Tag: Textile Artists

Exhibition: More Sneak Peeks from Water and Flow

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Close-up view of textured fabric featuring blue and white patterns with several circular holes.
Jacqueline Atkinson
A close-up of a felted green fish with decorative beads, surrounded by colourful felted stones and seaweed against a blue background.
Eglė Silenaite-Enyed
Close-up of a textured fabric featuring a swirl pattern in cream and dark grey.
Yamila Fournier

Sneak Peeks

To whet your appetite for the artwork that will be shown, please enjoy a series of ‘sneak peeks’ of details of some of the work.

Jacqueline Atkinson:

The wet winter of 2025/2026 was the inspiration for Jacqueline’s interpretation of the theme ‘water and flow’ when the battering, pounding, and sudden downpours of rain often made craters in her land. Hence the Irish title ‘Batar Fearthainne’ which she thinks adequately captures the sentiment she was hoping to portray.

Eglė Silenaite-Enyed:

 The flow in my art symbolises not only the flow of water but also the flow of time. Little pebbles with ancient symbols are sunken below. The flow of water is hiding the secrets of the past. Those times are gone, the time flows…

Yamila Fournier:

After 16 years inland, I moved to coastal Dublin, where the smell of the sea and the pull of the tides reminded me of the rhythm that had been a part of me since the day I was born, since before I was born.

The shore is filled with exciting opposites: gritty sand and wave-smoothed rocks, welcoming water and unknowable depths, chaos of crashing waves reshaping the shore daily and the reliable regularity of the tides. In the face of the vastness of the water, I look to the tiniest bits, portable microscope in hand…

Feltmakers Ireland’s exhibition ‘Water and Flow’ will be available to view from Thursday, the 2nd, to Sunday, the 26th of April. The Centre is open every day, from 9:30 AM to 5 PM.

Our official launch is THIS Saturday at 3 PM. Knitwear designer Conor O’Brien will open our show.

Please note: We have learned that the gallery will be closed at 1: 30 PM on the afternoon of Monday, the 6th of April, due to an event being held at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Exhibition: Water and Flow – More Sneak Peeks

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Close-up of a textile featuring blue embroidery of birds, flowers, and a bridge, with a square patch illustrating white figures on a blue background.
Karen McSweeney
A vibrant depiction of a waterfall cascading over rocks, surrounded by lush greenery and colourful flowers.
Claire Merry
Close-up of a textured fabric featuring shades of blue and purple, with metallic threads interwoven, set against a gold patterned background.
Breda Fay

Sneak Peeks

To whet your appetite for the artwork that will be shown, please enjoy a series of ‘sneak peeks’ of details of some of the work.

Karen McSweeney:

As a nautical artist I was inspired to use pieces of sea pottery, which were washed up on the Burrow Beach Dublin. The design is a nod to the willow pattern on the pottery.

Claire Merry:

 Water falls are mesmerising and breathtaking. The falling water contrasts with the surrounding lush vegetation providing both a visual and aural experience, which brings solace to the mind and soul. 

My piece tries to capture the moment of walking into a glade and seeing the water fall for the first time.

Breda Fay:

This piece of work is based on the 1832 poem “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Tennyson, illustrating the “stream that runneth ever”. Situated on an island in the middle of the stream, was a tower where the Lady of Shallott lived. Cursed to never look outside except through a mirror she spent all her time happily weaving a “charmed web”. Then one day, in her mirror, she saw a handsome knight and decided she could no longer live that life of shadows. She ran to the window and watched the knight ride down to Camelot. Once she left her loom, “out flew the web and floated wild” and the lady died.

Feltmakers Ireland’s exhibition ‘Water and Flow’ will be available to view from Thursday, the 2nd, to Sunday, the 26th of April. The Centre is open every day, from 9:30 AM to 5 PM.

Our official launch is THIS Saturday at 3 PM. Knitwear designer Conor O’Brien will open our show.

Please note: We have learned that the gallery will be closed at 1: 30 PM on the afternoon of Monday, the 6th of April, due to an event being held at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Exhibition: THIS Saturday ‘Water and Flow’ Launches

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
A close-up view of a textured fabric artwork featuring waves of colour, including greens, whites, and blues, with circular felted shapes resembling shells or flowers.
Tamzen Lundy
Close-up of several white felted wool rings arranged on a textured surface, with small brown beads in the background.
Sandra Reynolds
A close-up image of a colourful felted fish design, featuring vibrant hues of blue, orange, and yellow on a textured white background.
Corina Hogan

Feltmakers Ireland’s exhibition ‘Water and Flow’ will be available to view from Thursday, the 2nd, to Sunday, the 26th of April. The Centre is open every day, from 9:30 AM to 5 PM.

