Tag: Juliane Gorman

Feltmaking at The RDS Showcase 2023

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Even though Feltmakers Ireland was not invited to demonstrate at Showcase this year, there was felt to be seen courtesy of two of our members.

Caóilfíonn Murphy-O’Hanlon showing wool paintings of landscapes and items with prints of her work.

http://www.cushlaofgullion.com

and Juliane Gorman of http://www.felthappiness.com was there showing her fabulous hats.

And just for your information, here are the news from Showcase in the DCCI GANS newsletter:

I hope this newsletter finds you well. January was a busy month with Showcase – Ireland’s International Creative Expo® returning to the RDS, Dublin on Sunday 22nd to Tuesday 24th of January. Showcase offered 385 exhibitors an opportunity to exhibit their collections to approx 4000 visitors from 27 countries.

We were delighted to see the much anticipated Showcase Awards taking place on the opening day of the fair. We were excited to see that the winner of the overall best product award was metal artist, Tom King from An Gobha, whose iron cross was created in celebration of St. Brigid.

The St. Brigid’s Cross was created as a work of metal art based around the traditional cross, with depth and with colour, to mark Ireland’s new national holiday celebrating the country’s first female patron St. Brigid.

Other crafts people at Showcase celebrating St. Brigid’s were Patricia O’Flaherty, Naomh Padraig Handcrafts, from Roscommon, you can see her beautiful St. Brigid’s rush work crosses on www.naomhpadraighandcrafts.com. Jennifer Rothwell Designs also had a beautiful collection of fashion items inspired by St. Brigid www.jenniferrothwell.com

As the first Irish public holiday named after a woman, St. Brigid’s Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate the role that women have played in Irish history, culture, creativity and society.

The Design & Crafts Council Ireland Academy (DCCIA) was launched as part of the Talk Stage programme at Showcase. DCCIA is an international specialised academy for education and training to the craft sector and will offer a series of apprenticeships. DCCIA welcomes everyone from design and craft beginners to established professionals. The launch was delivered by MaryJo Hoyne, Head of Craft & Education at DCCI and Maria Couchman, Senior Craft & Education Manager at DCCI. www.dcci.ie/academy

Showcase 2023 saw a continuation of the popular Talks Stage that hosted a variety of industry talks and expert panel discussions, you can view some of the events that took place over the three days of Showcase here.

The Dancehall (Fashion & Design) – was a new and exciting fusion of Showcase fashion and design with music and dance. To view the performance of The Dancehall event from the opening day of Showcase 2023 click here.

Sculpture in Context 2022 – part 2

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland1 Comment

The weather is a bit miserable at the moment, but there should be lovely crisp days ahead as we head into early autumn.

The National Botanic Gardens are magnificent this time of year, and for the month of September you can combine visiting the gardens with a treasure hunt for exciting sculptures all over the place, indoors and outdoors.

About Sculpture in Context

Sculpture in Context was established in 1985 to raise the profile of sculpture in Ireland and provide a platform for artists outside the normal gallery context. It is a not-for-profit organisation run by sculptors. The exhibition has been staged in the National Botanic Gardens since 2002.

Sculpture in Context promotes artists and creates opportunities for practicing artists to exhibit their works in a wider public arena. The organisation has provided much needed opportunities for Irish and non-Irish sculptors in Ireland.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Exhibition: Sculpture in Context

Location: National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin

Dates: 1 September – 7 October 2022

Times: Mon-Fri 10:00-17:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-18:00.

Admission: Free. Group tours of the Gardens and the Exhibitions will be available for booking through Eventbrite

Website: Botanic Gardens

This year even more feltmakers are exhibiting so congrats to all and make sure to go visit!

As there are quite a number of feltmakers included there are two blog posts covering the exhibiting artists. This is the second blog post. Artists are listed in the order we have received information. If you have not been asked for details but are exhibiting in Sculpture in Context, please contact us as there are so many artists involved that we may have missed someone. This second blog covers the work of Carmen Garcia, Astrid Tomrop-Hofmann, Juliane Gorman and Claire Merry. Claire is a long time member of Feltmakers Ireland so we have included her piece here even if it isn’t made of felt.

What does Home feel like? by Carmen Garcia

This piece was made in response to the stories coming to us from the war in Ukraine. I wanted it to represent the pain, to be visceral, to be felt.

