An exhibition of wearable art, exploring different responses to the idea of place and location, curated by Erika Marks.

Leitrim Design House is delighted to invite you and a friend to the opening of COLLECTIONS. A stunning exhibition of Fine Art Prints by local photographer Jo Gray. We warmly invite you to join us for a glass of wine to celebrate the opening of Collections. Brian Leyden will launch the exhibition. Stay for a glass of wine and some late night shopping and round the evening with ELEVENS- a not to miss three piece acoustic band from Dublin. A feast for the eyes and the ears! The Dock is the place to be Friday 4th November. Collections is a series of hand-printed, black and white photographs, using traditional methods of printing, all finished to exhibition standard with quality paper, antique white mountboard and natural wood frames stained with ebony or limed, and all finished with beeswax by Jo in his studio. This collection features some of the most beautiful images of our varied and rugged landscape and evokes the spirit and magic of the area. Jo uncovers the hidden beauty of the landscape, its people, music, culture and those evocative fleeting moments in life. The exhibition runs until the 23rd of November 2011. http://intoleitrim.com/ldh/artists/profile/jo-gray

Check out Peter Fulop’s new teaware collection at Darjeeling Internet Tea Garden.

Peter who is originally from Hungary has studied with several masters both in China and Japan and is a very talented member of Leitrim Design House. We wish him well with his new collection of “tea artifacts”. Peter has also recently been included in “Best of Worldwide Sculpture”

http://www.darjeeling.cz/en/accessories/artisan-tea-pottery-peter-fulop

Best of Worldwide Sculpture, book by Kennedy Publishing. Peter Fulop, page 38

Come along between 2 & 4 and meet Helen Maguire from the Secret Garden. In the Secret Garden you will find all sorts of natural wonders and delights to soothe the mind, lift the heart and inspire the soul. 3 Dimensional flower cards, flower pendants,enchanted forests, and a fairy or two!

The Secret Garden will open it’s gates on Saturday,13th March, in the Leitrim Design House with a special 3 Dimensional Mother’s Day Greeting card Collection. 

Eunan Sweeney, a native of Ballinamore County Leitrim is a self taught photographer who has been involved in photography for over 25 years. Well known for his Landscape Photography Eunan also works as a commercial photographer covering events and also undertaking portrait and commission work. His landscape portfolio is constantly expanding and includes a variety of work collected while travelling abroad and throughout Ireland. Many of his well known landscape photographs have been taken in the North West Region where the unspoilt countryside offers endless photographic opportunities.

Eunan’s photography has been published and collected worldwide and his website is regularly updated with new work. His photographs canbe purchased framed or unframed and are available in a range of sizes. Eunan develops, prints and frames all his images from his studio in County Leitrim ensuring full control over the quality of his finished photographs. Eunan joins us on the 28th of November along with Wendy Knight from Wendy Louise Designs. Wendy, a milliner will bring a collection of hats for you to try on. Eunan will record the fun!

Meet the Maker is a weekly craft event supporting local artists and craftworkers hosted by the Leitrim Design House inviting you to meet with individual artists, designers and craftspeople to view and talk about their work.For enquiries please phone the Leitrim Design House at 071 9650550 or email info@leitrimdesignhouse.ie.

Eunan and Wendy can be contacted directly through their websites.

www.eunansweeneyphotography.com

www.wendylouisedesigns.ie

Leitrim Design House launches collection of prints and watercolours of scenes from the North West.

On Sat 21 Nov the Leitrim Design House at the Dock will be launching a range of prints taken from the extensive collection of pen & ink drawings by local artist Sandra Vernon. Well known over the years for her portrayal of the buildings and streetscapes of the area, Sandra has taken the title of her collection, An Artists Eye from the pages of drawings she has been doing for the Leitrim Guardian over the years. This year she has used the medium of watercolour with her drawings and pleased with the reaction to them, decided to combine the paintings with a series of limited edition prints for this collection. The images mainly concentrate on Leitrim, but include some of Roscommon and Sligo as well. There will be approx 25 different scenes to start with, but with such an extensive collection to choose from it would be impossible to include everything, so if its not there please do ask; either the staff at the Design House or the artist herself. The prints will be mounted and in clear envelopes, but if one requires them in a frame that can be quickly organised. Sandra works mainly to commission, portraits, both human and animal as well as buildings and scenes. She will be available to meet you and discuss her work between 2 -4pm on Sat 21^st November in the Leitrim Design House at the Dock in Carrick on Shannon.

Meet the Maker is a weekly craft event supporting local artists and craftworkers hosted by the Leitrim Design House and they  invite you to meet with individual artists, designers and craftspeople to view and talk about their work.

For enquiries please phone the Design House at 071 9650550 or Sandra at 071 9625276, sandravernon@eircom.net

Soraya Ricalde, a Spanish Jewellery Designer living and working in North Leitrim is the winner of the Leitrim Enterprise Board Awards Winner 2009 “New to the Market”.

Soraya works with precious metal, silver and 9ct/18ct yellow and white gold, adding precious and semiprecious stones. She also works with new and different materials such as sea-shells, wood, fabrics, etc creating contemporary functional jewellery pieces and is always experimenting.

Soraya’s work is inspired by the simplicity and beauty of nature.The pieces she creates reflect the natural environment all around her. Soraya collects samples of organic shapes; sea-shells, seaweed, rocks, wood and many other natural formations from the landscape and uses these materials to inspire her designs. Growing up in the North of Spain by the sea, surrounded by lakes and mountains and now living in North Leitrim an area full of lakes and mountains influences and infuses all of Soraya’s work.

Niall Miller’s craft is rooted in the hedgerows of Ireland. A craft that takes nothing but inspiration from the landscape of Leitrim. A craft that brings the functional into the realms of art. Niall Miller will be showing some of his new products including a pair of gorse chairs in the finishing stages. He will demonstrate how to make rope from New Zealand Flax (Phormium)-a common garden plant. The flax rope will be used in the seat of the gorse chairs. He will also demonstrate how to make bindings from briars.

Maria Noonan Mc Dermott will be in residence at the Leitrim Design House on Saturday 10th October. Her work is highly original; her creative and imaginative pieces ensuring her a reputation for innovative artwork that is highly collectable and truly unique. Maria’s work is distinctly recognisable as she paints with knife confidently applying layer upon layer, the texture playing a key role in the overall structure of her pieces. Working from her studio in Kinlough, Co Leitrim, Maria says that sometimes she gets so lost in her painting that she becomes something of a hermit; so this is a great opportunity to meet the artist, see her at work and have a chat.

Maria has had a busy year so far; a solo exhibition in County Clare, a number of commission pieces and numerous group exhibitions.  She also has found time to set up a new art group called ‘The North West Artists Group,’and their first major exhibition is in Markree Castle, Collooney, Co. Sligo on Saturday 24th October. The group is a diverse blend of art and artists from Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo and Donegal.

Handbag and accessory company Hope & Benson have long been known for their retro style tweed, floral embellished handbags. Designed and produced by Manorhamilton based designer Angela Hope together with her business partner Daniela Benson, the collection is stocked by over 170 shops throughout Ireland, the UK, Europe, the US and Japan.