Liam Carey - Merlin Glass

 

Liam Carey at Work

 

Q So who is Liam Carey?

A quiet, introvert, eccentric artisan. Non competitive, always liked taking things to pieces to see how it works. Dreamy, passionate and loving!

 

Q Where in the world are you?

Located at my glassworks in Liskeard, Cornwall, England

 

Glass Blowing in the Studio

 

Q When did you decide to become a maker?

At the age of 16, I went to Liskeard Glass and within a week fell in love with the craft and art of glass making. At the age of 21, I took the opportunity to take over the glassworks and renamed it Merlin Glass.

 

Love Handles 

 

Q What made you choose the materials that you work with?

Glass is a fascinating material and difficult to learn, which I was attracted to.

 

Q What other materials would you like to work in?

I work with other materials namely Metal and Wood; I would like to do more with other metals including Silver.

 

The Furnace known as The Glory Hole – temperatures can reach up to 1100°C

 

Q Where do you get your inspiration from?

My designs are made from inspiration, form and nature. Living in Cornwall it is surrounded by rugged coastline which has stimulated my thought provoking process.

 

Scent Bottles with Stoppers

 

Q What motivates you?

I like design evolution and the evolution of the making process, assessing it, looking at it and improving it, seeing what evolves and what is not obviously there before you get there.

 

Chequerboard Door Knobs – Frosted and Clear Glass

 

Q Do you create your work in a studio base or a home base?

My glassworks is located behind my house, so a big building in the yard!

 

The Glassworks

 

Q Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?

The internet has the opportunity to reach out and connect with people in a way which has never been seen before. This could provide more opportunities to engage the crafts directly with customers.

 

Pears

 

Q How do you sell and promote your work?

When I started off the glassworks was open to the public where visitors would come and watch me make and have the opportunity to buy from my shop. When I started making the glass door knobs I closed the public access to the glassworks.

Now I sell my work through our shop, internet www.merlinglass.co.uk, architectural ironmongers, exhibitions and marketing. I have advertised through many different sources and more recently we have become involved in social media and often get asked for editorials. Word of mouth and reputation also has lead to a lot of sales and interest in my work including commissions.

 

Individually handmade Edwardian style solid glass cupboard knobs.

 

Q What is your typical working day look like?

If the furnace is on my whole lifestyle revolves around the furnace. I like to make at night, I find it quiet, trancelike and enjoy the flow.

 

Apple Green

 

Q What is your working style?

I like to listen to music and then my work time kind of flows. I plan what I am going make and work through, after making so many I have a break and then get back to it.

 

Millefiore – Decorated with Glass Beads From Murano in Italy

 

Q 3 words of advice for an aspiring Craft artist/maker...

Believe in yourself, open your eyes and mind to imagine what is not there, don’t be afraid to experiment.

 

Glass Donut Pendants for Jewellery Making

 

Q Who is/are your favourite artist(s)/maker(s)?

Picasso and Mary Martin a local landscape artist.

 

Daisy Door Knobs

 

Q What music do you listen to?

Boards of Canada, Tinariwen, loved listening to John Peel - RIP, Gotan Project, Air, The Fall, Mazzy Star, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, King Tubby, Augustus Pablo, lots and lots more.....

 

Decorative Glass Flowers

 

Q  likes and dislikes?

Likes - Cycling, the weather, mountains, hand painted old cars.

Dislikes – dog poo in the street, aggressive driving, cheap sausages! Horrid plastic windows in beautiful houses.

 

Flower Vase – Combining Opaque and Transparent Glass

 

Q What do you do to relax?

A going to the beach, spending time with Darcie rose, swimming, cycling, walking,

 

Wave –Blown Glass Vase – 10cm high

Caroline Schofield

Posthumous Memory – selected for CCOI & GANS exhibition Tread Softly

 

So who is Caroline Schofield ?

I am a Textile Artist working in Endangered Studios and a member of Filament, a group of Irish Textile Artists who exhibit individually and as a group. This year we are working towards an exhibition in Airfield, a farm in the heart of Dublin. We have been given funding for this project from the Crafts Council of Ireland and DunLaoighaire/Rathdown Arts office.

 

Layers 800 – Detail, Overlooking Kilkenny Castle

 

Where in the world are you?

I live in Kilkenny, Ireland. Kilkenny is a centre for Arts & Crafts with many Artists and Crafts people working in the area. It also has the Crafts Council of Ireland Headquarters and Gallery, Butler Gallery and an amazing Arts Office with one of the best Arts Officers in Ireland (in my opinion!).

 

When did you decide to become a maker?

About age 4!

