motivated, to promote the work of local artists and to support… and so it was- all applicants work was shown albeit in a smaller location in the Phoenix park and we hope that you have enjoyed the on-line “meet the maker” interviews and photographs too…
Here’s mine. Tamzen x
Coral Bleaching by Tamzen Lundy
The Exhibition title- Endangered?- how does your piece respond to the title? your inspiration and methods etc
My piece is titled “Coral Bleaching” it highlights the topic of habitat loss, specifically in the Great Barrier Reef, the phenomenon of coral bleaching linked to elevated sea temperatures.
It is a textural piece using wet felt techniques including cords, attachments and shibori as well as hand embroidery and bead work.
I love colour and texture, so I’ve used bright fluo combinations. I interspersed these highly coloured sections with neutral undyed “ bleached” out wool, where hopefully the textures speak for themselves.
Last year I undertook the #100day project and many of the small pieces I created reminded me of coral or sea creatures. I spent some time collecting plastic waste and ghost fishing nets and incorporated small pieces of these into my work. I suppose that this “Coral Bleaching” piece is a continuation of that work.
some of my #100days of felt- Tamzen Lundy
Crafting through the current crisis, with the pandemic have you found time to craft, has it inspired you or have you found it more difficult- discuss
In my family this really has been a crisis year. I was acutely aware of the Global situation as it unfolded. I watched Covid 19 news closely as it emerged in China back in January. Back in 2003 I was working in Hong Kong when Sar’s emerged. I remember the nervousness of having my temperature checked at the airport en route home from a business trip.
With my own fashion design work, I travelled to Germany in February this year to consult with a large retailer ( and took a face mask with me “just in case”, but it stayed wrapped and sealed in my pocket).
By the end of that month, our relatives in Milan, Italy were in lockdown.
My Indian boss, whose family live in Madrid- had already started home-schooling.
On 12th March I picked up my 3 Children from school. My partner and I still didn’t realise then that by the end of the month both my freelance business of 15years would have ended ( I hope suspended, but I simply don’t know) I would have become full time- “home- school” teacher on PUP!
As large European retailers simply cancelled orders for knitwear, product that was already designed, manufactured, and shipped, the knock-on effect to the manufacturers and all their auxiliary partners (including me) was extreme. Capital dried up, goods stopped at ports and contracts abandoned, claims of “Force majeure” as European retailers shuttered their doors and passed the problem to the Asian manufacturers, ( and freelancers like me) who soaked up the losses.
I turned my focus to staying healthy, keeping mind and body together, working on my own creative projects and my family.
Luckily for my birthday my folks sent down a great big package of fibre, so materials weren’t a problem and crafting as always played a huge part in my life.
Art and Craft is not something I do in my spare time; it is the thing I do. The Earth without Art… Eh.
I’ve used this time to make 2 videos for DCCI and to start to video my work for future on-line felting tutorials. I am also organising a local #madeinmaynooth market for artists and crafters to simply set up a socially distanced stand and hold a “art and craft walk” on a designated day in the month.
I’m doing this as well as setting up an etsy store, supporting my kids as they transition back to school and volunteering with the FMI committee.
100 days of felt Tamzen Lundy
Felt- how you discovered it, what it means to you
It was at a Knit & Stitch show a good few years ago now that I first saw a demonstration. I studied Fashion and textiles at university and design knitwear ( very commercial, colour and trends) but felt was not something I had done before. I loved the versatility, 2d and 3d. It was almost like magic, fibre to cloth, with no needles!
Felting means I can be creative at my kitchen table. I can be present in the house, I can chat to the kids, but I can also work creatively for me.
I have an output for my creative madness that is both flexible and forgiving, qualities I respect and strive for in life.
I’d like to take this opportunity as the “Endangered” exhibition closes to thank our hosts the OPW, Phoenix Park visitor centre, The DCCI, The feltmakers Ireland voluntary committee for their hard work, our two esteemed Judges- Gabi Mc Grath and Jane Fox and all the applicants for their wonderful work.
We hope that through these tough times you have been inspired to keep crafting, keep creative and keep safe.
We asked artist Deirdre Crofts the same 3 questions that we asked all the “Endangered” applicants…
The title of the exhibition is “Endangered” how does your submission relate to that concept?
My piece was inspired by the wonderful Irish Bee. 30% of the Irish Bee species are threatened with extinction, this is because of intensive farming practices, monocropping and excessive use of agricultural chemicals. I wanted to show the bees disorientated over the Irish countryside. I used a wet felted resist background. The bees I needle felted with galvanised wire support with free motion embroidery voile wings. I enjoyed making this piece.
How did you first come upon felting?
I was first introduced to felt work by the genius Sharon Wells and then I met the very welcoming feltmakers Ireland group. They were so friendly and helpful, the magic of being able to take colourful raw wool and with warm water and soap you could make such wonderful things.
The coronovirus lockdown, did it help or hinder your craft?
The covid pandemic, tho terrible it was, gave me time to breathe and spend time with my family, we walked and worked in the garden. We had time to enjoy what we had.
I am lucky I live on three quarters of an acre on the foothills of the Dublin mountains where I have a studio. I love sculpture and I had some ceramic exhibitions that I had to prepare pieces for. They took place in August and September.
Ceramics Ireland, Dublin Castle, Montenotte Cork and Birr Castle Co Offaly.
Feltmakers Ireland 