Liadain Butler – Feltmakers Ireland

Review: Brigid 1500 Art Trail in Kildare

Published on Feb 1, 2024Feb 3, 2024 by Feltmakers Ireland

Written by Guild Member Breda Fay

Unravelling an Icon

How could a BREDA not be excited by a Brigid ‘s festival, especially if it’s only 15 km over the road?

Former Feltmakers Ireland chair, Breda Fay, in Kildare town.

On Saturday, I attended the launch of Sult Arists‘ “Unravelling an Icon” in Kildare town, an exciting art exhibition that transformed a town square into an open-air art gallery. Twenty local businesses bought into the idea of exhibiting sixty works in a wide variety of mediums/media of national and international artists in their windows as part of Brigid 1500 celebrations.

A free map and catalogue were available, as well as hot chocolate, cake and savouries (donations to Medicins sans Frontieres). I’m attaching a map in case you are interested and they’re not available later.

How to Find the Artworks

The Opening

Niamh Wycherly of Maynooth University opened the exhibition with an impressive account of Brigid’s life and works. {There is a short video of her opening on the Sult Artists’ Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/p/C2nDS0xM9Pp/ }

Despite the cold weather, it was great to meet many friends and/or exhibitors and chat about arty stuff: Liadain Butler, who introduced me to felt many moons ago, Tamzen Lundy and Aisling Hassett from Feltmakers Ireland, muinteoirí (teachers) from Newbridge, and the singers from Kill.

Artwork from Feltmakers Ireland’s Guild Members

The exhibition is on for a month…. well worth a visit. There are some lovely coffee shops and eateries in the town square. {It runs through Sunday, the 18th of February}.

Additionally, there is an online art gallery of each piece in the show, which includes the artists’ details, titles of each piece, medium, and social media/links - https://sultartists.com/brigid-1500

To see more of the Feltmakers Ireland members’ works, visit the following links:

Liadain Butler – http://www.knitwear.ie/
Tamzen Lundy – https://www.tamzenlundydesigns.ie/
Aisling Hassett – https://www.instagram.com/aislinghmixedmedia/
Theresa Carroll – https://www.etsy.com/shop/wispsandwands

Thank you ever so much, Breda, for visiting Kildare to see the Art Trail in Kildare town! We appreciate learning more about the exhibition. – the editors. To learn more about Breda, visit her blog – https://bredafay.com/

Recap: A New Dress for Brigid – Kildare Heritage Week

Published on Aug 17, 2023Aug 17, 2023 by Feltmakers Ireland

By Breda Fay

Community Arts Facilitator Beth Murphy from Willow Wonder came up with an idea to celebrate Brigid 1500 by facilitating a number of community arts workshops. The project began in Feb 2023 and was called “A New Dress for Brigid”.

Feltmakers Ireland member Liadain Butler represented the craft of Feltmaking.

A wire form of Brigid was constructed around which there will be tiers of different materials. Designed to be displayed outdoors, these tiers will be made of durable weather-resistant materials or materials that can be replaced periodically. The tiers will be made of copper, felt, crochet and embroidered fabrics; the clay face using model Skye, Liadain’s daughter, felted hair, bark ‘growing baskets’, grass, and rush woven belts will all be included.

Based in Kildare town, the project brought together a number of craftspeople to explore traditional crafts and share knowledge. Each workshop was led by a different practitioner, allowing the whole group to experience each other’s practices and skills – skills passed down through generations but now in danger of being lost.

These ancient skills and crafts include crochet, embroidery, weaving, felting, sketching, clay, and braiding using natural materials such as wool from the Curragh sheep, grasses, willow, and copper. Many of the skills would have been practised in the time of Brigid using these same locally available materials.

The project will continue into 2024, but Heritage Week has provided an opportunity to view the journey so far. The beautiful setting of the Kildare Cathedral provided a wonderful exhibition space.

The completed piece will be exhibited in the square in Kildare on February 2024 as part of the closing ceremony for Brigid 1500.

The frame is made from steel by @paul.finch999

To learn more, visit the website – https://brigid1500.ie/AboutBrigid1500/

Brigid 1500 still has an Open Call for projects, with a deadline of 15th of September 2023, Find this at Kildare Heritage – https://kildareheritage.com/events/brigid-1500-2024-open-call/

Catch their Kildare Heritage’s Medieval Day today, the 17th of August, from 11 am to 4 pm – https://www.instagram.com/p/CwAFpDUokNe/