Let me introduce myself, my name is Claire and I've been involved in design based work since I graduated from Art College nearly 3 decades ago. Over many years spent working in various commercial fields of graphic design producing design 'to order' if you like, I began to feel that something was missing. Turns out it was me.

My small homebased studio is the result of a need to create things that I enjoy, for myself. I work in a few different materials, sometimes clay, sometimes yarn and sometimes pen and ink. Dont be surprised to see other media pop up from time to time. I am somewhat of a creative magpie and I enjoy taking a new direction now and again.

My Illustrations
I love to illustrate architectural features and can get quite caught up in brickwork in particular. I particularly period properties and so you will mostly find Georgian facades in my illustrative work. I take my own research photos and the buildings that you see illustrated are normally from somewhere in Ireland. I work in pen and ink and add colour with watercolour. Sometimes I have original art for sale and sometimes I have limited edition prints.

My Crochet
I love the portability of crochet and a bag of yarn can usually be found not far away. Its a great thing to work on in the car while waiting on people. I like to make up my own patterns so you may find either finished items for sale, or crochet patterns here. I work mostly in cotton, wool or linen yarns, simply because I prefer their handling and it doesnt hurt that they are kinder to the environment also.

My Ceramic Ornaments
Each ornament begins as a lump of raw clay. I knead the clay, like bread, to get rid of air bubbles and to soften it. Then I take a large rolling pin and roll out the clay into a slab. I cut shapes from the clay to suit the designs I have in mind. Some designs I will have already carved, by hand, from dried clay a few days earlier, to make my own unique clay stamps. Some designs are created using polymer stamps that I have also designed and have had made. Some designs are carved directly into the ornament. Once I have finished designing the ornament, I create a little hole for the string and allow it to dry for a while.

Next, I soften any hard edges using my fingers or a damp sponge. I let the ornaments dry a little more. Once they are completely dry, I fire them for the first time in my kiln. This is called ‘bisque’ firing. Once the ornaments are bisqued, I check again for rough edges and I sand anything that needs sanded. I wash the ornaments with a damp sponge to remove dust so that the glaze can be applied. I apply underglazes and glazes, one ornament at a time, by hand, using a brush.

I fire the ornaments in the kiln a second time, this time to a higher temperature.
Then I drink tea. Lots of tea. Buns are essential also at this point. After 26 hours, checking the kiln every half hour, the kiln is ready to be opened and it feels like Christmas morning. From start to finish it takes about two weeks for my
ornaments to go through this cycle and I estimate that each ornament gets several hours of my undivided attention. I do hope you enjoy them.