 

Layers 800 – Commission Kilkenny Courthouse, String and Fleece

 

What made you choose the materials that you work with?

I mainly work in Textiles. I love the feel of them and being able to manipulate the fibres. My great grandfather came to Ireland as a master dyer, my grandfather and dad worked and my brother works in the Textile Trade. It’s in my blood.

 

What other materials would you like to work in?

I’d like to learn how to weld to combine other materials.

 

Woodstock – Detail of Public Art Hangings made with the Public

 

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I think ideas come from my own experiences in life but they are backed up with reading and research.

 

What motivates you?

Chasing down an idea! I love working with an idea and exploring it.

 

Installation – Unravelled Drawing

 

Do you create your work in a studio base or a home base?

I work in Endangered Studios in Callan. http://endangeredstudios.com These artist studios are based in buildings that are to be re-built/constructed. When I started there, there were no windows or heat but I needed to work outside of home to take myself seriously. The building was to become a health centre but when funding fell through (due to the Irish economy) our studios became a bit more permanent. We now have windows and heat! It’s still very basic but it suits me as I have a large bright space and there is only ideas and work there.

 

Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?

I would like to see craft and art on the same page. This language is still problematic in Ireland. I also hope it means that sculptural textiles is given as much recognition as sculpture in traditional hard forms.

 

Side by Side – selected for CCOI Exhibition at the Hunt Museum

 

Q How do you sell and promote your work?

My work is one off and installation based so exhibiting, and submitting work to curated exhibitions, and looking for opportunities with my Arts Office and Crafts/Arts Council.

Last year I was shortlisted for a large commission piece, Layers 800 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2GmGy0mXTE  That came from doing a public art training project with Chrysalis and Kilkenny Arts Office.

My website : www.carolineschofield.ie

Ebb & Flow – Selected for Sculpture in Context - Fleece and Cotton

 

What is your typical working day look like?

Hectic, with three children I work around them but that means I am always working.

 

What is your working style?

It can be chaotic when I am chasing an idea but once a piece has to be made it head down until the piece is finished.

 

Mourning Pots – Hunt Museum

 

3 words of advice for an aspiring Craft artist/maker...

1. Believe in yourself,
2. Know your craft inside out,
3. Get a good camera.

 

Reflected Growth – selected for Sculpture in Context - Cotton, Rust and Manipulated Fabric

 

Who is/are your favourite artist(s)/maker(s)?

Alice Maher

 

What music do you listen to?

Everything....but I love Opera and Choral Music.

 

Woodstock – Training for Real, Public Art

 

3 likes and dislikes?

Likes:

• Exhibitions
• Lecturers who open my mind!
• Curators (good)

Dislikes:

• Politics, specifically Irish Government Parties
• Lecturers that I need a dictionary to understand!
• Curators (who believe they are more important than the work showing)

What do you do to relax?

Eat meals with my family and friends, read, play badminton.

 

Swimmer – Oil Paint and Pieced

Kate Malone

A Starburst Tall Lady Gourd, 2010
Crystalline-glazed stoneware, Height 56cm (22") Diameter 34cm (13 3/8")

When did you first discover a passion for working in clay?
At school at the age of 12 or 13. The big comprehensive government school had a ceramics department, thank heavens.

 

A Pair of Fun Atomic Candlesticks, 2010
Crystalline-glazed stoneware, Height 29cm (11 3/8")  Diameter 21cm (8 1/4")

Q What other materials have you or would you like to work in?
I have had a few pieces converted to Bronze, and I have blown and cast glass and would like to paint more seriously.
 

Bronze Drinking Fountain, Castle Park, Bristol.

 
Q Your work is well known for being large scale – what is the biggest piece you have ever made?
In one piece it was 1m20cm all and 1m wide and 1m deep.. but the largest public piece in many sections was 16m x 5m tall. I am just about to start a project 56 m long and average 3m tall.

THE WALL OF A THOUSAND STORIES

Ceramic installation for the Children's Library at the Royal Jubilee Library, Brighton. Made over a period of a year and a half 2003-2004 and comprises 91 wall pieces that are hung on the back wall of the children's library space. The wall is 16 meters by 8 meters.

 

 

Q Each of your pieces seems to have a personality – does this develop in the design stage or during the making process?
It develops on both, I have an idea, and make sure one piece follows the original, but then having started others at the same time, I let them develop in the process.

 

Secret Garden, 2010
Crystalline-glazed stoneware, Height 67cm (26 3/8") Diameter 56cm (22")

Q You have become very famous in the world of Ceramics – what are the keys things that brought you this success?
Luck, hard work, determination, perseverance, tunnel vision, addiction to clay, a fabulous partner who is there in support in so many ways, a fabulous art dealer with generosity and vision and style, being aware good photography is paramount to show people what you can do, talking and connecting where ever possible and working and aiming to share the progress of the field of ceramics with as generous a spirit as is possible, this attitude, tends to have the same response… not that I do it for that reason.