Our official launch is THIS Saturday at 3 PM. Knitwear designer Conor O’Brien will open our show.

Please note: We have learned that the gallery will be closed on the afternoon of Monday, the 6th of April, due to an event being held at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.

Sneak Peeks

To whet your appetite for the stimulating artwork that will be shown, please enjoy a series of ‘sneak peeks’ of details of some of the work.

Tamzen Lundy:

Inspired by the meeting place of land and sea, The Convergence evokes the rhythmic flow of water against the shoreline — a threshold where elements collide and merge. This liminal space, poised between solidity and movement, suggests a point of quiet transformation: a place where boundaries dissolve and something magical may occur.

Sandra Reynolds:

The theme of ‘Water and Flow’ really resonates with me. I’ve been lucky enough to always live near the sea and enjoy my daily beach walks there. My work for this particular piece with wool reflects the shapes and colours of marine life both above and below Water.

Corina Hogan:

My interpretation is based on the realisation that all Humans, Animal Kingdom and Plants require water to survive and flourish. A basic need for all and so important.

Their Instagram: @tamzenlundydesigns @sandysosew @corina.lewis.hogan

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Exhibition: Element15 – ‘ROOTS:An Exhibition of Textile Art and Poetry’ – Co Waterford

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Textile group Element15‘s ‘ROOTS: An Exhibition of Textile Art and Poetry’ is now showing at Green Acres Gallery, Co Wexford.

The show features the group’s artwork and the poetry of Jane Clarke.

Element15 is a collective based in Co Kildare. Individual artists develop their own practice in tandem with each other, distinct but connected. Element15’s exhibition, ‘ROOTS‘, is inspired by the work of Co Wicklow-based poet Jane Clarke. 

Elaine Peden and Marie Dunne, members of the Feltmakers Ireland guild, are part of the Element15 and have pieces in the exhibition.

When: The show runs until the 31st of January.

Where: Green Acres Gallery, 2 Lower George’s St, Selskar St, Townparks, Wexford, Y35 RW7C

For more information, visit the gallery’s website – https://greenacresgallery.ie/

Their Instagram: @element15textile @jane_clarke_poet @greenacresirl @elainepeden

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Exhibitions: 2 Sheila Hicks shows – Paris & San Francisco

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

There are two exhibitions of Sheila Hicks‘ work right now.

In Paris

The Quai Branly Museum brings together the work of American-born/Paris-based artist Sheila Hicks and the scholarship of Monique Lévi-Strauss through their 60-year friendship and shared passion for textiles.

The exhibition juxtaposes 20 historical textile pieces from the museum’s collection with 30 contemporary works by Sheila Hicks. Drawing inspiration from ancient Andean weaving, Hicks reinterprets fundamental textile gestures: knotting, weaving, braiding, coiling, and tying, revealing their enduring expressive power. There is also a large installation by Hicks at the entrance to the collections.

Where: The Quai Branly Museum, 37 Quai Jacques Chirac, 75007 Paris, France

The show runs until the 8th of March, 2026.

For more information, visit the Museum’s website – https://www.quaibranly.fr/en/exhibitions-and-events/at-the-museum/exhibitions/event-details/e/le-fil-voyageur

In San Francisco

Concurrently, but slightly farther away, there is also a solo exhibition of Hicks’ work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

The SFMOMA presentation features the artist’s comet-like works, marked by vivid, intersecting, and layered lines, alongside an intimate selection of small-scale pieces that reveal her ongoing daily explorations of new materials and structural possibilities. At the centre stands a monumental phare (Lighthouse): a soaring installation of suspended, twisting cords that serves as the exhibition’s visual and conceptual anchor. Reimagined installations of Hicks’s signature wrapped bâtons, along with large, brightly coloured fibre mounds, demonstrate her continual reinvention of materials and forms—a forward-looking practice she describes as “walking the tightrope into the future.”

