Congratulations to past students Susan Mannion (Certificate in Creative Textiles, 2010), Alison Hunter (Diploma in Creative Textiles, 2012) and B.Ed. 4 student, Susanna Donohoe for reaching the final of the RDS Craft Awards 2016.
Susan Mannion’s current work features enamelled copper vessels and panels, wood engravings, linocuts and woodcuts.
Alison’s textile craftwork draws inspiration from buildings and natural landscape. Her signature pieces combine old cracked plates with felted wool. For her RDS entry, she used broken pieces of plates and combined them with soft wool fibres. The plate shard used in her “Completing the Circle” collection was found in two pieces on a beach near Carney, North Sligo. It is of Scottish origin and approximately 100 years old.  Alison wet felted the background of the missing part of the plate by hand and the pattern on the cracked plate was applied to the felt using a hand needle felting technique. According to Alison, “the red threads in ‘Completing the Circle’ represent the many stories of the plate, its journey through our lives, the passing of time, hope, joy, love, life and death.”
Susanna Donohue designed a quilt suitable for her elderly grandmother suffering from dementia. The finished piece incorporates a range of family photos which were printed onto cotton fabric and combined with a variety of printed cottons using patchwork techniques. The quilt resembles a life-story or memory book. Life story books are often used by families, friends and care workers involved in the care of people with dementia. The life story book and quilt in this case recognises the experiences, achievements and history of a person’s life in a visual format. Susanna received the ‘Irish Patchwork Society Award’ for excellence and innovation in a patchwork entry at the RDS Craft Awards. As part of her B.Ed. in Home Economics Textiles and Design module she was asked to design and construct an innovative interior textile product utilising a craftwork technique of her choice.
The annual RDS Craft Awards showcase and reward excellence in Irish craft. The RDS Craft Awards is an open platform for Irish craftspeople to have their work assessed by an independent judging panel of Irish and international craft experts. The Craft Awards exhibition is on display at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, Co Mayo until November 13.
For more information, contact Alison by email or social media: alisonhunter00@hotmail.com facebook.com/alisonhuntertextileartist; Instagram: @alisonhuntertextileartistand and Susan Mannion at www.yewtreestudio.ie