The search for Ireland’s newest craft talent to hit TV screens: Craft Master
The search for Ireland’s newest craft talent to hit TV screens
RTÉ One’s widely anticipated new series Craft Master to air each Tuesday at 7pm
People from a cross section of backgrounds including an organic farmer, a teacher, a financial services worker and a waitress will battle it out for the title of Craft Master 2011 in a new six-part TV series which hits our screens on Tuesday 6th September.
Craft Master, produced by Big Mountain Productions in collaboration with the Crafts Council of Ireland, promises to capture the imagination of the nation as it brings 15 people from varying backgrounds and experience on a creative journey in ceramics, glass blowing, wood turning, textile weaving and metalwork.
The first episode of Craft Master will air at 7 p.m. on RTÉ One Television on Tuesday 6th September. There will be one winner from each week, with the grand final on Tuesday 11th October.
Commenting on the launch of the new TV series, Brian McGee, Head of Market Development at the Crafts Council of Ireland said, “Craft Master has been a fantastic way to bring together true masters of their craft with enthusiastic novices to explore what is possible when creativity, education and passion mix together. The current economic environment is also a factor. Necessity really can be the mother of invention when the downturn leads people to relook at their lives and they decide to take a more exciting and creative path.”
McGee is one of the judges who will decide on the winner of Craft Master 2011. The panel of weekly judges also includes Derek McGarry, Assistant to the Head of Faculty of Design at the National College of Art and Design. The two resident judges will be joined for the final episode by two of Ireland’s top designers, Louise Kennedy and Paul Costelloe.
“Craft, in many cases, is an art form, and should be respected and there are a lot of wonderful things going on in Ireland”, commented Paul Costelloe. “I believe that the small businesses in Ireland should be encouraged to grow and develop. Irish craft can be designed for more sophisticated European customers, not only for those traditional, stage-Irish shops which you find throughout the States."
Each week a professional craftsperson will mentor three apprentices in a master class on their craft. The apprentices will produce a piece and the winner of that heat will secure a place in the final.
The winner of the series will be named Craft Master 2011 and will be given a stand at the Creative Island at Showcase in January 2012. “Showcase is Ireland’s Creative Expo, the largest international fair in the country with 5,000 buyers attending from 17 countries”, explains Brian McGee. “Getting a seat at this table really is a big deal for a new business starting up in the craft and gift sector.”
With such a fantastic prize up for grabs, each apprentice will have to pull out all the stops to produce a unique piece of craft to secure a place in the final!
The first episode of Craft Master will focus on glassblowing with mentor Róisín de Buitléar. This episode was filmed in Waterford with the apprentices placed in the challenging and hot environment of a fully functioning Hot Shop in Waterford City – The Irish Glass Company.
Each apprentice will set about realising their design concepts in hot molten glass which is heated to over 1000 degrees. The three battling it out in the first week include a mature student and IKEA employee whose dream is to pursue a career in craft, a student at the National College of Art and Design and a painter who works in the financial services sector.
Over the weeks apprentices trying their hands at various crafts include a house husband, an unemployed woman, a waitress, a busy mother, a school teacher and an organic farmer who flies the flag for the over 60s!
Craft Master was commissioned by the RTÉ Lifestyle programming department and received funding through the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). This was in response to a proposal submitted to BAI by Big Mountain Productions in consultation with the Crafts Council of Ireland and with the support of RTÉ. The commissioning of Craft Master coincides with Year of Craft 2011 celebrating craft throughout the island of Ireland.
Details on the first episode and the participating apprentices and master craftsperson are below.
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For more information contact:
Miriam Donohoe, MD Media
087 2393914 or miriam@mdmedia.ie
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Episode 1: Glass Blowing – Tuesday 6th September
Location: Waterford – in a hot shop set up by former Waterford Crystal Employees
Mentor: Róisín de Buitléar
Overview:
One of Ireland’s top artists working in the medium of glass, Róisín de Buitléar gave a master class over seven days to three apprentices. The apprentices were all placed into the challenging and hot environment of a fully functioning Hot Shop in Waterford City – The Irish Glass Company. Each set about realising their design concepts in hot molten glass which is heated to over 1000 degrees. There were several ups and downs as the concepts took many shapes other than their intended form.
Róisín de Buitléar at work, image by Colm Hogan
The apprentices:
Róisín de Buitléar with apprentices, image by Colm Hogan
Name: Aoife May Soden
Profession: Mature Student/IKEA Employee
From: Dublin
Profile: Aoife is a mature student working in IKEA part-time to self-fund her dream of studying glass. She spent most of her childhood in Australia.
