Linda O’Leary
From the time Linda was little she was happiest making things from tissue paper and sellotape. When she was ten she helped her neighbour – a potter – prepare for a craft show. Going to art college was her dream but priorities in an economic recession led her instead to accountancy! These days as a Health Life Balance Coach she encourages her clients to do more of what they love and reconnect with some of their childhood dreams. Crafting, making and creating were never far from Linda’s mind and six years ago she bought her own pottery kiln and began to indulge in her playful side. Then in October 2015 Linda married Paul. Their wedding became the perfect place to share their creative passion. Wine bottle lamps and ceramic name tags for each guest were among the many things decorating their venue. With encouragement from the wedding planner and many of the guests Linda was inspired to begin selling her work.
Liezel Schultz.
Liezel was fortunate to grow up in a household where creativity was encouraged. From early crude finger paintings, crayon wall drawings and sea-shell “sculptures” to watercolours, charcoal sketches and ink drawings.
Her love for the arts lead Liezel to study graphic design and today she runs her own design business with her husband, who is a photographer. Even though her business keeps her in front of a computer, Liezel likes to get her hands dirty with oil painting, sketching and screen printing.
She finds it very exciting to see her own designs printed on material and the abundant, lush green landscape of Wicklow provides her with ample inspiration and subject choices. She likes to use her environment to create all sorts of sketches and turn them into functional works of art. She hopes you enjoy them too.
Elmarie Schultz
Elmarie’s mother was a keen crafter, with handmade cards her special favourite. As such, people tended to donate all kinds of materials, from coloured cardstock, twine, ribbons, beads to dried flowers and seedpods. After her mother’s death, Elmaire “inhereted” all the boxes and containers with her craft materials. Among them was a cellophane envelope with a small gift tag, embellished with a quilled flower.
The lace-like nature of it intrigued her, but she put it away again. Years later Elmarie paging through a book with craft ideas discovered a chapter on quilling. The little gift tag sprang to mind – it was too much of a coincidence – it was a definite nudge!
Elmarie likes to make delicate, intricate, time-consuming “pain-in-the-neck” things and quilling ticks all the boxes!
Today Elmarie would like to dedicate her craft to her Mom, who started her off with a small pink quilled flower on a gift tag.
Mairead Hennessy 
Mairead is a ceramist who discovered the wonder of clay after a lifetime of computer programming, life coaching and raising two children (with a very understanding husband!) She is a recovering perfectionist looking for perfect enough in the mess and ugly of everyday life. She finds playing working with messy clay helps greatly!
Her work is inspired by the Leonard Cohen quote, “There’s a crack in everything that’s how the light gets in.”