 

Monumental Forest Fern, 2010
Crystalline-glazed stoneware, Height 80cm (31 1/2") 65cm (25 5/8") Depth 60cm (23 5/8")

Q Organic forms feature heavily in your work, what else inspires your work?
People, places, travel, history, friends, TV, magazines, life.
 
 
Q Who is/are your favourite artist(s)/maker(s)?
Andrew Logan, Zandra Rhodes, Axel Salto...

Monumental Fennel, 2010
Crystalline-glazed stoneware, Height 85cm (33 1/2") Width 60cm (23 5/8") Depth 57cm (22 1/2")

Q You have just finished a solo show at Robilant & Voena  Gallery, London, what is next?
See my web site for the details about the Robilant Voena show… now the run of international shows with my international art dealer, Adrian Sassoon, (see his web site for the dates and details), but as well as some 5 joint shows for him next year I have a huge public commission and two large pot commissions for clients in the USA… I also have plans to try to work with industry and to paint more and to make a DVD teaching film for sale from my web site…

2010 Solo Show at Robilant & Voena Gallery London

 

Q You are very generous in sharing techniques, glaze recipes and your working processes – what is the thinking behind this philosophy?
To further the field, openness encourages a drive to forward and progress, I want people to be a success and this makes the whole world of ceramics a more exciting place to work and learn….

 
Q Crafts in the 21^st Century – what does this mean to you?
Anything goes now, same as art, it all comes in circles, but ever faster turning and reinventing… but the paramount thing for me is that the standard of excellence advances, with new technology and adapting to change….
 

A Tutti Frutti Baby Bad, 2008
Pebble-glazed earthenware. Height 12 cm. (4 3/4")  Diameter 14 cm. (5 1/2")

Q What is your greatest achievement to date?
Being a mother and in a partnership with my daughters dad for 27 years…. And being very happy… but that’s not my achievement, it is their patience…

 

Sliced Heart Pillows, 2002
Pebble-glazed earthenware and Crystalline-glazed stoneware, clay press moulded. Studio edition, repeated in different glazes. Diameter 11 3/8" (29cm)

Q What is your typical working day look like?
Live and work in the same building, Awake at 7, Up around 8, daughter to school, then clear house a little and start work around 10, chase my tail and try to wake up… breakfast at 10 … good lunch with assistants at around 2pm, get into gear,,,, daughter home form school fusion of homework and cooking and continuing to work, family to bed around 10 I often work on into the night.. now it is 2am, working on tax accounts, the worst part of the year,,, as im late to bed, ill probably sleep to 8 am – just able to wake to say bye to my daughter to go to school, ,,,then the process starts again…

 

Medium Sliced Triple Pea Pod, 2000
Pebble-glazed earthenware, clay press moulded.

 
 
Q What is your working style?
Chaotic and cyclical…. Periods of making, then glazing, then clearing up!
 

Q How do you sell and promote your work?
Exclusively in collaboration with Sassoon and his office of staff…also recently did some u tube weekly diaries, they were great fun to do and i hope to do more... have a look at the YouTube kate malone ceramics, and find the 8 video diaries, and one by the Robilant & Voena Gallery... 

An Acorn Box, 2010
Crystalline-glazed stoneware, limited edition 11 of 30, Height 23cm (9") Diameter 16cm (6 1/4")

Q What 3 words of advice would you give to aspiring makers?
self-motivate, listen to mistakes, persist..…

 
Q What music are you listening to at the moment?
Jacques Brel and Anthony and the Johnsons. 

 
Q What do you do to relax?
Make pots, cook, cycle, travel, party, tai chi and tv… swim when I can, do the ironing!

 



Editors Note: Kate Malone’s Work is also housed in these following Public Collections:

The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
British Council Teapot Collection
British Council Touring Collections
Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds
Crafts Council, London
Arts Council, London
The British Council, Manchester and Bahamas collections
Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester
The Cleveland Arts Trust
Paisley Museum & Art Gallery, Paisley
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol
Gallery Oldham, Oldham, Greater Manchester
Stoke-On-Trent Museum, Stoke-On-Trent
Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich
York City Art Gallery, York
Geffrye Museum, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
McManus Galleries & Museum, Dundee
Contemporary Art Society, London
Harley Foundation Collection, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire
Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Musée National de Céramique, Sèvres, France
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California, USA
Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho, USA
J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Montreal, Canada