Name: Anne Marie Hayes
Profession: Financial Services
From: Dublin
Profile: Originally from Waterford, Anne Marie is a trained painter living in Dublin. During holidays or time-off she enrolls on courses hoping to further her creative side. Italy has been her focus of late and in Siena she has been studying the stained glass process.
Name: Sinead Brennan
Profession: Student
From: Wexford
Profile: Studying in the National College of Art and Design, Sinead from Wexford openly admits to being addicted to her craft and would some day hope to become Ireland’s top glass artist.
Catch episode 1 on RTÉ Player if you missed it http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1111102
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Episode 2: Ceramics – Tuesday 13th September
Location: North County Dublin.
Mentor: Colm de Rís
Overview:
Colm de Rís who has been featured on the US shopping Channel QVC on several occasions gives a master class in ceramics from his thriving pottery studio in North County Dublin. The three apprentices have to first identify a market and then decide on a product that would best suit their market. Colm gives the group guidance as they battle to control not only the potter’s wheel but also the setbacks from lost pieces in the kiln.
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Colm de Rís with apprentices, image by Colm Hogan
The Apprentices:
Name: Caoimhe Woods
Profession: Waitress/Student
From: Monaghan
Profile: Caoimhe has just completed her final year in the National College of Art and Design. She mostly hand builds in clay so working with a potter’s wheel throws some challenges her way.
Name: Ian Carty
Profession: Unemployed
From: Sligo Town
Profile: Ian is currently unemployed and pottery making has been his savior over the past few years. This is Ian’s big chance to break through in the world of ceramics and his ultimate aim is to start up his own business.
Name: Deirdre Beatty
Profession: School Teacher
From: Dublin
Profile: Deirdre is a busy mum of three who is currently on a break from her primary school teaching job to explore her more creative side in the world of craft.
Catch episode 2 on RTÉ Player if you missed it http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1112153
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Episode 3: Textiles – Tuesday, 20th September
Location: Clare Island off the coast of County Mayo
Mentor: Beth Moran
Beth Moran with apprentices, image by Colm Hogan
Overview:
Beth Moran, who located to the picturesque Clare Island off the coast of County Mayo from the United States over thirty years ago, gave a master class in floor loom weaving. “Patience is a virtue, have it if you can” was the motto to this seven day master class as the apprentices battled to set up the big floor looms thread by thread as time was ticking by.
The end pieces were realised after many set backs for all three apprentices and the locals were very interested in the weaving process.
The Apprentices:
Name: Oliver Doherty
Profession: Textiles Student
From: Donegal
Profile: Oliver hopes to be one of Ireland’s top fashion designers. The young and exceptionally talented Donegal student was placed in the top 5 young designers for an outfit for Florence and the Machine lead singer Florence Welch in a competition run with a US magazine in 2010.
Name: Mary McGuinness
Profession: Mature Student
From: Kilkenny
Profile: Mary has gone back to basics, enrolling as a mature student at Grennan Mill Craft School where she is studying to become a textile artist. When not creating bespoke couture fashion on the side, this mum of three is busy with her passion for sea diving.
Name: Caitríona Ní Threasaigh
Profession: Wardrobe Artist
From: Dublin
Profile: Free spirited Caitríona comes to the show armed with a whole wealth of life experiences. She has spent lots of time living and working abroad in Indonesia and in 2008 this humanitarian drove from Ireland to Mongolia in a van for charity.
Catch episode 3 on RTÉ Player if you missed it http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1113308
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Episode 4: Wood Turning – Tuesday 27th September
Location: Borris, County Carlow
Mentor: Glenn Lucas
Overview:
Glenn Lucas, reputably one of the fastest bowl turners in the world, gives a master class in wood over seven-days from his County Carlow studio. The apprentices have to come up with their own design and go to a local tree surgeon’s yard to select the wood for their end piece from naturally fallen timber.
The Apprentices:
Wood Turning apprentices, image by Colm Hogan
Name: Chris Lawlor
Profession: Cabinet Maker
From: Dublin
Profile: Chris is a quietly confident 25 year old from Lucan who fell in love with wood eight years ago when his training as an apprentice cabinetmaker began. He has given demonstrations in wood turning to a number of wood turning guilds around the country and is often met with confusion over whether or not he is taking the class or giving the class.
Name: Richard Auler
Profession: Organic Farmer
From: Germany/Tipperary
Profile: An organic farmer originally from Germany, Richard is keen to fly the flag not only for the over 60s but also for the use of timber as a renewable raw material.