The exhibition extends beyond the gallery with a large-scale outdoor commission in the museum’s fifth-floor sculpture garden.

This show runs until Autumn 2026.

Where: SFMOMA, 151 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA.

For more information, visit the museum’s website – https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/new-work-sheila-hicks/

Interview with Hicks

Note: There is a VERY inspiring interview with Sheila Hicks on the Louisiana Channel, an organisation which focuses on creating interviews with artists – https://channel.louisiana.dk/video/sheila-hickswere-crying-for-softness

Instagram links

Quai Branly Museum @quaibranly

SFMOMA @sfmoma

The artist’s Instagram @ateliersheilahicks

Of Interest: Huge 3D Textile Map of Ireland Seeks Home

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Via RTE News: A huge wool map of Ireland, which took four years of knitting and crocheting to complete, is in search of a new home to go on public display.

A group of up to 18 women in Co. Wicklow, comprising skilled knitters, sewers, and crocheters, met every Wednesday at the Carnew Community Care Centre, where they developed ideas for landmarks and historical sites across the island of Ireland that they could create together through sewing and knitting.

The woollen map features prominent landmarks and sites across the island, including Glendalough, Croagh Patrick, Phoenix Park, Giant’s Causeway and Fungie the Dolphin.

To learn more and see additional photos, visit the RTE website – https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0715/1523594-knitted-map-ireland/

The Instagram – @rtenews


Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Open Call: Textile Artist Residencies – Norway

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
AiR Green - Tiltile Artist in Residency Open Call 2026

AiR Green offers a residency program tailored for artists working with textile media at Søndre Green Farm, situated at the foot of the Norefjell mountain range in Krødsherad Municipality in Norway.

Through the program, AiR Green aims to provide space for focused work, support the development and dissemination of textile art, and foster connections between artists from around the world.

Air Green offers two residency formats: one for four artists for one month and Studio AiR Green, which is for a single artist for two months.

Residency periods for AiR Green 2026

Spring
AiR Green: April 15th – May 13th 2026
AiR Green Studio: April 15th – June 7th 2026

Fall
AiR Green: August 12th – September 9th 2026
AiR Green Studio: August 18th – October 7th 2026

Deadline: 1st of August, 2025.

For more information- https://www.norsketekstilkunstnere.no/air-green-kunstneropphold-pa-sondre-green/

Their Instagram – @airgreen3536

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about the content, please follow the link to the organisation hosting the event.

Recap - Sunday Session

Recap: Clodagh Mac Donagh – April Sunday Session

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland2 Comments
Clodagh wearing her colourful, hand-felted vest pictured next to a photo from her teaching years.

On Sunday, April 13th, long-time Feltmakers Ireland guild member Clodagh Mac Donagh shared her Textile Journey. Her colourful adventures in three locations—London, Paris, and Skerries, IRELAND —where she has lived, been educated, worked, and raised her family, enchanted us.

Like many guild members, Clodagh trained in fine art (in Ireland) and textiles (Goldsmiths in the UK). She worked in education. She taught textiles in multiple settings: to young people via schools, large-scale community projects funded by her local Fingal County Council, and even a textile education centre she opened in Balbriggan. Most recently, she taught a ten-week course on Wet Felting to adults at Castleknock College. Although now retired, she continues to teach Shibori Dyeing and other textile-related classes through Mel Bradley Silks Studio in Drogheda.

Teaching Felting

Besides working as an educator, Clodagh also worked as a dyer for high-end textile designer Sabina Fay Braxton.

She has also traveled extensively and shared some of her Japanese textile collection, which she collected during her visit there six years ago. When she was there, she visited Aramatsu – the town that creates famous Shibori!

Some Photographs of Felted and Shibori Dyed Textiles

On Shibori

Clodagh explained that the term ‘Shibori ‘ means in Japanese “to wring out or compress so that the dye does not reach”. The technique dates back to the 8th century in Japan. Traditionally, it was done on silk or hemp fabrics and was worn by the samurai and aristocracy. 

Clodagh generously shared six Shibori-dyeing resist techniques with the guild. She explained that what we do now is not traditional.

