Derek Wilson University of Ulster

All eligible colleges made nominations this year: Crawford College of Art and Design, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Letterfrack Furniture College, Limerick School of Art and Design, National College of Art and Design and the University of Ulster.  Having thoroughly enjoyed the interviewing process last year, the members of the original panel returned to select 2007’s graduate and postgraduate awardees. Ceramicist Jack Doherty, textile artist Alice Kettle and jeweller Grainne Morton were delighted to note the overall standard of submissions was even higher this year.

Once again nominees appreciated the positive and relaxed ambience the panel create. Jack Doherty explains, “we try to impress on nominees that it is not so much of an interview where they will be rigorously questioned, but a conversation about their thinking and their plans. All seemed very comfortable and impressively confident.” Alice Kettle says, “It is a two-way process. We are there to be encouraging and supportive”. Many of the nominees made the most of the panel’s experience. “We’re all makers and we’ve been in business for a long time and I think many of the candidates appreciated the opportunity to ask for advice; some gained quite a lot out of it,” says Grainne Morton.  Out of the 17 nominees, 14 were able to attend the interview. The panel, using clear criteria to assess proposals, was looking for an indication of how the award would impact on a nominee’s future. “Most were convincing applications, showing how the money would enable them to take some step forward in their development,” says Jack Doherty. Alice Kettle agrees: “This year, projects were much more clearly defined and well thought through so one could see how the proposal could fit into their practice.”

While merits of several strong contenders for the graduate award needed to be debated by the panel before they reached a unanimous decision to make the award to Gearoid Muldowney, when it came to the postgraduate award, all three members of the panel felt Derek Wilson’s work and proposal were clearly outstanding.  “I see an awful lot of ceramics and I’m very cynical,” says Jack Doherty, “but I was bowled over by Derek’s work. It is beautifully conceived and beautifully made.
 

Unusually, I wasn’t disappointed by any aspect of the finished ceramics. He is taking his work in exactly the right direction and demonstrated a way of moving his career forward. His work and his proposal fitted together perfectly.” Jack Doherty predicts that he will be a star.

Grainne Morton agrees:“Derek’s work is superb, already of gallery standard: I can definitely see him making it. He was more focussed and clearly on a mission to work on the design side.” For Alice Kettle, Derek’s work was sophisticated, thoughtful and unique and had “a kind of refined presence, some quality of excellence”. She recalls the excitement the panel felt at the combination of the work and the proposal that will open Derek’s future in the international field: “He has a wonderful future,” she declares.

For Derek, the future is now bright, but he remembers the weeks leading up to his final show as something of a nightmare as he mastered the process necessary to create his exquisite sculptural forms. While coping with a series of “kiln disasters” and completing other MA components, he was also compiling a detailed application for Craft NI’s business start up programme, Making It, as well as his submission for the 3rd Level Awards.

Derek knew exactly what he wanted to propose to CCoI - a six week residency next Spring at the International Ceramic Research Centre, Guldagergaard, Denmark - and spent a considerable amount of time over the application. A hub for professional and emerging ceramicists seeking to advance their artistic development, the centre is an ideal place to begin building an international network. Derek can look forward to workshops, thematic symposiums, lectures and preparing for an exhibition in Denmark at the end of his stay. “As well as giving me a period away from my comfort zone, I’m looking forward to the inspiring people I’ll meet there and to interacting with the artists in residence. The idea is to broaden my horizons to reach a more European perspective.”

Graduating from UU with a B.A. Hons. in 1999, Derek realised he didn’t have the skills to make a living: “Degree courses are not skills oriented. It’s all very exciting and experimental, but you are sheltered from the outside world.” He knew the CCoI Pottery Skills Course would be the best route. “Intense, strictly run and a fabulous opportunity to learn so many skills,” is how Derek describes the course from which he graduated with a distinction in 2002, before gaining three years’ experience as a production potter and going back to UU to focus on his own designs through the M.A. in Applied Arts.

Derek is confident about the direction of his next move. “This will give me the opportunity to explore and learn new skills. I aim to try to get into international galleries and build a good reputation not just for myself but for Irish ceramics.”  Now that he has been accepted onto the Making It programme, allowing for a two year residency at UU, Derek sees his award having a beneficial ripple effect.  “Because I’ll be coming back inspired by the people I’ve met at Guldagergaard, interacting with students and passing on what I’ve experienced, the award is not just for me. It is just so rewarding at the end of the MA to have this support from CCoI. I admire Jack Doherty a lot and to know that he and the other members of the panel have that faith in me is fabulous,” says Derek. His advice to this year’s final year students? “It is such a difficult point in your career - leaving college, stepping out into the big wide world. The 3rd Level Awards are so encouraging for both BA and MA students and the more you put into the award, the more you’ll get out.”