Name: Irene Christie
Profession: Works in the Irish Legal System
From: Antrim/Kildare
Profile: One of only a handful of female wood turners, Irene describes herself as a Minnie Minx and is at times her own worst critic which drives her closer to perfection every time she turns wood.
Catch episode 4 on RTÉ Player if you missed it http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1114330
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Episode 5: Blacksmithing – Tuesday 4th October
Location: Riverstown, County Sligo
Mentor: Michael Budd
Overview:
The focus this episode is on a heritage craft, using traditional metal work to forge
designs in metal. The physically demanding environment combined with the
complexities of fusing two pieces of metal together proved very taxing over
the seven-day master class run by blacksmith Michael Budd.
Michael Budd (centre) and Sonya Lennon with apprentices, image by Colm Hogan
The Apprentices:
Name: Ann Cronin
Profession: Education Worker
From: Ennis, Co. Clare
Profile: Ann is certainly not afraid to get her hands dirty or break a nail. This busy mum of a 14 year old at one stage worked in an Iron Age village where she worked and lived with only the materials that were available at that time.
Name: Edward Cook
Profession: House Husband
From: Dublin
Profile: Edward produces silverware in his spare time from his home studio. As a father of two children aged 9 and 4, he believes passing on craft skills is important to future generations and it would be a tragedy for these skills to be lost to mass production.
Name: Suzanne Rogers
Profession: Metalwork Teacher
From: Dublin
Profile: Metalwork teacher Suzanne, when not indulging in her passion for craft, is travelling the world and learning Spanish.
Catch episode 5 on RTÉ Player if you missed it http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1115378
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Episode 6: Final Show – Tuesday 11th October
Craft Master 2011 final and winner announced
The five finalists battle it out for the title of Craft Master.
L-R: Edward Cook (Metal), Aoife May Soden (Glass), Caoimhe Woods (Ceramics), Chris Lawlor (Wood Turning), Sonya Lennon (Presenter), Oliver Doherty (Textiles).
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About Big Mountain Productions:
Big Mountain Productions is a high quality content creation company with a specific focus on factual, and original factual entertainment programmes and formats for national and international broadcast platforms. The company has a proven track record in talent development and management and their portfolio of recent work includes shows such as Who Knows Ireland Best, The Tenements and The Genealogy Roadshow. For further information, please visit www.bigmountainproductions.com.
About the Crafts Council of Ireland:
The Crafts Council of Ireland (CCoI), which is headquartered in Kilkenny, is the main champion of the craft industry in Ireland, fostering its growth and commercial strength, communicating its unique identity and stimulating quality design, innovation and competitiveness. CCoI's activities are funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation via Enterprise Ireland. CCoI currently has over 70 member organisations and over 2,400 registered clients. For further information, please visit www.ccoi.ie.
About the craft sector in Ireland:
Irish craft businesses are characteristically small in scale and are geographically widespread, but taken nationally the industry is a significant employer, while also providing viable, sustainable enterprises in all areas, including those isolated rural communities ignored as unsuitable by other manufacturing sectors. According to research conducted by Indecon International Economic Consultants on behalf of the Crafts Council of Ireland, the craft industry in Ireland is worth almost half a billion Euros to the Irish economy. The sector employs an estimated 5,771 people generating domestic sales of €373.5m and exports worth over €124.5m, with significant potential for growth in the industry.
About Year of Craft 2011:
The Crafts Council of Ireland and Craft Northern Ireland have designated 2011 as Year of Craft. The year also marks the 40th anniversary of the Crafts Council of Ireland and is celebrated through a diverse range of dynamic events and programmes to showcase the very best of craft made on the island of Ireland. For further details on all Year of Craft activities and events, please visit www.craftinireland.com.
About Showcase Ireland:
Showcase Ireland is the country’s premier craft, gift, fashion and interiors trade fair featuring quality design products from Ireland’s leading craft makers and designers. The initiative which takes place at the RDS each Januaryattracts up to 350 exhibitors and 5,500 buyers from over 17 countries around the world and generates sales orders in the region of €20 million over the four days of the show. The winner of Craft Master will have a stand in Creative Island, a space dedicated to beautifully crafted products exclusively Imagined, Designed and Made in Ireland. Showcase Ireland is organised by Showcase Ireland Events Ltd. on behalf of the Crafts Council of Ireland and ispromoted internationally by Enterprise Ireland. For more information, please visit: www.showcaseireland.com.
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