I used the dissonance between the homely, earthy slipper, that resonates with “cosy” and “safe” and the intense red of the exposed arteries and veins which resonates with life, but also with blood and violence.

However, what I am really interested in, is the feeling people experience while looking at it. Either having read the title or not.

What does Home feel like – Carmen Garcia

The Glow Worms Nest by Astrid Tomrop-Hofmann

The materials, shapes, structures and colours of my native surroundings provide inspiration for my creation. Working with different raw wool types ( unwashed and uncarded fleece loosened by hand ) fascinates me. 

This piece embodies warmth, softness, protection and comfort. The upright rods radiate decisiveness and togetherness, all the while surrounded by organic matter. 

I love to explore working with silk, recycled materials, paper, rich colours and texture combinations . I employ a variety of techniques to create my work and find joy and share it! 

Felting for me is diving into a world of unlimited opportunities. The dialogue with the material wool and the interaction of art and craft, and thereby the implementation of a millennium old technique, captivates me.

The Glow Worms Nest by Astrid Tomrop-Hofmann

Perpetual Felt by Juliane Gorman

Usually, I create whimsical wet-felted hats. However, for Sculpture in Context, I wanted to explore installations.

As I wandered through the gardens in winter, the ancient, naked stems of the Wisteria Chain Tent caught my eye. I found it unbelievable that this organic structure was so large that it almost was a building! Did it feel embarrassed not to have leaves? And what about its cascading blossoms? They would only exist for a few weeks.

My twirling purple pods are an attempt to adorn this quirky location.

There are spiralling, felted cords on each pod made from locally-raised Romney wool. My supplier for this material is Natural Wool Ireland. (https://www.naturalwoolireland.ie/)  Although the bulk of the fibre used in the pods is Merino and sadly not Irish-raised. Nonetheless, this wool is also sustainable because all sheep are shorn annually. 

Perpetual Felt by Juliane Gorman

Fly Me To The Moon by Claire Merry

I refer to myself as an ‘Art Butterfly’, as I have had great fun and satisfaction in playing with different media. It gives me great pleasure to try out something new and working with proven techniques from previous works.

I have worked with textiles, clays and principally for the last fourteen years with handmade felt. This piece is based on a previous much smaller one, so resizing it was a nice challenge. I love steampunk style, so I have teamed up the hot air balloon with the penny-farthing bicycle, to deliver flowers to the moon on slow power

Fly Me To The Moon by Claire Merry

SUNDAY SESSION 10th April with Juliane Gorman

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

 

Another hugely successful Sunday Session was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. Juliane Gorman who recently moved to Dublin from America delighted us with her hat demonstration. Juliane makes hats, lots of them. Every colour and whimsical shape under the sun. The word whimsical certainly sums up her creative array of samples she brought for us to see and try on. 

Juliane described to us how the different methods of laying out the fibres affected the final shape of each hat and doesn’t even use hat blocks! There’s grid laying, bullseye laying and circular clockwise and anti clockwise laying. Each hat generally has four layers with each layer a different colour. Though she admitted that is purely for her to keep track with which layer she’s working on in case she gets distracted. You know the usual – collecting kids, putting on a wash, collecting kids, putting on a wash, collecting ……

Juliane brought 2 unfinished berets to show the various stages of her process. One was half laid out the other pre felted and ready for final felting. Both were huge, approx 45-50 cm diameter

The kettle was boiled,  the water sprayed and the rolling began. We, at the back of the room were amazed at how gently she was rolling and still it shrank beautifully.


The second piece needed another layer of fibre and the “ icing “ layer as Juliane calls it. That’s the decorating part. The nice bit! But we ran out of time to see it completed. 

To conclude, everyone was so inspired that it was agreed that we’d love to do a hands on workshop. So whether Juliane knows it or not we’ll be booking her in for the autumn! 

Thanks Juliane for a great morning. 

Next Sunday Session April 10th

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Time: 10:30-12:30

Place: Killester Resource centre. Howth Road, Killester, D5

Join feltmaker, Juliane Gorman, as she demonstrates how the direction of wool layout can impact the shape of three-dimensional felt. 

Juliane Gorman creates colorful and whimsical hats for grownups inspired by nature, fairytales, and fine art. Each of her pieces is wet felted from Merino wool using soapy water and her hands. Her work can be found on her website, https://felthappiness.com, and in private collections in Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. Recently she and her family moved to the Dundrum neighborhood of Dublin (from Pittsburgh, USA).

Hope to see you there!