Clare
Full Time Professional
Bladesmith, Knife Maker, Other
I am an artist and bladesmith with a passion for natural materials and the re-use and re-imagination of man-made waste. I specialize in crafting knives as contemporary tools designed for both professional kitchens and home cooking. These knives are not just functional but also a source of creative inspiration.
The development of tools is a defining aspect of Homo sapiens, setting us apart from other primates. Arguably, the knife was one of our first tools. Today, it remains an indispensable part of daily life, connecting people across food traditions, generations and geographical locations through materials, techniques and shared skills. My work encapsulates this culture, these ideas, stories and heritage in a form we can all recognise.
I draw motivation from the stories concealed within materials, giving new life and purpose to found and recycled resources. My work often features high carbon steels nestled among unexpected gems like wrought iron cartwheels, whiskey barrel straps or ships anchor chains. Handles are ergonomically shaped from timbers of long-forgotten orchards, exotic limbs of storm damaged trees from Irish Estate Houses, or relics from millennia-old forests found buried in the boglands. Beach found plastics are juxtaposed with industrial carbon fibre cast offs to accentuate the form.
Recent work took inspiration from my time spent on a residential placement at The Center for Metal Arts in the USA; housed in one of the country's largest original steel mills. Living and working as an artist within such a rich industrial history I wanted to honor some of these work processes. I used complex forge welding techniques to create tessellated patterns within a bar of steel that I then tiled and fused in a mosaic pattern before forging the blade. Examples of pieces produced using this steel were exhibited last year as part of the Homo Faber Journey of Life exhibition in Venice, at the European Prize for Applied Arts in Brussels and a purchase by The National Museum of Ireland to be housed in their permanent collection.
I am currently exploring a project that stems from an exploration into natural ores found in Irish bog soils and beach found waste of marine plastics on my morning walks. I am interested in this duality of natural resources, human intervention, waste, by-product and ultimately re-imagining and reuse for future generations. The first prototype pieces will be shown at the ‘NOTIONS – home, place and speculations’ exhibition in Limerick in February.
As an artist and bladesmith I look to deepen my own practice through opportunities to learn and draw connections between community and social history whilst sharing my skills through education and exhibitions. Two factors drive my professional development; the chance to push my skills and understanding so that my knives not only excel in their work as tools, but to also escalate their artistic merit and beauty – quite simply, I want to be able to make the most wonderful tools I can imagine.
In parallel to this, I endeavor to pass on the opportunity of learning to others as I have enjoyed myself. I have gone out of my way to pursue my own leaning and development and have been very lucky to have studied under some incredible teachers. I would now like to take this and put something back into the communities that has supported me so well.
Full Time Professional
Bladesmith, Knife Maker, Other
I am an artist and bladesmith with a passion for natural materials and the re-use and re-imagination of man-made waste. I specialize in crafting knives as contemporary tools designed for both professional kitchens and home cooking. These knives are not just functional but also a source of creative inspiration.
The development of tools is a defining aspect of Homo sapiens, setting us apart from other primates. Arguably, the knife was one of our first tools. Today, it remains an indispensable part of daily life, connecting people across food traditions, generations and geographical locations through materials, techniques and shared skills. My work encapsulates this culture, these ideas, stories and heritage in a form we can all recognise.
I draw motivation from the stories concealed within materials, giving new life and purpose to found and recycled resources. My work often features high carbon steels nestled among unexpected gems like wrought iron cartwheels, whiskey barrel straps or ships anchor chains. Handles are ergonomically shaped from timbers of long-forgotten orchards, exotic limbs of storm damaged trees from Irish Estate Houses, or relics from millennia-old forests found buried in the boglands. Beach found plastics are juxtaposed with industrial carbon fibre cast offs to accentuate the form.
Recent work took inspiration from my time spent on a residential placement at The Center for Metal Arts in the USA; housed in one of the country's largest original steel mills. Living and working as an artist within such a rich industrial history I wanted to honor some of these work processes. I used complex forge welding techniques to create tessellated patterns within a bar of steel that I then tiled and fused in a mosaic pattern before forging the blade. Examples of pieces produced using this steel were exhibited last year as part of the Homo Faber Journey of Life exhibition in Venice, at the European Prize for Applied Arts in Brussels and a purchase by The National Museum of Ireland to be housed in their permanent collection.
I am currently exploring a project that stems from an exploration into natural ores found in Irish bog soils and beach found waste of marine plastics on my morning walks. I am interested in this duality of natural resources, human intervention, waste, by-product and ultimately re-imagining and reuse for future generations. The first prototype pieces will be shown at the ‘NOTIONS – home, place and speculations’ exhibition in Limerick in February.
As an artist and bladesmith I look to deepen my own practice through opportunities to learn and draw connections between community and social history whilst sharing my skills through education and exhibitions. Two factors drive my professional development; the chance to push my skills and understanding so that my knives not only excel in their work as tools, but to also escalate their artistic merit and beauty – quite simply, I want to be able to make the most wonderful tools I can imagine.
In parallel to this, I endeavor to pass on the opportunity of learning to others as I have enjoyed myself. I have gone out of my way to pursue my own leaning and development and have been very lucky to have studied under some incredible teachers. I would now like to take this and put something back into the communities that has supported me so well.
Gallery
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