I was born in Dublin into a family with a tradition of
weaving, music and the arts. I was weaving croiseanna
(traditional belts), by the age of ten, and got my first
floor loom when I was twelve years old. I was the sixth
generation of my family to be a weaver. I learned the
basics from my father, and went on to study with Evelyn
Lindsey and Lillias Mitchell who were establishing the
first fibre department in the National College of Art, then
in Kildare Street, Dublin, where I attended night classes.
I moved to West Cork in 1966 where there was a dynamic
group of fibre artists from Australia, Belgium and Germany.
Was a founding director of the Cork Craftsman Guild and was
involved in organising the Experimental Fibre Workshop when
the European Artistic Crafts Conference was held in
Ireland.
Used fibre in a three dimensional form, attempting to
capture the movement, colour and shadows of windswept trees
of West Cork and the rugged prehistoric decorated standing
stones. Had several exhibitions in Ireland, France, and
USA, and worked in New York in 1984 on a large commission
(8m x 4m x 0.3m). Experimented with painting and printing
on 'paper I made from wool and vegetable fibres.
Took a break to work full time on environmental issues from
1985 until mid 1990s, after which i focused on painting and
drawing. I now have a brilliant studio in Skibbereen in the
Working Artist Studios, a great gang to work with!
My work is driven by the passion generated by contrasts.
The contrast of water and rock, like the perpetual clash of
ocean waves when they meet the land-mass of West Cork,
grinding the ancient cliffs to sand and forcing it back
into the sandstone again many hundreds of thousands of
years later. The contrast of beauty and destruction, like
the feeling of rapture for the exquisite natural
environment, contrasting with the anger felt about the
negative impact of some human activities on the land, sea
and air.
Am currently exploring ways of expressing the clash between
the marine ecology/enviornment and government agencies
dividing up the oceans into "Economic Zones". I am
fascinated by the 'official' struggle with "straddling
stocks: - those fish that move from one Zone to another
without a passport!