Gearoid Muldowney NCAD

The graduate awardee, Gearoid Muldowney of NCAD, impressed the panel with both his work and his approach to developing a career as a craft designer. Gearoid specialised in the metals area while studying in the craft design department, but extensive research into Ireland’s craft traditions and indigenous materials led him in a whole new direction. Following an Erasmus year where he noted how the Finns’ respect for their traditions translates into affordable hand made objects for everyday use, he set about exploring crafts in Ireland from basketry to textiles to wall building. Inspired to use traditional materials and techniques to create something relevant to contemporary life, Gearoid presented leather bags including laptop bags using felted hand knit Aran inside.

“Gearoid seemed to sum up everything these awards are about: refining your making, understanding your materials, pushing out the boundaries,” says Alice Kettle. The panel admired his witty approach and willingness to take risks. “We were captivated by the uniqueness of what he was doing and his intelligent way of working, talking to industry, acquiring knowledge.   We saw a flash of brilliance that can be developed and the award gives us the opportunity to say ‘run with it, prove yourself ‘.

Grainne Morton was impressed with the combination of contemporary designer savvy and craft, business sense and quirkiness. “I could really see Gearoid’s bags taking off at Barney’s in New York or in the Japanese market. The laptop bags have a very clever design - using Aran as cushioning and the closing/locking mechanisms were interesting.”

Jack Doherty liked the way in which Gearoid had set out to do something different from anyone else, slightly expanding the parameters, setting out to be a craft designer. “He had a very different approach to how he saw his career developing, planning to commission other makers and using traditional elements in a very modern way.”

Gearoid thoroughly appreciated the opportunity the interview provided to have a debate with makers with years of experience and is thrilled that “the members of the panel were excited about my work and able to visualise where it could go. They all had different ideas of how it could develop”.

Being involved in the 3rd Level Awards, Gearoid has found, keeps the energy created at the end of the academic year alive and says the opportunity to get feedback from independent people outside college is invaluable: “Hopefully your tutors are honest enough to point out what is worth pursuing and what isn’t, but if not, you might come out completely deluded about your progress. Preparing for the award interview forces you to take a serious look at what you have done and explain what could be achieved in the future.”

The award means Gearoid can progress to a feasibility study with a view to achieving more marketable designs and producing a batch of perhaps 200 of two of his bags. Long term, he hopes the connections he will make over the next couple of years, from small factories to craftspeople, will lead to dynamic collaborations across disciplines.

Alice Kettle reminds all those who did not receive an award that, as nominees, they are already the best of the best:“It is so important to have confidence when you leave college, to know that those around you value what you do, so it’s wonderful to have the endorsement of a nomination. Probably all of the nominees will do very well so, in a way, the interviews are a celebration of everything they are doing.”

All 17 nominees should feel extremely gratified to have been selected, says Jack Doherty, and appreciate the benefits of the awards process. He sympathises with having blinkers on as the deadline of the degree show approaches: “You tend to be driven towards the end-of-course exhibition and not see beyond it, but you are leaving a sheltered environment and will have to find your feet in a completely different place.  Applying for this award allows an opportunity to think beyond the end of the year and focus on what happens next. Leaving college and stepping out into the professional world is a precarious and uncertain business: take every step possible to maximise your chances of succeeding,” says Jack.  Alice agrees:  “Whether you win the award of not, the process of filling in the form and going for the interview will help. It is difficult, but healthy, to think beyond the end of the year. Otherwise, there may be a big vacuum after the show.” Grainne Morton points out the awards also offer a great opportunity to get to know CCoI and discover the range of assistance available for makers.
 

The panel recognises how small the window of opportunity is around the interviews, sandwiched between degree shows and New Designers, but Alice
Kettle says colleges this year seemed to have planned ahead to make the most of all opportunities. “This year it felt as if everyone knew what they were doing. Colleges and nominees seem to have taken note of the panel’s comments last time. In particular we had emphasised how important it is to bring samples of work and everyone did.”

Tutors did an excellent job in identifying those who could benefit from these awards say the panel and their statements were extremely helpful during the
interviews. There were also fewer “partly formed” submissions this year, says Jack Doherty “The majority were well researched but there were still a few ‘woolly’ ones from people who saw the money as a top up”. Grainne Morton also noted that one or two submissions were a little sketchy, but says overall the standard was much higher than last year.The panel was impressed with the professionalism of the nominees: “It was interesting to see how they were applying their presentation skills, using the internet, reaching out to their markets,” says Alice.  For the interview, she suggests limiting supportive materials to the strongest rather than bringing too many student sketch books.

Alice Kettle sums up the panel’s enthusiasm throughout the interviews. “The nominees were very strong this year, remarkable in fact, and some of them will be very, very successful. We felt as though we were witnessing burgeoning careers.