Art in the Classroom / Irish Times Piece
Crazy About Craft
In February of 2011, The Irish Times produced a special edition of
Anseo: Art in the Classroom, which celebrated the Year of Craft by
the Crafts Council of Ireland and Craft Northern Ireland.
The National Craft Gallery is located beside the Crafts Council of
Ireland’s main offices in Kilkenny and is the largest exhibition space
dedicated to craft in Ireland. 2011 is the Year of Craft on the island of
Ireland and is a very special year for everyone who works with, enjoys
or wants to learn about craft. There are lots of craft workshops,
exhibitions, and events taking place all over the country to celebrate
the year. The National Craft Gallery is one of the great places to learn
about the latest developments in craft and design in Ireland and
abroad. Each year the gallery has about 6 exhibitions and is busy with
workshops, talks, gallery tours and events.
So what is ‘Craft’?
Craft is about creating interesting unique objects for everyday use or
display using glass, metal, clay, wood, textiles or a combination of
materials. Craft can also be about how we make these objects, either
traditionally by hand or using new technologies and materials.
A craftsperson can work as a furniture maker, basketmaker,
woodturner, ceramicist, potter, weaver, leatherworker, candlemaker,
fashion designer, textile artist, blacksmith or jeweller.
Craft is creating objects of great beauty and design, with great skill,
using great imagination, and having great fun.
Craft Activity: Home Sweet Home
Look around your home and see how many objects you can find which
are made by hand. Make a list and note what materials are they made
from. Do you know who made them? Were they made in Ireland or
abroad?
Jerwood Contemporary Makers
Jerwood Contemporary Makers was an exhibition at the National Craft
Gallery in early 2011. It displays work created by 29 up and coming
English craftspeople. There are lots of really interesting pieces to see,
in every kind of craft material; giant charm bracelets, laundry buckets,
a wasp’s nest (or is it a basket?) are just some of the works that you
can see in the show that present craft in a fresh and unexpected way.
Each piece has its own individual story and tells us something about
the craftperson whose ideas brought it to life. The exhibition shows us
a variety of work from the most playful, thoughtful and skilled artists
at the beginning of their career.
Craft Activity: Fabric and Fibre
Taking inspiration from Nicola Malkin’s oversized charm necklace, you
are going to create your own giant bauble neckpiece.
Look at the colours and textures of the charm necklace and the
ceramics that you can see on the previous pages and select wool and
paper in nice vibrant clashing colours.
Here are some of the materials you will need:
Balloons
Strong PVA glue
Wool or string, make sure to use bright clashing colours
Coloured paper
Ribbon
Old plate or saucer for PVA
Scissors
Blow up your balloon to the size of a tennis ball and tie. Squeeze a big
dollop of PVA glue on to an old saucer. Get lengths of brightly coloured
wool or string and pass them through the PVA glue then wrap around
the balloon making sure to crisscross over your lines of wool. Keep
wrapping around until one third of your balloon is covered. Let the
balloon dry in a warm place over night. When the wool is hard and dry
you can pop your balloon with a pin, this is really fun as the balloon
shrivels up and you are just left with a wool string ball! You can then
weave in through the holes left on the ball with strips of paper, fabric,
cable ties, ribbon and sequins.
Make a few of the balls in different sizes and string together with
brightly coloured cord for your very own gigantic necklace. You could
make giant letters and charms like Nicola did but in paper and then
string them onto your neckpiece.
In class why not experiment by weaving or knotting felt, cable ties,
strips of plastic bottles or fishing tackle onto the balls and making
them into a mobile to decorate your classroom.