  • Kamoko – a pattern with all-over circles or bullseyes on it.
  • Arashi, which means ‘Driving Rain’ in Japanese, is an accordion fold (like a fan) tied around a pole or pipe. It looks sophisticated, but not difficult to produce.
  • Itajame – an accordion fold with resists.
  • Nui Shibori – stitched with pleats.
  • Kumo – repeat in the fabric with a series of ties concentrically arranged.
  • Muira—The example she showed was a long robe made of panels. It was created using a special stand with a hook that catches fabric and stitched with a continuous thread.

Example of Arashi

Video from Sunday

A huge thank you to Clodagh for sharing your Textile Journey with us! We appreciate all the work she put in to share with us.

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Sunday Session

Reminder: Clodagh Mac Donagh’s Textile Journey -This Sunday Session

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland
Sunday Session - the 13th - Clodagh Mac Donagh - Adventures in Indigo

This Sunday, the 13th of April, longtime Feltmakers Ireland member, artist and educator, Clodagh Mac Donagh will share her travel and textile experiences with feltmaking and indigo dyeing for our Sunday Session. She has traveled to Japan to study dyeing and will bring her fantastic collection of textiles. Additionally, she will demonstrate various techniques of achieving patterns through Shibori methods.

Due to health and safety, our Sunday Session will ~not~ be a hands-on Indigo Dyeing demonstration or workshop, but Clodagh will demonstrate shibori techniques.

Please bring the following items:

  • 10 baby wipes
  • 10 A4 sheets of paper, preferably white/plain (These will be used for demonstration purposes)
  • some small rubber bands
  • a few short lengths of strings (different thicknesses)
  • a few beads or glass pebbles
  • a ruler
  • pen or pencil, and a small bag to bring items home.

Note: These items are for demonstrating purposes only, not for dyeing.


Additional Details

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served at this Sunday’s Session. Home-baked goods to share are always welcome! If you can, please bring a travel mug to replace disposable paper cups.

As a member perk for 2025, we no longer charge 5 euros per session. (If you still need to renew your Annual Membership for 2025, you can now pay online here – https://feltmakersireland.com/membership-application/ )

This Sunday’s Session will ~not~ have a Zoom link. We apologise for this, but we will use a projector to share some of Clodagh’s photographs of her projects and travels. There is only so much technology we can juggle during a single session.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we prefer you not to share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell. We will have a photo-filled recap on the blog in the coming week!

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Sunday Session

Sunday Session: Clodagh Mac Donagh’s Textile Journey – Adventures in Indigo – 13th of April

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

On April 13th, longtime Feltmakers Ireland member, artist and educator, Clodagh Mac Donagh, will share her travel and textile experiences with Indigo Dyeing for our Sunday Session. She has traveled to Japan to study this subject and will bring her fantastic collection of textiles. She will also demonstrate various techniques of achieving patterns through Shibori methods.

Due to health and safety, our Sunday Session will ~not~ be a hands-on Indigo Dyeing demonstration or workshop, but Clodagh will demonstrate shibori techniques.

Please bring the following items:

  • 10 baby wipes
  • 10 A4 sheets of paper, preferably white/plain (These will be used for demonstration purposes)
  • some small rubber bands
  • a few short lengths of strings (different thicknesses)
  • a few beads or glass pebbles
  • a ruler
  • pen or pencil, and a small bag to bring them home again.

Note: these items are for demonstrating purposes only, not for dyeing.

From an Indigo / Shibori Dyeing Workshop in 2024

The photos above are from a workshop taught by Clodagh and Mel Bradley, which was held at Mel Bradley Silks, in the Millmount Craft Quarter, Drogheda, in the Spring of 2024.

Additional Details

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served at this Sunday’s Session. Home-baked goods to share are always welcome! If you can, please bring a travel mug to replace disposable paper cups.

As a member perk for 2025, we will no longer charge 5 euros per session. (If you still need to renew your Annual Membership for 2025, you can now pay online here – https://feltmakersireland.com/membership-application/ )

This Sunday’s Session will ~not~ have a Zoom link. We apologise for this, but we will use a projector to share some of Clodagh’s photographs of her travels. There is only so much technology we can juggle during a single session.

As this is the season of coughs and sneezes, we prefer you not to share these. Please do not attend if you may be unwell.

Here is a fun video from the workshop in Drogheda!

Students are airing the indigo-dyed fabric and having a little dance, too!

The recap of this Sunday Session is HERE – https://feltmakersireland.com/2025/04/15/recap-clodagh-mac-donagh-april-sunday-session/

Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.